How many pieces of clothing do you think you have in your wardrobe? In today’s world of fast fashion, easy online shopping and ever-changing trends, chances are it’s way too many.
Now, a
new report from a Berlin sustainability think-tank, the Hot or Cool Institute, lays out how many items of clothing the average person in a four-season G20 country such as ours really needs: 85 (keep in mind that includes coats and shoes, but not underwear and accessories).
Going by the institute’s math, that works out to about 23 outfits total, which they say can include one to four pieces of clothing.
The report notes we need to drastically reduce our clothing consumption if we’re going to meet the 1.5 C target of the Paris Agreement.
“Current trends in fashion consumption, in particular fast fashion, cannot be maintained if we aim to achieve a fair and just transition to climate neutrality,” the authors say.
That number 85 falls within what the institute calls a “fair consumption space,” defined as “a space where consumption levels stay below environmentally unsustainable levels yet above sufficiency levels that allow individuals to fulfil their basic needs.”
It assumes the average person needs workwear, home wear, sports and activewear, festive occasion outfits and outdoor clothing, and all 85 items are actually in use. It also requires a reduced carbon footprint — such as avoiding excessive laundry and impulse shopping, extending the life of your garments through mending and buying second-hand or swapping.
When you consider that the average person in North America purchases 37 kilograms of clothing per year, according to Katherine White, a professor of marketing and behavioural science at the University of British Columbia, it’s safe to say many of our wardrobes far exceed the recommendations.
“The average North American buys way too much clothing,” White told CBC News.
“Part of this is driven by the fact that we are constantly bombarded with advertising messages to buy more stuff. The system is set up to remind, reinforce and reward us for making repeated consumption choices with short-term hedonic payoffs.”
Advocates have been saying this needs to change for years. A recent study found that Ontarians generate 500 million kilograms of textile waste a year — and that 86 per cent of those materials have reuse or recycling potential.
The textile and clothing industry is also responsible for two to eight per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the
United Nations Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, and textiles account for about nine per cent of annual microplastic losses to the oceans.
So, with that in mind, how can you cut down on your own clothing consumption?
First, think of it in terms of pieces, not outfits, said Erin Polowy, the founder and editor of Canadian clothing sustainability website My Green Closet. With careful planning, you can have a diverse and fashionable wardrobe with very few pieces in it, she said — even fewer than the 85 suggested in the report.
“I can make 40 or 50 outfits from my roughly 33-item wardrobe that I do every season,” she told CBC News.
“There’s a lot of creativity that comes with constraint.”
In a recent YouTube video, for instance, Polowy shows viewers her winter capsule wardrobe — a curated collection of a limited amount of clothing that she mixes and matches — which contains just 28 items to get her through an Edmonton winter.
Pay careful attention to what you actually wear day-to-day, Polowy suggests, and build a wardrobe around a few quality, staple pieces that you love. When you are looking to add new pieces, shop second-hand, try to avoid impulse purchases and choose more sustainable clothing brands.
— Natalie Stechyson
