International Zero Waste Day in Bled

© Polona Ponikvar

On Friday, March 28, a presentation of a project for the effective prevention and management of textile waste took place in Bled, featuring a clothing swap event. With this, Ecologists Without Borders and their partners marked International Zero Waste Day. This year’s observance, held on March 30 at the initiative of the United Nations, focuses on zero waste in the fashion and textile industry.

© Polona Ponikvar

The mayor of the Municipality of Bled, Anton Mežan, highlighted one of the problems of fast fashion in his speech: “Clothing used to be passed down from generation to generation, but today we're mocked if we don’t wear established brands.” Peter Torkar, the mayor of the Municipality of Gorje, has been noticing more and more waste in the field, which is why the zero waste principles—once a natural part of our lives—are now even more important.

“In Bled, we collect 40 tons of textile waste each year, and many of the clothes among the waste are completely new,” emphasized Janez Resman, director of Infrastruktura Bled, who attended the event wearing a 45-year-old jacket he saved from being discarded or incinerated. “We also find unused bedding and towels among the waste,” he added, pointing out the link with tourism.

Blaž Veber, director of the Bled Tourist Board, who will also be actively involved in implementing the project, noted that fashion changes just as quickly as trends in tourism.

© Polona Ponikvar

The activities of the project, which in the coming years will take place not only in Bled and the village of Gorje but also in Brussels, Belgium, and Saku, Estonia, were presented by the president of Ecologists Without Borders, Katja Sreš:

“The project Strengthening the Implementation of Circular Strategies for Textiles in the EU (STICT), led by Zero Waste Europe, will help municipalities establish best practices for reducing textile waste and develop a data-driven system for managing it.”

© Polona Ponikvar

This year in Bled, alongside building consensus on extended producer responsibility for textiles, several clothing swap events, repair workshops, and educational activities will take place, as well as the traditional Reuse Festival.

At today’s opening event, representatives of public institutions and civil society also gathered to contribute ideas for achieving the goals of the European project. The initiative will continue on April 23 with the celebration of this year’s Worn Clothes Day.