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A woman holds a dress while shopping in Causeway Bay. Photo: May Tse

Bad fashion? Hongkongers found to spend HK$3.9 billion on clothes they never or seldom wear

Findings lead to calls for city to boost knowledge of sustainable consumption and eco-friendly products

Consumers

Nearly one-fifth of clothes Hongkongers snap up from shops are never or seldom worn, amounting to a whopping HK$3.9 billion, a study by a leading conservation advocacy group has found.

Greenpeace also urged local authorities to support the development of sustainable business models and promote ecological consciousness to counter the rise of fast fashion.
A Consumer Council report in February highlighted the importance of coordinated efforts between the government, business sector and consumers to bring about sustainable consumption practices.

The Greenpeace study interviewed 2,000 people in Hong Kong and Taiwan in January about their spending habits as well as 1,000 parents in both places to examine their children’s wardrobe situation.

On average, Hongkongers owned 94 articles of clothing, compared to 75 for their Taiwanese counterparts. Of the 94, 15 items – or 16 per cent – were never worn or only used once or twice.

In assuming each piece of clothing cost HK$100, the study said the underused garments cost a total of HK$3.9 billion.

Bonnie Tang Man-lam, a campaigner for the group, cited the popularity of fast-fashion brands like H&M and Uniqlo as driving an embrace of quickly disposable clothing.

The study found Hongkongers last year on average purchased clothes around 10 times. Photo: May Tse

Hongkongers made an average of 10.45 purchases of clothing last year, equalling spending of HK$785 per month, or HK$9,420 for the year.

More than half of the respondents said they had never bought second-hand or reformed clothing, with 64 per cent of such respondents saying they did not wish to wear old clothes, reflecting a common belief in Chinese society.

There also seemed to be a lack of knowledge about ecologically-friendly products, such as garments that are animal-friendly, handmade or produced following fair-trade principles. Many respondents said they did not know where to look for these options.

Rather than taking the unfit clothes for alterations, many simply chose to dispose of them. The study found an average of 100,000 tonnes of disposed garments were collected in the city each year over the past decade, equivalent to a rate of 1,400 T-shirts per minute.

Tang said it was time for the government to introduce pilot schemes to promote the concept of green fashion, which focuses not just on the use of environmentally-friendly materials but also on a socially responsible production model.

She said the initiatives could be funded in part by a HK$500 million grant set aside in the city’s budget this year meant to promote local fashion designers and brands.

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