WHAT BIG DIFFERENCE

Our Small Fixes Can Make!

- By Shri Amarasinghe

There is something quietly radical about a needle and thread

This is not nostalgia. It is recalibration. Repair asks a different question of fashion, not “Is this new?” but “Is this worth keeping?”

From a climate perspective, the answer matters more than we realize. The carbon footprint of producing a new garment far outweighs the emissions associated with maintaining an existing one. Every time we mend instead of replace, we avoid the emissions linked to fibre production, dyeing, manufacturing, packaging, and global transport.

That is why the WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) and SOJO figures are so powerful. They turn an abstract concept, sustainability, into a tangible outcome. A single repair equals dozens of everyday activities we already recognize as energy-intensive.

And unlike many sustainability solutions, repair does not require new technology, complex infrastructure, or policy reform to begin. It requires a mindset shift.

There is also a deeper, more human layer to mending that data alone cannot capture. When we repair a garment, we form a relationship with it. We notice its weak points. We learn how it moves with the body. We invest time, attention, and often care. A repaired garment carries a story, a reminder of a moment when it could have been discarded but wasn’t.

In many cultures, especially here in Sri Lanka and across South Asia, mending was never exceptional. Clothes were altered, passed down, reworked. Fabric held value. Skills were shared across generations. Waste, as we know it today, simply did not exist in the same way. Modern fashion disrupted this rhythm, replacing continuity with disposability. Repair brings us back to a slower, more respectful relationship with what we wear.