This is a C. N. A podcast. Now open your wardrobe and be honest, how much clothing do actually wear in your closet. Do all your clothes look pretty much the same. Whether it be 20 pairs of jeans or 10 identical white t shirts or 15 pairs of sneakers. Do you go out shopping and even though you didn't love anything, you felt the need to bring something home to prove your trip wasn't wasted, If that sounds like you don't worry, you're not alone.
Hello and welcome to the climate conversations, I'm your host julie. You join me as I get personal with the people driving real change and sustainability in a shopper's paradise like Singapore, it's safe to say that we've all been guilty of using just a fraction of our wardrobe while the rest don't see the light of day and throwing out old clothes once they go out of style.
A survey involving 1000 Singaporeans revealed that we buy 34 pieces of new clothing on average and dispose of 27 items within 12 months, which means for almost every item we buy, we throw away another, resulting in almost 21,000 dumpster trucks worth of textile waste a year. And in fact, if you line them all up, that's enough to cover almost a third of the entire MRT track network.
But over the years, Singapore has seen a small but strong ecosystem of people and organizations that want to do better. My guest stands out in this space. She's Jasmine Twan, the co founder of a circular fashion initiative with a mission to close the fashion loop in Singapore by keeping good fashion pieces circulating within the community, Jasmine? Welcome to the climate conversations. Thanks
for having me.
So you were arguably one of Singapore's first fashionistas used to be at the center of the party scene, also a founder of a few fashion labels, but knowing what you do now, it's hard to believe what you used to be as you've openly admitted a shopaholic hoarder and collector. So tell us at your peak, how often and how much were you spending on fashion and clothes? I
have no budget, which is a very dangerous thing
back
in the days, I have like a dozen credit cards, I don't encourage member to max up, there's no limit. I was a little bit out of control from your independent designers from high street to high end or edgy designers that no one heard of, I'll be like buying this this and that I bought so much that my mom and my ex boyfriends has to beg me to stop buying the moment I started making my on income, I will buy whatever I want because I can I work hard and I should buy stuff to
make me happy. So that was the mindset I had before and I'm sure some of you can relate to that.
So when was the moment you realized you couldn't sustain this kind of lifestyle anymore and that you needed to change and was there a trigger or was it just a gradual realization?
It's really a series of unfortunate events, but it's actually a good thing for me. So I had a retail store and it doesn't help because I started shopping in my own shop and five years in the business it had to close roughly because we couldn't sustain the rent and then all of a sudden I was left with a lot of time and a lot of clothes. This is when I start to question myself and a little bit before the closure of the shop, I had a near death experience. Yeah, I almost drowned in a
trip and crabby. Then I started asking myself a lot of questions like what is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of my life? And is it about working hard and spending all the money on shopping and then trying to sell them and then take the money to buy more and am I supposed to die as just a consumer? And that's it, are we built to shop and stop?
So that's how you just sort of kick started on your journey to find your eco balance. Would you say
I had a job opportunity in Malaysia. So I just had to downsize my life because I know I cannot bring my home wardrobe with me. And then two years in Malaysia, I didn't change 2016 to 2017, I didn't change, but I met a zero waste Malaysia group end of 2017. And this is when I first came across this term called Zero Ways, I'm like, what the heck is that? What zero waste and how is it possible to achieve zero? Right? Surely that everything around us is some sort of packaging.
So then I started exploring this concept about this five concept other than recycling, that's actually refuse, reduce reuse before recycling and rot or compose the rest. So I dedicate my life in 2018 to just apply this concept into my own lifestyle and change. And that is the change that I know I've been looking for.
I'm sure it wasn't an easy. So how tough was it to make that sort of radical lifestyle change,
That's the right word radical. So I added one more hour in front of the five hour, I rethink and I take it as a challenge and I'm a creative. So it's like, okay, I got the design brief, I will take up the challenge and find alternative solutions to my lifestyle, whether it is from beauty to fashion. You know, I also committed to zero shopping on fast fashion item.
So after you found your echo bala, You started a clothes swapping organization called up in September 2020. Tell us a little about starting with that unique name.
Yeah, so that happened also thanks to Malaysia because as I was committed to zero shopping on Fast Fashion, I was so ready to wear the same clothes for the rest of my life until the founder of Zero Waste Malaysia brought me to to fashion swap events. Oh that's a game changer man. Because all I need to bring is five good items and I can bring home up to 20 even. So when I came back to Singapore, thanks to the pandemic instead of waiting for someone to do it might as
well just do it right. So then what happened actually, the original club founder is Cindy and saying they had a great name already. I call myself my Zero Waste wardrobe which is quite a mouthful. We were doing about the same thing. And then when we came together they have some inventory and I have collected some inventory from friends and we decided the fastest way to move the inventory is through swap Because swappers just need to bring five good items and
they can bring home 10 match made in heaven. Yeah, it's really timely and we kept to give credit to our designer who designed club logo. He came up with this name because we really want to close the fashion loop. So
it's so smart. So take us back to the very first clothes swapping event that you organized. What did you learn?
We have to tell you that happened really by accident coincidence, what did I learn? We organized our first clothes swap in two weeks time when we meet and then we decided to move our inventory. The clothes swap happened in two weeks time. We work so hard pushing the message and everything and we have 10 sign out, we're expecting more. Let's move it a little bit, but I'm a very positive person. I'm not sure if you can sense it, but we can always see that silver lining. So we ended up talking to
a lot of walk ins instead. So we share with them what we do and our first swapper that sign up become our volunteer now. Hi, I'm Stephen and I host the new season of our podcast, Heart of the matter, join me in getting right to the heart of the headlines as we speak with experts and newsmakers to delve deep into the most talked about news developments, look out for our episodes wherever you get your podcasts.
For those of us who are not so used to this concept of swapping clothes, how effective a solution is it for people who want to stop shopping for new clothes but still want to stay fashionable and not lose their personal style.
I found this solution actually for myself, I get to enjoy fashion in the most sustainable way through swapping also, it helped me to let go because remember I was also harder, I have stuff from 20 years ago That I hold on to but through swapping and give it away and I see it sparks joy in other people's life and I get better stuff to my wardrobe.
Actually got better in terms of the brands that come in that I have my things got better and really it's my zero waste wardrobe now, nothing goes to waste 80% are from and the rest of the 20% of things that I already have from before that I still love and I still use
it. But as good as all it sounds changing our relationship with what we wear can't be done overnight. Right? I mean there are those who may feel uncomfortable about wearing clothes someone else have worn, especially post pandemic within the concerns about hygiene and sanitary. What are some of the stubborn perceptions that continue to exist?
The only misconception that people have about swapping is that it's 1-1 swap, but ours is not. You can bring just five minimum and you can bring home 10 because we want you to take home more.
There's enough supply. Is that what you're saying?
There is more than enough supply. You want to come down to my storage. Absolutely. I'll
definitely check it out.
Our room is just filled with donations that we need to look through one by one inventory just keep coming because we produce more than 100 and 50 billion garments each year. So then we need also catch up with the rapid fashion, you have to move the inventory fast.
Okay, so now that you're in a position to encourage others to take part in the zero waste movement, what do you think is the best way to communicate with non greenies, so to speak. And then I wonder if it helps that you used to be at the other end of the spectrum.
So empathy helps because I know it, it's not easy. I know the temptation is real. The moment you step into archer road, everybody is calling you to buy them and then the phone you can't run away from your phone. So I actually have seven tips. I curbs shopping entirely and I share that through talks workshops.
Please share with us right here.
Well first thing first just do not enter really. Do yourself a favor. Do not enter the shop. Why set yourself up for failure? If you know you'll be tempted and you're wasting time money to browse to try and then you pay And then you bring the item home. Feeling guilty because you know that I already have enough. Why do I buy one more item and you think you save 70% or 30% when there's a sale but you save 100% when you don't buy anything. Right? So don't set yourself
up for failure. Do something that doesn't cost you. I spend time in nature. I don't spend time in malls. And finally just in the phone. Do not click because the moment you click on one item you will see like Gazillion banners telling you to buy them and whatnot. So what I do, I print screen, print screen and I put all my favorite things and Pinterest album of once. So I have my virtual wardrobe and it's free of charge.
Great tips there. Thank you so much, jasmine. And you're also looking at recycling. You've launched a couple of textile recycling bins across Singapore. Where can we find them? And tell us more about the service.
This is so exciting. So initially, before we met our certified recycler, we can only accept clean and good condition fashion items don't pass us all your old dirty laundry and stuff so we can circulate through swap and resale right? But now we can accept clothes, bags, shoes, and household linen, household items like toys, Towers, pillows in any condition. Thanks to my recycler. So we launched a clip recycling bin in july 2022. The first one of course is
that city sprout where we sprouted. The second one is at standard chartered changi business park and the third one is going to be at raffles city basement. They have a green corner. So you can also drop your unwanted textiles in the bin at the Rougher city basement. So the list of where you can donate will be available at any website as well.
So where did they all go? What will happen to
them? They will then go to my recycler and he was sort into 500 categories to make sure nothing goes to waste. So recently my recycler just visited Singapore to catch up with us. He brought to denim rugs made of denim that not wearable. And he also came up with a mat that is made from clothes that cannot be re wear again. They are chopped up into a so called garden mat that sequester co two,
that's fascinating. So many ways to declutter our wardrobe sustainably a jasmine. But I must admit well getting ready for this interview, I was motivated and I took down an inventory of my road robe and I was super shocked with the number of items. I have felt really bad that even with all this I often found myself saying I have nothing to wear, you know what I mean? So help me out here for anyone like me who are tired of rummaging through clutter and feeling overwhelmed by all
the stuff in their wardrobe. Where's the best place to start?
Take them out for a swap. If not you can drop them at the club recycling bin because my recycler will sort them into 500 categories. He's also aware that certain country might not be able to wear clothes like what I'm wearing the conservative country for example. He was even sought into styles that are appropriate for the country to resale and re buy them and we wear them. The best form of recycling is actually to use the product again to use them wear them. That's why our fashion swap is really
the main focus. We really want to re home. The good clothes for people to wear them again, be it one year, five years.
It's so heartening to hear you are dedicating your time, your energy to promote reduction of fashion over consumption and waste. But let's face it jazz. The reality is that it's fighting as a massive multi billion dollar fashion industry and it's so easy to question whether all this, all your efforts will make a difference or even move the needle when you have self doubt what keeps you going.
I think this is so fun for me to be honest, although I must confess I see clothes more than I see people. So I try to balance my lifestyle to before when I was doing full time with zero waste S. G. I will weekends and our public holiday and after work hours were doing me and my partner, that's why august we decided
to just go full time. So we tender our resignation and we went full time with now and I think this is the best because we are doing stuff that we love and we believe that it will move the needle a little bit. Maybe not a lot, but this is at least something we can do in this decade before the change will be too late.
What's next on your permission to fight fashion ways any expansion plans? I
don't use the word fight, I want to use the word love sounds much better. I just want to spread the love of just enjoying fashion in the most kind way that we found, which is true swapping. So like you say, how, how can we convert people? We're not here to convert people, we are here to show you that it can be fun again, you know, fashion, but today, when you hear about fashion is a bit dirty.
This word, especially fast fashion and ultra fast fashion is just an industry built on exploitation, not just to the resources of our planet, but also to people making our clothes, but is that fashionable at all? No, that's not, that is just dirty, you know, so we want to make fashion fun again and sustainable again by just either slowing down and even if you're not, you are still in fashion addict. Just come swap because it's guilt free,
it sounds like a plan, Jasmine. Well, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing your stories and valuable tips with us. Hopefully our listeners will find them useful in making conscious fashion choices going forward and help get off that fashion treadmill. We were just talking about
thank you for having me and make swapping your new shopping. Okay,
thank you so much,
thank you,
but thanks to all of you for tuning in. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Do remember to subscribe and like this podcast. So, you know, when a new episode drops, you can find the Ciena's climate and sustainability coverage online at CNN dot asia. The team behind this podcast is Jacqueline, chan Danieli and Christina robert, and I'm julie you signing off.