Dressing to impress was never sustainable
We are buying more clothes than ever before. A recent study released by Mckinsey & Company reveals the average person buys 60 percent more items of clothing than they would in 2000.
This increase reflects a change: a departure from buying clothes out of necessity into a culture of buying clothes to fulfil a desire. But what is the problem here? Simply put, it is the impact this desire driven shopping culture has on our environment.
Indeed, William Rees of the University of British Columbia describes this shopping culture as a “hazard to our life”. And unfortunately, this is not a hyperbolic statement. Approximately 26 billion pounds of clothing and textiles are dumped into landfills annually; a rate at which the earth can simply not assimilate. But the clothing industry isn’t helping out, in fact, it’s stimulating this wasteful shopping culture.
For one thing, clothing companies like Forever21 and H&M produce mass amounts of low-quality clothing. Clothing that is essentially designed to be disposed and replaced. According to Greenpeace, the average person keeps their clothing for about “half as long as they would have 15 years ago”.
And it’s all about the trends. Clothing trends pressure consumers into believing they are continually out of style, consumers react to this pressure by buying more clothes, and in doing so, generate more waste. The issue here can be perfectly summed up by this H&M ad campaign: “New stuff is coming in each and every day. Why not do the same.”
Some might argue that the shopping industry is vital to a strong economy. According to Industry Canada, in 2011, “the sector generated $457.4 billion in retail sales and represented approximately 12 percent of the Canadian workforce.” In other words, there is a lot of money invested in the clothing industry.
But in no way am I suggesting the removal of the clothing industry, because even if it were possible, it would have detrimental effects on employment and commerce. Rather, I am suggesting we make efforts to change our clothing industry.
It is our job as responsible consumers to promote change within the clothing industry. We should campaign for more durable and long-lasting clothes and support the implementation of a more sustainable shopping culture. But on a much smaller scale, before you buy your next garment, think about whether you really “can’t live without it”.