F: Facts & Figures

You may be vaguely aware of the fact that a green clothing style is not something you’d need to consider some time in a distant future. But maybe – probably? – the urgency of greenifying your closet has not come home to you quite yet. Fret not. Here are some facts & figures that make clear the importance of working towards a sustainable lifestyle. Once you’ve read them, is there still an excuse for not taking immediate action?

According to research by Elizabeth Cline, Americans buy an average of one new clothing item per week.
Almost half of the American population (48%) trash re-usable clothing, says USAgain.
Less than a third of US consumers (31%) is prepared to pay more for environmentally friendly clothing, according to a 2011 study. A staggering 49% say they're definitely not to willing to pay extra.

In 2012, a UK study found that in the average British household 30% of clothing has not been worn for a year. This equals 1.7 billion unused items.
One in five Britons are wearing items only once before throwing them away, a survey of 2200 UK consumers by M&S found in spring 2012.
In 2001, two Guardian journalists calculated that a pair of jeans sold in the UK had travelled 40.000 miles and visited 13 different countries before hitting the store.

One in five Dutch citizens admitted in 2012 not knowing which clothing is suitable for donating.
Dutch consumers tend to use their jeans for a considerable amount of time. In 2010, the lifespan of a pair of jeans in a Dutch closet was 1 to 3 years.
According to a 2012 survey, 89% of female consumers in the Netherlands prefer sustainable clothing to conventional fashion.

According to estimates, the production of a woolen suit requires the use of 685.000 liters of water.
It is estimated that in cases where production is out sourced to a developing world country, workers' wages only account for between 0.5 to 4% of the final retail cost of a garment.
During the production of a clothing item, 15% of the fabric will be binned, says Sass Brown in her book 'Ecofashion'.
Textile waste takes up 5% of the global landfill space.
A large part of carbon emissions (70%) related to clothes results from consumer behavior, not the production of cotton or distribution.
An average clothing item can be washed 52 times before it’s worn out.
Every year, approximately 50 million animals worldwide are killed for fur. This includes an estimated two million cats and dogs.
The environmental impact of one kilo fur is five times as big as the climate impacts of one kilo of textiles.