We have steadily generated more and more waste over the years, filling our landfills, not to mention a whole host of other environmental problems faced by the U.S. and the rest of the world.

No matter what you think the world’s biggest issues are, you are unlikely to think of fashion as either a problem or a solution. Yet ethical, sustainable clothing can actually help address many of these issues in ways you may not expect. Even better, clothing is something that everyone needs and uses, making it an extremely accessible avenue for the average person to affect change.

Hargan Denim is a brand that aims to bridge the gap between consumers and the industry through design and fashion on what ethical values are and why they are important. Through our “repurposed” denim collection we aim to bring attention to how much waste we already have within the denim industry and what it is doing to our environment with overfill of landfills. The U.S. alone sends about 21 billion pounds of textile waste to landfills every year. And sadly, only 10-15% of donated clothing actually ends up in the secondhand market. The clothing that ends up in landfills can sit there for 200 plus years, and as it decomposes, it emits methane (a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon.) Right now, less than 1% of collected clothing is recycled into new yarns and fibers. New technologies, like chemical recycling (which separates raw materials from dyes, elastics, etc. for effective use as new textiles) are in the works, but we have a long way to go until they’re fully developed and put into mainstream practice.