Clothing
Consumption Tool
We built a tool for you that gives you different options of what to do if you want to get a new clothing item or do not use a clothing item anymore – all in line with circular consumption practices. We listed examples of repair instructions, donation options, or rental companies so you can find the one that’s the most fitting for you.
What do you want to do?
Get a clothing item
Manage textile products I do not use anymore
What are you
interested in?
Swapping
Borrowing/renting
Family/Friends
Second-hand
New clothing
Swapping
Here you can find a link to previous and future swapping activities in Finland:
SWAP! – Finland’s largest clothing change event
Borrowing or renting
Here you can find a link to different rental services in Finland:
Family/Friends
Ask your family members or friends if they have items they do not want to use anymore.
Second-hand
New clothing
If you do not wish to purchase pre-owned clothing, you should preferably purchase from sustainable brands. The Sustainable brand Index in Finland can help you identify them.
Here you can also read more about sustainable and long-lasting purchases in Helsinki.
We listed some sustainable fashion brands from Finland for you here:
If you want to know more about the different ecolabels on clothing items, you can find more information here:
Can your article of clothing still be used?
Yes
No
Find someone else who can reuse it
Fix it/ do upcycling
Donate it
Share it
Swap it
Fix it/ do upcycling
If you are not really sure how to repair your textile items yourself, there are different repair workshops in Finland you can take part in or you can find different repair instructions online. We combined a list of some workshops and instructions for you:
If you need to rent equipment, like sewing machines, you can do so in some of the local libraries:
There are also some repair cafés that are happy to help and can provide the right equipment:
Donate it
If you would like to give your clothing items a chance of a new owner, there are different charities that take clothing donations. Some of them even provide home collection services. You can find places to donate clothing to in Finland here:
Share it
There is always the opportunity to give your clothing items to family members or friends.
Swap it
You can also always look for swapping events or exchange markets in your region. Here is one example:
Can it be fixed or upcycled?
Yes, fix it!
No, recycle!
Fix it!
If you are not really sure how to repair your textile items yourself, there are different repair workshops in Finland you can take part in or you can find different repair instructions online. We combined a list of some workshops and instructions for you:
If you need to rent equipment, like sewing machines, you can do so in some of the local libraries:
There are also some repair cafés that are happy to help and can provide the right equipment:
Recycle!
If your clothing items are broken, have unremovable stains, or are in poor condition and cannot be fixed, it is important NOT to throw them in the mixed waste. Finland collects the end-of-life textiles separately now, in order for them to be recycled.
You can find links to collection containers for end-of-life textiles (textile waste) here:
Kierrätyspisteet – Suomen Tekstiilikierrätys
And UFF collection containers accept both, usable and non-usable textiles:
Information on end-of-life textiles and what can be disposed of in the containers can be found here: