The world now consumes a staggering 80 billion items of clothing each year.

That's up 400% in the past two décades.

Now it's so important to understand that advertising and big businesses are selling us the idea that we need more stuff.

Whereas the fashion industry used to have four seasons. They now have 52 seasons a year

that means new stuff is coming in each week and their aim is to try and persuade you that you need that item

in your Life. We now have hard evidence to suggest that the more we concentrate on these values of money

consuming and material importance the more depressed anxious and unhappy we actually become

Stuff does not make us happy

But I'm afraid to say that we have completely bought into it

Myself included .

even though our wardrobes are completely saturated

We are obsessed with this constant newness

because the fashion industry has instilled into us this fear of being out of fashion

But how can we be in fashion when there's 52 seasons a year

for so long? I never even questioned it

I used to go down H&M or Zara and get a bargain

I thought I was winning right and that's what people are doing

more and more people are buying more and more clothes

And we're not keeping them as long as we used to

the fashion industry has become

Disposable in a way that it never used to be

we are now in the age of fast fashion

All of that comes at a very real cost

only 3% of the clothes in America are actually made in America the rest are made in developing countries

in unfathomably bad conditions

the majority of these workers are women

that earn less than three dollars per day.

These countries so desperately need the work

that they have no choice, but to lower their prices and cut corners such as workers safety.

Otherwise the big businesses would just look elsewhere

The conditions are so bad

that people are dying and yet, the big businesses just turn a blind eye. How is that okay?

The fast fashion industry has a massive negative environmental impact :

water pollution, the use of toxic chemicals and insane amounts of textile waste.

Even when we donate clothes to charity shops or thrift stores, only ten

percent of them actually get sold

the rest of them end up in landfill or they ship them to developing countries where they

completely destroyed the local industry.

I know this is super depressing,

but if you're like me and you care about people and the planet we have to be aware of the truth

So what can we do? what can we do together as a community?

well

first things first we have to make an effort to buy less clothing so

Get inventive, creative

Grab some old pieces of clothing and see how you can do something new with them

hold swap shops with your friends every once in

a while to switch up your wardrobe

When you do go shopping make sure you look for things that are higher

quality and will last you longer even better head to your local thrift shop, charity shop, consignment store or vintage shop.

Secondhand shopping is the way forward and it's actually really fun. It's pretty easy on the wallet, too.

We need to change the way we think about fashion and clothes

Pick something that you'll really love so you know you'll want to keep it for a while.

I have a pair of green trousers in my wardrobe that I have had for probably over five years

I love them and I wack them out every single autumn without fail

look good sustainably and help reduce the impact of fast fashion on the environment

Get out there you beautiful people and Start The Wave