As the sustainable fashion revolution hits your home, what do you do with that favourite t-shirt that is worn out beyond op-shop acceptability?

There are many uses for those favourite old tees and ways to repurpose clothes, but here are my top three:

1. Cut the front away from the back and sew the front piece into a tube for collecting things like plastic bags for recycling or plant sharing, or for rags. (You even get to keep the pretty picture on your favourite tee if there is one.)

2. Use the back half of a t-shirt for a washable mop cover. (I got this wonderful idea from “Save” – a wonderful book by Shannon Lush & Jennifer Fleming). Tie the square of fabric around the mop head before mopping and take it off to wash after mopping, to reuse and save on buying new mop heads. This is a wonderful reduce and reuse tactic!

3. Cut up worn out clothing into pieces to use as rags around the home. These rags are wonderfully absorbent for cleaning up spills. And you can cut out paper towel from your life while you’re at it! Win-win.

Now that you’ve worn and repurposed your clothes down to their 2nd or 3rd life, you can live with less, or if necessary, replace them with something new but earth-conscious and high quality to last a long time and through many lives of purpose. (My personal favourite is the organic fair trade clothing from Fairtees.)