Cast-offs can help reduce our waste

May 12 2009 by Amy Hunt, The Journal

MOST of us with older siblings will remember getting their cast-offs as children.

But hand-me-down school uniforms are not as popular as they used to be.

Blazers, shirts and trousers which are branded for a particular school cannot be passed to charity shops because they are only of use to children at the same school. So if a child has no younger brothers and sisters, parents have nowhere to take their outgrown items of uniform.

Now, one mum has come up with a solution which will help save scores of usable uniforms from the bin.

Anna Heywood has started Thread Aware at Newcastle’s Royal Grammar School (RGS) Juniors in an effort to give parents access to affordable used uniforms and prevent perfectly serviceable clothing from going to waste.

Anna, whose nine-year-old daughter Lily is in Year Five at the school, believes the swap-shop will prove popular with parents trying to cut their waste and give their children a positive message on reusing items.

In the UK we throw away a staggering 1m tonnes of old clothes and textiles each year. More than 7.5 billion articles of clothing go into our dustbins every year, with most ending up in landfill. The school uniform sector is worth £1bn a year.

Anna said: “This might seem like a small thing. But when you fill a bucket of water every drop counts. This is our drop.

“For a school like RGS to do this helps to dispel the myth that using pre-used uniforms is letting your children down. Brand new uniforms aren’t always the best for children – what’s best is for children is to have a sustainable world.”