On average Australians throw away around 21 million tonnes of waste per year, according to the Australian Government’s Living Greener initiative. This figure includes waste from our homes and gardens as well as waste generated from building and renovating our homes.

Since the population of Australia is 22 million, we’re each contributing nearly one tonne (that’s 1000 kg) of waste every single year. This is three kgs of waste each, every day, every year ongoing.

Steps to reduce waste are simple actions we each undertake to minimise our footprint on the planet – today as World Environment Day and every other day after that. 

The Living Greener website gives advice on actions you can take: “By thinking about what you really need and refusing what you don’t, giving items more than one life and disposing of rubbish thoughtfully, you can reduce waste and show others that you value our resources and the environment

My focus with the 365-day Sew it Again project is showing how we can reuse existing clothing to save them going to landfill. If resewing and refashioning isn’t your thing, there are other sustainable, responsible ways to buy clothing outlined by Shelly Pratt on ecostore.

Sew 156 was a tired but pretty wool cardigan with its somewhat dated style and grubby wrists making it destined for landfill if I’d not rescued it from an op shop in the nick of time. It is a cable machine knit, giving it lots of stretch across the hips and is embellished with pretty flowers and crocheted bobble buttons. I removed by hand the small amount of pilling created by matted loose fibres which appear with wear, and this instantly upgraded the garment’s appearance.

Make the cardigan skirt by turning it upside down. Cut off the sleeves in line with the side seams then cut open the shoulder seams and remove the seams to create a straight bottom for the skirt (leave the old neckline curve at the front as a feature). Secure the side seams of the skirt by sewing (across the gap where the sleeves used to be) several times (overlock or zigzag, then use straight stitch to finish the side seam). To finish off the hem, I zizagged wool strips cut from the neck of Sew 155 which then crinkle up to form a random trim. To create a waistband through which to thread elastic, I used bias binding stitched top and bottom inside the garment. To make the neck scarf from the sleeves, I cut off the grubby wrists, inserted one arm inside the other (right sides together) and sewed the wrist edges together into a circle. Turn right side out, sew the other ends right-sides together as far as possible on the machine, before turning back out and stitching the remaining gap by hand. The photos give some idea of this but you may need to attend a workshop or talk with someone with sewing experience to make this work of you.