Making a Difference With Your Clothing

Almost a year to the day ago I posted about fast fashion and consumption and didn't touch on it too much for the rest of the year. Time to check in and revive this topic. While the major onus is on governments and corporations to make huge changes to battle climate change, individually we can make little changes that add up to make a big difference for the Earth. With one of leading contributors of pollution being the fashion industry, the easiest way anyone can start caring for the Earth is by reexamining their fashion choices. Keep reading on to figure out how your wardrobe can help the Earth.

Find Out the Current Impact You’re Making

Some people are motivated by keeping track of things and measuring changes. You? Not really me, but it's good to figure out the current carbon footprint you’re making with your fashion choices. Look into trying an online fashion footprint calculator in order to find out how much your spending habits and clothing choices are contributing to climate change. Knowing where you’re starting off will make it much easier to figure out how much of a difference you’re actually making once you start being more mindful. Do you rent clothes for special events? How often are you buying fast fashion? Do you donate all unused clothing items? Let's get down into it. 

Donate or Sell Your Unwanted Clothing

Once you’ve gone through your entire closet, you’ll want to divide your entire wardrobe into keep or donate piles. If you have trouble deciphering what you want to keep versus what you want to donate, ask yourself the following questions: does this still fit me? When is the last time I’ve worn this? Does this accurately reflect my style? Answering one or all of those questions will help determine if you should actually keep your item versus getting rid of it. If it’s the latter, offer it to a friend or look into donating to a local organization. If neither of those will work, call Vietnam Vets for a pickup. If you have higher quality in good shape clothing from brands such as Madewell, Free People, Lululemon, etc. that you’re willing to get rid of, sell your gently used clothes online. Thred Up is super easy, you just pack them up and send them off. Donating or selling your clothing will reduce your carbon footprint, help eliminate clothes from entering landfills and give your clothes the second life they deserve. Not having a bunch of crap to get rid of in the first place is the most desirable, but after that, finding a second life for your stuff is the next best thing you can do.

Create a Minimalist Wardrobe

So much of our closet is often filled with clothes we never wear or have only worn once or twice. In order to reduce your footprint, cut down your wardrobe to only include the necessary pieces. Some people can jam with having 10 to 20 essential pieces in a capsule wardrobe, making their wardrobe a lot lighter and working to create variety with what they have. If that interests you, you can check out following a guide to creating a minimalist wardrobe to help prevent you from buying extra clothing and downsize your carbon footprint.  You can check out Steph's spring and summer capsule wardrobe here to get a better idea about that. 

Shop Eco-Friendly

Of course there will be times where you’ll want to add new styles to your closet, so let's talk shopping in an eco-friendly way. This can be by shopping secondhand online or by going to your local thrift and/or vintage shops. I've had great luck on Poshmark and Thred Up. Another way is by looking into ethical and sustainably made fashion. Shopping sustainably means supporting companies that have less water usage in the creation of clothes, sustainable packaging, the use of recycled materials and low impact dyes in the clothing.

Of course, the very best way to reduce your carbon footprint when it comes to your clothes is to wear them until they die then use them in another way. Very seriously, the rate at which many people buy new clothes is mind blowing when you think about how your grandparents got by with their wardrobe. Over the last year I have bought less than I ever have, and what I have bought I was very picky about. I used to buy a bunch of shit - $5 t-shirt here, $15 dress there, get rid of them at will, whatever. That shit added up. I can see in my mind the exact items of clothing I bought last year because they were all bought with intent and there were much less of them than there have ever been been before. I only bought one item that was a straight wish add (not filling a hole I had in my wardrobe). It feels good to stay in line with what I set out to do. It's helped me feel less cluttered and wasteful and I haven't felt deprived.

Are you trying to cut down on fast fashion and be more mindful with your carbon footprint in regards to clothes?