Dr. Sabine Weber
Affiliation: Seneca Polytechnic, School of Fashion
My research began by examining how consumers manage unwanted clothing, leading me to explore social innovation and circular solutions for textile waste. Together with colleagues from the Sustainable Fashion Consumption Network, I co-authored Urban Transitions toward Sufficiency-Oriented Circular Post-Consumer Textile Economies. Recognizing the lack of reliable data, I conducted large-scale household textile waste audits to understand what ultimately ends up in the garbage. Working closely with industry on textile recycling reinforced that recycling alone cannot solve the problem; we also need to reduce consumption and make better use of existing clothing. This led to my latest research project, Wear Share Repeat, a 15-week study in which approximately 100 participants shared clothes.