5 ways to live a sustainable life with circular thinking from Junk Kouture

RTÉ News​

19-05-2025

Junk Kouture is on a mission to empower young people to embrace circular thinking and sustainable living in their everyday lives.
Tune in to the Junk Kouture Dublin City Final tonight at 7pm on RTÉ2 & RTÉ Player!
As part of a growing global movement, Junk Kouture encourages youth to reimagine waste and take action within their schools and communities to support a more sustainable future. The competition shines a light not just on the environmental costs of fast fashion, but on the broader need for circular solutions, where resources are reused, repurposed, and revalued rather than discarded.
Here, the Junk Kouture team shares five key facts about circular living, community impact, and the importance of sustainable choices, especially for young changemakers.
1. Humanity is consuming 1.7 times more resources than the Earth can regenerate each year
This is known as Earth Overshoot Day, the date each year when our resource use exceeds what the planet can replenish. It's a sign that our "take-make-waste" system is unsustainable. Circular thinking helps push back that date by reducing waste, conserving materials, and shifting to regenerative practices.
2. Three out of five fashion garments end up in a landfill within a year of purchase
Fast fashion is a major culprit, but the disposable culture extends far beyond wardrobes. From day-to-day supplies to packaging, we're taught to value convenience over longevity. Embracing circular thinking means repairing, reusing, and reimagining items to extend their life and young people are leading the charge in this shift.
3. Over 90% of materials used in manufacturing globally are wasted after a single use
The current global economy is only 7.2% circular, according to the Circularity Gap Report 2023. That means the vast majority of resources extracted like metals, plastics, and textiles are never cycled back into use. The goal of a circular economy is to close that loop through design, innovation, and behaviour change.
4. Microplastics are not just in the ocean, they're in us
Over one third of all ocean microplastics come from synthetic textiles, and those particles have made their way into the food chain, water systems, and even our bodies. Solutions come not just from switching fabrics, but from rethinking how we design, care for, and dispose of products. Circular thinking teaches us to consider the full lifecycle of everything we use.
5 Community-led circular solutions are gaining ground
While only a small percentage of textiles are formally recycled, young people are leading innovative grassroots solutions like swap-shops, upcycling workshops, zero-waste school initiatives, and digital sharing platforms. These actions contribute to key UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG 13: Climate Action.