“With everything I buy,I try to be as sustainable as I can,” she said.
For Zuzarte,from Greystanes,Sydney,that means using her own shopping bag,cutlery and a keep cup for takeaway coffee. She is also happy to spend more money on “slow” fashion. She takes the train to Newtown to shop for ethically made clothes made from donated fabrics and accessories. “It’s easier to find sustainable shopping in the inner west,” she said.
Zuzarte is part of a growing number of Australians who are rejecting the throwaway culture and are willing to pay more for ethically sourced products that are more durable and produced or packaged using recycled materials.
Susan Zuzarte at The Social Outfit in Newtown.Nikki Short
While she tries to limit her fashion purchases to about six a year,she visits fashion retailer Social Outfit in Newtown as often as once a week. The charity shop uses donated materials which Zuzarte says has encouraged more creative designs.
Zuzarte is willing to spend more for ethically produced “slow” fashion.Nikki Short
“I like something that is a bit different,and it is always really good quality,” she said. “I’m not worried about things falling apart if I buy them from here. I don’t like having to throw things away.”
When she spoke to theHerald,Zuzarte was wearing a top made from red fabric that had been donated as dead stock. The fabric was screen printed with large pink dots and sold as a top for $149.
The Social Outfit chief executive officer Camilla Schippa said women who are recent migrants or refugees are paid fair wages to make the clothes from donated fabrics and other materials including buttons. Regular customers include lawyers who pay about $200 for silk tops.
“The role of the Social Outfit is to provide an example of how fashion can be done in a way that supports the environment and the makers,” Schippa said.
The Australian Fashion Council has reported that Australians purchase,with a similar amount discarded.
The Social Outfit CEO Camilla Schippa in the Newtown store.Nikki Short
When customers ask Schippa why a top made from donated fabric costs $180,she asks how long they think it takes to make. The women who make them live in Sydney with its high cost of living.
“So if you talk to the customer,and you do the maths,they quickly understand the reason for that price,” she said.
“The truth is they have been used to seeing T-shirts for $19 or $9. The cost of living in other countries is very different and the speed at which certain things are made is very different to something that is made with love and care and is made properly.
“It is our role to make people realise and understand those things so that they can apply it wherever they go.”
Rob Price from Mad Wholefoods avoids the use of any plastic packaging.Steven Siewert
Rob Price from Mad Wholefoods in Summer Hill worked in IT for 30 years before starting his business,which sells food products without plastic packaging.
“We sell products in bulk,unpackaged and people can bring their own containers,or they can grab paper bags,” he said.
“People do have a feeling that we do need to address the inordinate amount of plastic that is in our economy and shops like mine are providing that solution.”
His business took off when it opened in 2020 at the height of the pandemic when people had more time to shop locally. But sales have slowed,dropping by 20 per cent year-on-year,now more people are returning to the office.
“People are not coming because they don’t have time,” he said. “We try to tackle that with a same day click and collect service.”
Monash University’s Australian Consumer and Retail Studies unit in the business school will release research on Monday that foundAustralian consumers are increasingly looking for sustainable products.
Of 1000 Australian shoppers surveyed for theSpotlight on Sustainability retail monitor report in the three months to September,more than half (52 per cent) said they were thinking more about the social and environmental impact of their purchases. For 85 per cent,durability and for 73 per cent “repairability” are priorities when making non-grocery purchases.
Nearly 40 per cent said they had reduced the number of new products purchased and 45 per cent were willing to pay more for ethically produced items. Another 42 per cent would pay more for products packaged in recycled material.
The report’s lead author,Dr Eloise Zoppos,said customers were increasingly considering the social and environmental footprint of their purchases.
The report also found that consumers were keen to support locally sourced and produced goods (44 per cent) and were increasingly aware of the benefits of offsetting carbon emissions from shipping and transportation. The survey found 96 per cent were engaging in sustainable practices such as bringing their own shopping bags and recycling product waste regularly.
“This consumer-led sustainable product revolution is underway,and it’s a movement that is gaining momentum,” Dr Zoppos said.
EY has also found an increasing proportion of Australians.
St Vincent de Paul executive director of commercial enterprise,fundraising and communications,Yolanda Saiz,said there has been an increase in the number of people shopping on a more regular basis at Vinnies in NSW this year.
“Many of our shoppers are big supporters of reuse and slow fashion,” she said.
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