Did you know?
Statistics shopping behaviour and clothes
- At least 50% of bought clothes never get worn and thrown away with tags on.
- 56% of clothing is an impulse purchase, often being blinded by the prospect of a bargain
- The average woman has 103 clothes – wears 10%, considers 21% unwearable, 33% too tight, and 24% too loose.
- 80% of the time we wear 20% of our clothes
Pollution statistics on clothes pollution
- Clothes production contributes 10% to global pollution.
- The clothes’ carbon footprint of 1.7 billion tons of CO2 per year is higher than France, Germany, and the UK produce together.
- Research predicts that clothes pollution will increase by 60% in the next decade.
The brutal clothes and pollution statistics
The price we pay for looking good is high. Fashion, particularly fast fashion, is terrible for the environment. Clothes production takes up large amounts of energy, water and other resources. Producing 1kg of fabric generates 23 kilograms of greenhouse gases on average proven by the experts. From the pesticides used on cotton fields to the washes in which denim is dunked, clothes production takes its toll on our planet.
Comparing the lifetime of a garment today to 15 years ago, consumers keep almost every type of apparel only half as long. Unwanted clothes and their production resources go to waste faster than ever. Fast fashion is at the top of the list; garments are thrown away within a year of production, spiralling wasting resources and linear consumption.
Clothes Overproduction
Large amounts of clothes overproduction end in landfills to maintain the brands’ value. Fast fashion brands like Boohoo, Urban Outfitters, and Don’t Be Misguided are first on the list of wasteful production.
The above statistics should force us to reflect on our clothes decisions. How we and whether we take care of our existing garments and shop for new or preloved clothes impacts the environment. We must be conscious that every decision we make should contribute to more sustainability and less pollution of our planet.
On following pages, we will provide ideas of rethinking fashion and clothes by looking and evaluating your existing wardrobe but also making more sustainable shopping decisions.