Shopping sustainably (especially while in lockdown) can be tricky but Lost Stock is a new initiative that will help you do so while simultaneously helping to save almost 982million garments from ending up in landfill.
Let me preface this by saying – no judgement, I get it. The urge to shop that is. My Instagram feed is full to the brim of everyone and their mother posting snaps of their latest ‘hauls’. Posing in their new loungewear, flogging the most gorgeous summer dresses… all of which you think you need to help you feel better about the current situation. Maybe some retail therapy will help, maybe it won’t.
But if there’s one thing we know to be true, it’s that supporting businesses that look out for the planet (and the people on it) is definitely a worthwhile practice. If, like me, you find yourself filling your online shopping cart on the regular… only to later talk yourself out of each purchase and leave everything there untouched – taunting you – then Lost Stock is a fantastic alternative to help you ease the fast-fashion guilt.
Launched as a result of the current pandemic, the initiative aims to save almost 982 million garments from heading to landfill. According to a post on the Lost Stock official Instagram account, at least $2bn worth of clothes orders have been cancelled in Bangladesh by high street retailers. These clothes were ready to be sold on the high street across Ireland and the UK this summer, however, with most stores still closed, there is no longer the demand for such vast quantities of seasonal garments.
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Over a million workers are already estimated to have lost their jobs due to these unprecedented cancellations and without action, a humanitarian crisis is inevitable. One that will affect tens of thousands of people, resulting in people losing all sources of income and starving to death as a result.
A grim reality that most of us are extremely lucky to be sheltered from, but one that happens whether we cast a blind eye to it or not. There is a way you can help though and it’s as simple as choosing to invest in a Lost Stock box.
Costing just under €40, each box includes at least three items of clothing and will support a factory worker for one whole week. As for the most exciting part? Each one is essentially a mystery box as while you can choose from certain styles, you can’t actually pick what goes in your box. The reason being that basing orders off a style algorithm enables factory staff to work as quickly as possible. See below for how they pick exactly what goes in your box.
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Garments come without brand tags (as the retailers cancelled the orders so they never got to that state) but the products are the exact ones that were due to be sold in your favourite high street stores. In other words, expect to look fresh AF in your new threads – safe in the knowledge that you’ve helped Mother Nature with your purchase. That’s what I call a win-win.
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