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France to pay people to repair their clothes

Clothes Repair - Level 4

We unnecessarily throw away millions of tons of clothes every year. A lot of these are nearly new. France has come up with a scheme for people to wear their clothes longer. It will pay a "repair bonus" for taking clothes and shoes to be repaired at workshops or cobblers. People will get up to $27 of the cost of repairs. The scheme is run by the eco-organization Refashion. It hopes to help the environment.

France throws away 700,000 tons of clothing every year. Furthermore, the world's fashion industry creates 8-10 per cent of carbon emissions. The rise of fast fashion has worsened this. Fast fashion is buying cheap clothes to wear a few times. It uses a lot of synthetic materials which harm the environment. Refashion wants people to cut the amount of clothing they buy, and to donate unwanted clothes to charity for recycling.

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Clothes Repair - Level 5

Consumerism means we unnecessarily throw away millions of tons of clothes every year. A lot of these items are like new. Some may be a little worn or miss some buttons. France has come up with a scheme to get people to increase the length of their clothes' life. It will pay people a "repair bonus" for getting their clothes and shoes repaired at special workshops or cobblers. Individuals can get back up to $27 of the cost of repairs. The scheme is run by the eco-organization Refashion. Its goals are "to support those who carry out repairs" and help the environment.

Around 700,000 tons of clothing are thrown away in France every year. Two-thirds of this ends up in landfills. Furthermore, the world's fashion industry creates 8-10 per cent of global carbon emissions. The rise of fast fashion has worsened this. Fast fashion is the purchasing of cheap clothes to wear a few times. It uses a lot of synthetic materials and chemicals, which harm the environment. Refashion wants people to cut the amount of clothing they buy, and to donate unwanted clothes and footwear to charity. These will be reused or recycled.

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11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Clothes Repair - Level 6

In this age of consumerism, we unnecessarily discard millions of tons of clothes every year. A lot of these items are as good as new. Some may be a little threadbare or miss a button or two. France has come up with a new scheme to encourage people to increase the longevity of their apparel. The government will pay a "repair bonus" to people who get their garments repaired at special repair workshops, or take their shoes to a cobbler. The bonus allows individuals to claim back up to $27 of the cost of their repair bill. The scheme will be run by an eco-organization called Refashion. The government said the goals of its new initiative are "to support those who carry out repairs" and help the environment.

An estimated 700,000 tons of clothing are thrown away in France every year. Around two-thirds of this ends up in landfills. Furthermore, the global fashion industry accounts for between 8-10 per cent of global carbon emissions every year. The emergence of fast fashion has exacerbated this. Fast fashion is the practice of purchasing cheap clothes to wear just a few times. It utilizes a lot of synthetic materials and chemicals, which harm the environment. The Refashion group also aims to encourage people to reduce the amount of clothing they buy, and to donate unwanted clothes and footwear to charity. It says over half of donations can be reused, and a third can be recycled into something new.

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25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson