<<< back to FAQs menu

thelittleloop is on a genuine mission to make it easier to be more sustainable. Our goal is to craft a better system, that makes sense for parents, and that offers our young adventurers the best choice of clothing, all while being kinder to our planet.

Why rental is better than buying new?

How does rental compare to buying second-hand?

Is the frequent washing harmful to the environment?

What about the shipping back and forth?

How do you calculate the impact you’re having?

Renting with thelittleloop is a sustainable choice that helps reduce waste and conserve precious resources. Each time you rent a garment, you're preventing the need for a new item to be produced. This displacement effect means our clothes can be worn by up to 5 children on average, saving significant CO2e and water. When a garment reaches the end of its rental life, we ensure it's recycled or added to our second-hand shop, further diverting items from landfills. Renting may be a small change, but its positive impact is substantial.

Opting for rental typically stands as a superior choice, trumping most second-hand approaches with an impressive 60% reduction in CO2e and water footprint. This advantage stems from rental's ability to sustain clothing circulation, a feat not always achieved by traditional second-hand models.

Yet, we understand that rental might not perfectly sync with everyone's lifestyle or preferences. Enter our thoughtfully curated second-hand shop, designed to keep clothes in circulation for longer, just like our rental model. This user-friendly platform not only lets you own the clothes but also presents an instant buy-back feature, opening the door to further adventures. Moreover, our recently introduced clear-out bags add to the simplicity of embracing sustainability.

Our next-generation circular clothing hub for kids (and their adults!), embraces the beautiful duality of rental and second-hand options. Whether you lean toward buying or renting, or perhaps both, our comprehensive solutions make it easier to be more sustainable. Your choice, your way – we've got you covered.

At thelittleloop, we take meticulous care to ensure every rented garment arrives in impeccable condition. Our process involves thorough washing, steaming, stain removal, and necessary repairs for each item upon its return to us. While this may seem extensive, the longer we keep clothes in circulation, the greater the reduction in CO2e emissions and water consumption.

Given that we specialise in the finest sustainable brands, renowned for their durable quality and extended usability, our washing practices have a relatively minor environmental impact. In essence, we conduct just one additional wash compared to what the garment would have undergone. Our laundry practices prioritise wet laundry over environmentally detrimental dry cleaning methods, and we wait until we have a full load before washing—no water or electricity goes to waste. Ultimately, our laundry approach is kinder to both clothing and the planet.

Just like our washing practices, we've taken significant strides to ensure our shipping and delivery processes are environmentally conscious. The overall impact of transporting clothes to and from our customers is comparable to driving to a store or making an online order. In fact, it's even more sustainable considering you receive all your items in a single parcel, as opposed to multiple parcels from different sources.

Furthermore, our commitment to sustainability extends to our packaging. We exclusively use reusable bags that can serve you up to 2000 times! We also include organic cotton inner bags to safeguard the clothes, which can be repurposed for future use. (Please remember to send them back to us.)

The environmental impact of renting, is the CO2e and Water saved because that 'displaced' garment was not made.

We know how much water and CO2e is needed to make 1 kilogram of all sorts of different fabrics. So, we can calculate the CO2e and water saved by each displaced garment, using its weight and the fabric it is made from. Our calculations also take into account a host of other factors like material wasted during production, and CO2e emitted during distribution and washing.

Each of our garments should rent around 4-5 times on average. So that’s  4-5 garments displaced, and 4-5x the CO2e and water saved!

*All of our data is based on reports carried out by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). If you’d like to access any of our sources, or find out even more about our calculations, visit our blog post on measuring impact.

We've kept it concise here, but we're truly passionate about sustainability and could discuss it endlessly. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us!