Speaker 1: This is a C. N. A podcast.
Speaker 1: Now open your wardrobe and be honest,
Speaker 1: how much clothing do actually wear in your closet. Do
Speaker 1: all your clothes look pretty much the same. Whether it
Speaker 1: be 20 pairs of jeans or 10 identical white t
Speaker 1: shirts or 15 pairs of sneakers. Do you go out
Speaker 1: shopping and even though you didn't love anything, you felt
Speaker 1: the need to bring something home to prove your trip
Speaker 1: wasn't wasted,
Speaker 1: If that sounds like you don't worry, you're not alone.
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the climate conversations, I'm your host julie.
Speaker 1: You join me as I get personal with the people
Speaker 1: driving real change and sustainability
Speaker 1: in a shopper's paradise like Singapore, it's safe to say
Speaker 1: that we've all been guilty of using just a fraction
Speaker 1: of our wardrobe while the rest don't see the light
Speaker 1: of day and throwing out old clothes once they go
Speaker 1: out of style.
Speaker 1: A survey involving 1000 Singaporeans revealed that we buy 34
Speaker 1: pieces of new clothing on average and dispose of 27
Speaker 1: items within 12 months, which means for almost every item
Speaker 1: we buy, we throw away another, resulting in almost 21,000
Speaker 1: dumpster trucks worth of textile waste a year. And in fact,
Speaker 1: if you line them all up, that's enough to cover
Speaker 1: almost a third of the entire MRT track network.
Speaker 1: But over the years, Singapore has seen a small but
Speaker 1: strong ecosystem of people and organizations that want to do better.
Speaker 1: My guest stands out in this space. She's Jasmine Twan,
Speaker 1: the co founder of a circular fashion initiative with a
Speaker 1: mission to close the fashion loop in Singapore by keeping
Speaker 1: good fashion pieces circulating within the community,
Speaker 1: Jasmine? Welcome to the climate conversations. Thanks
Speaker 2: for having me.
Speaker 1: So you were arguably one of Singapore's first fashionistas used
Speaker 1: to be at the center of the party scene, also
Speaker 1: a founder of a few fashion labels, but knowing what
Speaker 1: you do now, it's hard to believe what you used
Speaker 1: to be as you've openly admitted a shopaholic hoarder and collector.
Speaker 1: So tell us at your peak, how often and how
Speaker 1: much were you spending on fashion and clothes? I
Speaker 2: have no budget, which is a very dangerous thing
Speaker 1: back
Speaker 2: in the days, I have like a dozen credit cards,
Speaker 2: I don't encourage member to max up, there's no limit.
Speaker 2: I was a little bit out of control from your
Speaker 2: independent designers from high street to high end or edgy
Speaker 2: designers that no one heard of, I'll be like buying
Speaker 2: this this and that I bought so much that my
Speaker 2: mom and my ex boyfriends has to beg me to
Speaker 2: stop buying the moment I started making my
Speaker 2: on income, I will buy whatever I want because I
Speaker 2: can I work hard and I should buy stuff to
Speaker 2: make me happy. So that was the mindset I had
Speaker 2: before and I'm sure some of you can relate to that.
Speaker 1: So when was the moment you realized you couldn't sustain
Speaker 1: this kind of lifestyle anymore and that you needed to
Speaker 1: change and was there a trigger or was it just
Speaker 1: a gradual realization?
Speaker 2: It's really a series of unfortunate events, but it's actually
Speaker 2: a good thing for me. So I had a retail
Speaker 2: store and it doesn't help because I started shopping in
Speaker 2: my own shop and five years in the business it
Speaker 2: had to close roughly because we couldn't sustain the rent
Speaker 2: and then all of a sudden I was left with
Speaker 2: a lot of time and a lot of clothes.
Speaker 2: This is when I start to question myself and a
Speaker 2: little bit before the closure of the shop, I had
Speaker 2: a near death experience. Yeah, I almost drowned in a
Speaker 2: trip and crabby. Then I started asking myself a lot
Speaker 2: of questions like what is the purpose of life? What
Speaker 2: is the purpose of my life? And is it about
Speaker 2: working hard and spending all the money on shopping
Speaker 2: and then trying to sell them and then take the
Speaker 2: money to buy more and am I supposed to die
Speaker 2: as just a consumer? And that's it, are we built
Speaker 2: to shop and stop?
Speaker 1: So that's how you just sort of kick started on
Speaker 1: your journey to find your eco balance. Would you say
Speaker 2: I had a job opportunity in Malaysia. So I just
Speaker 2: had to downsize my life because I know I cannot
Speaker 2: bring my home wardrobe with me. And then two years
Speaker 2: in Malaysia, I didn't change 2016 to 2017, I didn't change,
Speaker 2: but I met a zero waste Malaysia group end of 2017.
Speaker 2: And this is when I first came across this term
Speaker 2: called Zero Ways, I'm like, what the heck is that?
Speaker 2: What zero waste and how is it possible to achieve zero?
Speaker 2: Right? Surely that everything around us is some sort of packaging.
Speaker 2: So then I started exploring this concept about this five
Speaker 2: concept other than recycling, that's actually refuse, reduce reuse before
Speaker 2: recycling and rot or compose the rest. So I dedicate
Speaker 2: my life in 2018 to just apply this concept into
Speaker 2: my own lifestyle and change. And that is the change
Speaker 2: that I know I've been looking for.
Speaker 1: I'm sure it wasn't an easy.
Speaker 1: So how tough was it to make that sort of
Speaker 1: radical lifestyle change,
Speaker 2: That's the right word radical. So I added one more
Speaker 2: hour in front of the five hour, I rethink and
Speaker 2: I take it as a challenge and I'm a creative.
Speaker 2: So it's like, okay, I got the design brief, I
Speaker 2: will take up the challenge and find alternative solutions to
Speaker 2: my lifestyle, whether it is from beauty to fashion. You know,
Speaker 2: I also committed to zero shopping on fast fashion item.
Speaker 1: So after you found your echo bala,
Speaker 1: You started a clothes swapping organization called up in September 2020.
Speaker 1: Tell us a little about starting with that unique name.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that happened also thanks to Malaysia because as
Speaker 2: I was committed to zero shopping on Fast Fashion, I
Speaker 2: was so ready to wear the same clothes for the
Speaker 2: rest of my life until the founder of Zero Waste
Speaker 2: Malaysia brought me to to fashion swap events. Oh that's
Speaker 2: a game changer man.
Speaker 2: Because all I need to bring is five good items
Speaker 2: and I can bring home up to 20 even. So
Speaker 2: when I came back to Singapore, thanks to the pandemic
Speaker 2: instead of waiting for someone to do it might as
Speaker 2: well just do it right. So then what happened actually,
Speaker 2: the original club founder is Cindy and saying they had
Speaker 2: a great name already. I call myself my Zero Waste
Speaker 2: wardrobe which is quite a mouthful. We were doing about
Speaker 2: the same thing. And then when we came together they
Speaker 2: have some inventory and I have collected some inventory from
Speaker 2: friends and we decided the fastest way to move the
Speaker 2: inventory is through swap
Speaker 2: Because swappers just need to bring five good items and
Speaker 2: they can bring home 10 match made in heaven. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's really timely and we kept to give credit to
Speaker 2: our designer who designed club logo. He came up with
Speaker 2: this name because we really want to close the fashion loop.
Speaker 2: So
Speaker 1: it's so smart. So take us back to the very
Speaker 1: first clothes swapping event that you organized. What did you learn?
Speaker 2: We have to tell you that happened really by accident coincidence,
Speaker 2: what did I learn?
Speaker 2: We organized our first clothes swap in two weeks time
Speaker 2: when we meet and then we decided to move our inventory.
Speaker 2: The clothes swap happened in two weeks time. We work
Speaker 2: so hard pushing the message and everything and we have
Speaker 2: 10 sign out, we're expecting more. Let's move it a
Speaker 2: little bit, but I'm a very positive person. I'm not
Speaker 2: sure if you can sense it, but we can always
Speaker 2: see that silver lining. So we ended up talking to
Speaker 2: a lot of walk ins instead. So we share with
Speaker 2: them what we do and our first swapper that sign
Speaker 2: up become our volunteer now.
Speaker 2: Hi, I'm Stephen and I host the new season of
Speaker 2: our podcast, Heart of the matter, join me in getting
Speaker 2: right to the heart of the headlines as we speak
Speaker 2: with experts and newsmakers to delve deep into the most
Speaker 2: talked about news developments, look out for our episodes wherever
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Speaker 1: For those of us who are not so used to
Speaker 1: this concept of swapping clothes, how effective a solution is
Speaker 1: it for people who want to stop shopping for new
Speaker 1: clothes but still want to stay fashionable and not lose
Speaker 1: their personal style.
Speaker 2: I found this solution actually for myself, I get to
Speaker 2: enjoy fashion in the most sustainable way through swapping also,
Speaker 2: it helped me to let go because remember I was
Speaker 2: also harder, I have stuff from 20 years ago
Speaker 2: That I hold on to but through swapping and give
Speaker 2: it away and I see it sparks joy in other
Speaker 2: people's life and I get better stuff to my wardrobe.
Speaker 2: Actually got better in terms of the brands that come
Speaker 2: in that I have my things got better and really
Speaker 2: it's my zero waste wardrobe now, nothing goes to waste 80%
Speaker 2: are from and the rest of the 20% of things
Speaker 2: that I already have from before that I still love
Speaker 2: and I still use
Speaker 1: it.
Speaker 1: But as good as all it sounds changing our relationship
Speaker 1: with what we wear can't be done overnight. Right? I
Speaker 1: mean there are those who may feel uncomfortable about wearing
Speaker 1: clothes someone else have worn, especially post pandemic within the
Speaker 1: concerns about hygiene and sanitary.
Speaker 1: What are some of the stubborn perceptions that continue to exist?
Speaker 2: The only misconception that people have about swapping is that
Speaker 2: it's 1-1 swap, but ours is not. You can bring
Speaker 2: just five minimum and you can bring home 10
Speaker 2: because we want you to take home more.
Speaker 1: There's enough supply. Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 2: There is more than enough supply. You want to come
Speaker 2: down to my storage. Absolutely. I'll
Speaker 1: definitely check it out.
Speaker 2: Our room is just filled with donations that we need
Speaker 2: to look through one by one inventory just keep coming
Speaker 2: because we produce more than 100 and 50 billion garments
Speaker 2: each year. So then we need
Speaker 2: also catch up with the rapid fashion, you have to
Speaker 2: move the inventory fast.
Speaker 1: Okay, so now that you're in a position to encourage
Speaker 1: others to take part in the zero waste movement, what
Speaker 1: do you think is the best way to communicate with
Speaker 1: non greenies, so to speak. And then I wonder if
Speaker 1: it helps that you used to be at the other
Speaker 1: end of the spectrum.
Speaker 2: So empathy helps because I know it,
Speaker 2: it's not easy. I know the temptation is real. The
Speaker 2: moment you step into archer road, everybody is calling you
Speaker 2: to buy them and then the phone you can't run
Speaker 2: away from your phone. So I actually have seven tips.
Speaker 2: I curbs shopping entirely and I share that through talks workshops.
Speaker 1: Please share with us right here.
Speaker 2: Well first thing first just do not enter really. Do
Speaker 2: yourself a favor. Do not enter the shop. Why set
Speaker 2: yourself up for failure? If you know you'll be tempted
Speaker 2: and you're wasting time money to browse to try and
Speaker 2: then you pay
Speaker 2: And then you bring the item home. Feeling guilty because
Speaker 2: you know that I already have enough. Why do I
Speaker 2: buy one more item and you think you save 70%
Speaker 2: or 30% when there's a sale but you save 100%
Speaker 2: when you don't buy anything. Right? So don't set yourself
Speaker 2: up for failure. Do something that doesn't cost you. I
Speaker 2: spend time in nature. I don't spend time in malls.
Speaker 2: And finally just in the phone. Do not click
Speaker 2: because the moment you click on one item you will
Speaker 2: see like Gazillion banners telling you to buy them and whatnot.
Speaker 2: So what I do, I print screen, print screen and
Speaker 2: I put all my favorite things and Pinterest album of once.
Speaker 2: So I have my virtual wardrobe and it's free of charge.
Speaker 1: Great tips there. Thank you so much, jasmine. And you're
Speaker 1: also looking at recycling. You've launched a couple of textile
Speaker 1: recycling bins across Singapore. Where
Speaker 1: can we find them? And tell us more about the service.
Speaker 2: This is so exciting. So initially, before we met our
Speaker 2: certified recycler, we can only accept clean and good condition
Speaker 2: fashion items don't pass us all your old dirty laundry
Speaker 2: and stuff so we can circulate through swap and resale right?
Speaker 2: But now we can accept clothes, bags, shoes, and household linen,
Speaker 2: household items like toys, Towers, pillows in any condition.
Speaker 2: Thanks to my recycler. So we launched a clip recycling
Speaker 2: bin in july 2022. The first one of course is
Speaker 2: that city sprout where we sprouted. The second one is
Speaker 2: at standard chartered changi business park and the third one
Speaker 2: is going to be at raffles city basement. They have
Speaker 2: a green corner. So you can also drop your unwanted
Speaker 2: textiles in the bin at the Rougher city basement. So
Speaker 2: the list of where you can donate will be available
Speaker 2: at any website as well.
Speaker 1: So where did they all go? What will happen to
Speaker 2: them? They will then go to my recycler and he
Speaker 2: was sort into 500 categories to make sure nothing goes
Speaker 2: to waste. So recently my recycler just visited Singapore to
Speaker 2: catch up with us. He brought to denim rugs made
Speaker 2: of denim that not wearable. And he also came up
Speaker 2: with a mat that is made from clothes that cannot
Speaker 2: be re wear again. They are chopped up into a
Speaker 2: so called garden mat that
Speaker 2: sequester co two,
Speaker 1: that's fascinating. So many ways to declutter our wardrobe sustainably
Speaker 1: a jasmine. But I must admit well getting ready for
Speaker 1: this interview, I was motivated and I took down an
Speaker 1: inventory of my road robe and I was super shocked
Speaker 1: with the number of items. I have felt really bad
Speaker 1: that even with all this I often found myself saying
Speaker 1: I have nothing to wear, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: So
Speaker 1: help me out here for anyone like me who are
Speaker 1: tired of rummaging through clutter and feeling overwhelmed by all
Speaker 1: the stuff in their wardrobe. Where's the best place to start?
Speaker 2: Take them out for a swap. If not you can
Speaker 2: drop them at the club recycling bin because my recycler
Speaker 2: will sort them into 500 categories. He's also aware that
Speaker 2: certain country might not be able to wear clothes like
Speaker 2: what I'm wearing the conservative country for example. He was
Speaker 2: even sought into styles
Speaker 2: that are appropriate for the country to resale and re
Speaker 2: buy them and we wear them. The best form of
Speaker 2: recycling is actually to use the product again to use
Speaker 2: them wear them. That's why our fashion swap is really
Speaker 2: the main focus. We really want to re home. The
Speaker 2: good clothes for people to wear them again, be it
Speaker 2: one year, five years.
Speaker 1: It's so heartening to hear you are dedicating your time,
Speaker 1: your energy to promote reduction of fashion over consumption and waste.
Speaker 1: But
Speaker 1: let's face it jazz. The reality is that it's fighting
Speaker 1: as a massive multi billion dollar fashion industry and it's
Speaker 1: so easy to question whether all this, all your efforts
Speaker 1: will make a difference or even move the needle when
Speaker 1: you have self doubt what keeps you going.
Speaker 2: I think this is so fun for me to be honest,
Speaker 2: although I must confess I see clothes more than I
Speaker 2: see people. So I try to balance my lifestyle to
Speaker 2: before when I was doing full time with zero waste S. G.
Speaker 2: I will
Speaker 2: weekends and our public holiday and after work hours were
Speaker 2: doing me and my partner, that's why august we decided
Speaker 2: to just go full time. So we tender our resignation
Speaker 2: and we went full time with now and I think
Speaker 2: this is the best because we are doing stuff that
Speaker 2: we love and we believe that it will move the
Speaker 2: needle a little bit. Maybe not a lot, but this
Speaker 2: is at least something we can do in this decade
Speaker 2: before the change will be too late.
Speaker 1: What's next on your
Speaker 1: permission to fight fashion ways any expansion plans? I
Speaker 2: don't use the word fight, I want to use the
Speaker 2: word love sounds much better. I just want to spread
Speaker 2: the love of just enjoying fashion in the most kind
Speaker 2: way that we found, which is true swapping. So like
Speaker 2: you say, how, how can we convert people? We're not
Speaker 2: here to convert people, we are here to show you
Speaker 2: that it can be fun again, you know, fashion,
Speaker 2: but today, when you hear about fashion is a bit dirty.
Speaker 2: This word, especially fast fashion and ultra fast fashion is
Speaker 2: just an industry built on exploitation, not just to the
Speaker 2: resources of our planet, but also to people making our clothes,
Speaker 2: but is that fashionable at all?
Speaker 2: No, that's not, that is just dirty, you know, so
Speaker 2: we want to make fashion fun again and sustainable again
Speaker 2: by just either slowing down and even if you're not,
Speaker 2: you are still in fashion addict. Just come swap because
Speaker 2: it's guilt free,
Speaker 1: it sounds like a plan, Jasmine. Well, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for joining me
Speaker 1: today and sharing your stories and valuable tips with us.
Speaker 1: Hopefully our listeners will find them useful in making conscious
Speaker 1: fashion choices going forward and help get off that fashion treadmill.
Speaker 1: We were just talking about
Speaker 2: thank you for having me and make swapping your new shopping. Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you so much,
Speaker 2: thank you,
Speaker 1: but thanks to all of you for tuning in. We
Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed this episode. Do remember to subscribe and
Speaker 1: like this podcast. So, you know, when a new episode drops,
Speaker 1: you can find the Ciena's climate and sustainability coverage online
Speaker 1: at CNN dot asia. The team behind this podcast is Jacqueline,
Speaker 1: chan Danieli and Christina robert, and I'm julie you signing off.