Fashion sustainability club at UT gives students environmentally friendly options to shop | Campus Events

The Sustainable Fashion Club at UT strives to give students ways to shop secondhand, keeping clothes out of landfills. In 2018, the EPA reported that landfills in the US received 17 million tons of textile waste.

The club started approximately one year ago and hosts clothing markets on campus for students to fuel their shopping addictions while staying environmentally friendly.

Steven Lopez, co-founder of the club, talked about why he thought it was important for UT to have a fashion sustainability organization.

“We had been doing markets in Knoxville for a couple of months,” Lopez said. “We wanted to find a way to do it on campus but also get students involved.”

Secondhand markets in Knoxville have become popular over the years as more people become aware of the fast fashion industry’s effects on the environment. There are several city market hosts, including Knoxville Vintage Market and The Great Outdoor Market. Lopez, along with other students, curated a space for students to shop sustainable products while staying budget-friendly.

Tyler Jordan, co-founder of the club, talks about how they understand the budgets of college students and how they are accommodating to it.

“It’s become more of a trend to sell clothing and market up as much as they can,” Jordan said. “We don’t have a single item over $25.”

With prices becoming higher at markets in the city, students are more likely to shop fast fashion, forgetting the effects it has on the environment.

The production of fast fashion is an energy-intensive process that uses synthetic products that take hundreds of years to biodegrade. The impact of fast fashion is already being seen in the environment, and it will worsen if companies continue to design, produce and deliver items within a two-week process.

“It’s really not needed to buy something new if there’s items that are used that are just as good, if not better,” Lopez said.

The club will be collaborating with the Fashion Society club at UT Sept. 19 to host a market in the Student Union Plaza. Each vendor will have over 200 uniquely curated items for you to shop from.

Aside from markets, the club hosts other events throughout the year to promote sustainability through clothing such as reworking workshops. The club also plans to host sewing workshops and clothing swaps in the future.

This semester, the club has partnered with Depop, a clothing resale app, to promote different ways to shop secondhand.

“We’re able to get stuff from them to do seminars on how you can shop sustainably on Depop, and how you can make money while you’re in college through Depop,” Lopez said.

Depop has supplied them with sewing kits, tote bags, wallets and stickers to give away to students at their next market.

If you are interested in joining the Sustainable Fashion Club on campus, don’t feel as if you have to be knowledgeable about reselling clothes.

“We’re not a club to teach people how to sell clothes,” Jordan said. “We teach them how to find these clothes sustainably.”

The club meets every first and last Thursday of the month to discuss future plans to create a space on campus for students to find one-of-a-kind clothing while also helping our planet.

Follow the Sustainable Fashion Club on Instagram to keep up with upcoming events.