An Honest Look at My Current Sustainable Fashion Journey

This post first appeared in our weekly Make Waves Mondays email series on August 11, 2025.

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Hello hello friend!

First things first, if you didn’t see the announcement on Friday, our new toothpaste tablets have arrived! They’re the same brand as we’ve always had, but with a full glow-up ✨

Truth be told, when I found out our toothpaste tablets were getting a totally new formula and new packaging, I was hella skeptical. But after literally just one brushing with the new formula, I was totally hooked.

➡️ Zero chalkiness.

➡️ The most refreshing, natural mint (with a touch of menthol and a hint of vanilla bean).

➡️ Juuust the right amount of foam.

Yep — you read that right. Our toothpaste tablets foam now! 🥳

Plus, they’re now certified cruelty-free and 100% palm-oil free, with a resealable stand-up zipper pouch, and a FREE packaging return program for those EcoWarriors who don’t have access to industrial composting!

If you’ve tried toothpaste tablets before but didn’t love them, give these babies a try. Like for real. You will not be disappointed.

(We’ve got a trial size packet now, too! 10 tablets for just $1.50.)

Now for today’s blog post, I wanna do something a little different and a little more personal.

I’m currently in the midst of a full wardrobe overhaul.

I know, I know, you probably just read that and your brain immediately went, “But Krystina!! You’re supposed to be zero waste!! A full wardrobe overhaul is anything but sustainable!!”

And in nearly all situations, you’d be absolutely correct with that reaction. Which is why I wanna talk about it today. 

So let’s dive in 👇

The Problem | How I Got Here

I’m not overhauling my wardrobe just because I want to be on trend with whatever’s most in style these days. 

I’m overhauling my wardrobe out of necessity…for a few reasons.

#1. I’ve gained weight.

 (Why does typing that out feel so vulnerable?? Oof…)

Over the last couple of years, I’ve gained a non-insignificant amount of weight. 2024 was an incredibly stressful year for me, personally and professionally, in multiple ways, which I do contribute much of the weight gain to. 

stress + stress snacking - regular workouts = helloooo bigger pants

#2. My clothes are really old.

I take really good care of my clothes. I wear them multiple times before washing them, I wash them on cold, I use laundry bags for more delicate items, and I hang dry nearly everything. So my clothes last me a really long time.

I still have clothes in my wardrobe from early high school. I have a lot of clothes from college.

Yep, that’s College Krystina 👆 I pulled this photo from my Facebook page, posted in October 2013. This shirt and scarf are still in my dresser.

And as I mentioned in last week’s post all about textile recycling, every textile will, at some point, become worn out, no matter how well you take care of them.

So combine the 15+ year old clothes with the aforementioned weight gain, and you’ve got a recipe for a stretched out, worn thin wardrobe.

#3. I’m 32.

Simply put, I don’t want to be wearing the same clothes that I wore when I was 14 🤷

👉 So given all of this, it’s clearly time for a wardrobe makeover. But I’m determined to make this process as sustainable and zero waste as possible, so let’s talk about how I’m going through this process.

The Solution: Part 1 | Out With the Old

I SO wish that ethically and sustainably getting rid of old clothes was easier! When I first started this journey, I knew I was going to have quite the pile of non-donatable clothes, but obviously didn’t just want to throw them away.

Luckily, I had already done a blog post deep-dive into textile recycling a few years ago, so I went back to that blog post to review my own suggestions 😅 Which was when I realized that my suggestions were a bit out of date, and why I revamped and re-shared it last week.

So here’s what I’m doing with my old wardrobe:

• Sell what I can. I won’t be doing this with many items, but I have a few pieces that I’m probably going to list on Poshmark or Facebook Marketplace first to see if I can sell them myself. It probably won’t get me much, but I’m gonna see what happens!
  
  

• Donate what’s donatable. I’m very picky with what I put in the donate pile! A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself, “Would I be excited to find this item on a thrift store shelf?” If the answer is no (or mehhhh…) it doesn’t go in the donate pile. So only items that are still in good shape are going to my local thrift store (shout-out to Mission Thrift on 6th Ave!). 

  • Not stretched out

  • Not worn thin

  • No holes

  • No stains

  • Washed and clean!

• Recycle what’s recyclable. There are no perfect clothing recycling solutions, but if I can keep some materials and resources out of the waste stream, I’m going to do what I can to make that happen! Based on all the research I did for our textile recycling blog post, I’ll be utilizing Blue Jeans Go Green for recycling any worn-out denim and Retold Recycling for everything else.

• Stretched out

• Worn thin

• Non-repairable holes

• Stained

• Throw away what’s not recyclable. This is the absolute last resort. I wish that it didn’t need to be included in the process at all, but, unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world where sometimes trash is inevitable. In my case, this is mostly really old, worn out, discolored, ripped, non-repairable shoes.

The Solution: Part 2 | In With the New

So now that 90% of my wardrobe is in boxes ready to go where they need to go, it’s time to replenish!

But you know ya girl isn’t about to just hit up the mall for a 90s rom com-style shopping spree.

This has been and will be for a while an ongoing process. And I’m gonna be honest with you, friend, it’s not always as “easy” as the rom com shopping spree would be, but I DEFINITELY believe it’s well worth the extra effort.

Taking this process slowly and intentionally means that I know that I love every single piece I’m bringing into my closet and will wear them regularly.

Whether you’re buying new or shopping secondhand, a great way to approach the price of a piece of clothing is to think about the per-wear price. If you buy a Shein t-shirt for $5 but it falls apart after 3 wears, or you get it home and realize it’s not really your style or doesn’t quite fit so you only wear it 3 times before deciding it’s not for you, that’s a $1.67 per-wear price (plus the price and hassle of having to sustainably and ethically discard that t-shirt at the end of its life).

But on the other hand, if you invest in a well-made, ethically-produced shirt, that flatters your body type and you LOVE, that maybe costs $60, if you wear that shirt just 36 times, it’ll have lower per-wear cost than that Shein t-shirt.

I’m just making up numbers here, but you get the idea…

So here’s how I’ve been rebuilding my wardrobe as sustainably and ethically as possible:

• Thrifting! Shout-out again to Mission Thrift here in Tacoma — it’s relatively small, but they have some real good stuff there! Most of my new wardrobe has come from this thrift shop. Jeans, shorts, tops, sweaters, workout clothes…I’ve gotten ‘em all! (I’m also a big fan of ThredUp!)

The most recent photo of me (and my partner), celebrating our engagement in 100% thrifted outfits from Mission Thrift ✨

• Clothing swaps + sharing with friends. I’ve participated in some organized clothing swaps and gotten some great items that way, but I also just love swapping clothes with friends. Some of my favorite go-tos once belonged to friends that they gave me rather than donate when those items no longer sparked joy.
  
  I’ve also participated in some “round robin”-style swaps through my Buy Nothing Group. Someone will offer up a bag of clothes, the first neighbor takes what they want, adds their own items to the bag, and passes it along to another neighbor so the cycle can continue.
  
  

• Buying new. I haven’t bought much new, but there are a few items that I did and I love them and wear them constantly. There’s a small, locally-owned clothing shop here in Tacoma that donates a portion of sales to a nonprofit organization that fights human trafficking and not only do I love their mission, their clothes are so beautiful (and only sourced from ethical companies)! They’re definitely investment pieces, and I purchased a few pieces from them last summer that I wear nearly every day.

An unsustainable note: While I absolutely prioritize secondhand options first, and when I do purchase new I intentionally choose to support small, ethical companies, I want to be fully transparent with you and share that I had a few gift cards from YEARS AGO from companies I would never support on my own these days, and I did opt to use those gift cards, since the companies already had the money. I would never shame or judge anyone for doing the same, and part of the purpose of this blog is to show that this isn’t a straightforward process, so don’t want to hide that from you 🙏

I’m not rushing to fully “restock” all of the clothes that I’ve removed from my wardrobe this summer.

I’m taking my time, choosing new pieces with intention, making sure that I truly love every item and will wear it regularly.

I don’t need an overflowing dresser and closet. I don’t need a What Not to Wear-level budget. I just need a core collection of pieces that I will wear over and over and over again.

So in summary…

I saw something on social media earlier this year that said something like, “It’s only sustainable to buy five items of clothing a year, even if you’re thrifting those items.”

And I’m not gonna lie to you, friend, it got to me a bit.

I hardly EVER buy clothes. And I live every day of my life trying to be as sustainable as possible. But when getting dressed in the morning makes me want to cry because 90% of my wardrobe is too small for me, or is 15 years old and see-through, that’s not good for anyone.

So I wanted to take today with this blog post to do things a bit differently and show you the real behind-the-scenes look at how I’m approaching this dilemma in my personal life. It’s not meant to be a blanket permission slip to throw away your wardrobe and go on a shopping spree, but rather to remind you that we’re all just humans, trying to do the best we can, when we can, where we can. 

So let me know what you think of this blog post! I’m curious to hear your thoughts!

And if you have any tips or tricks for me as I navigate this process, I’d love to hear them! Just comment below and let me know 💙

Thanks for being awesome, friend. I’ll “see” you again next week!