As spring turns to summer, you are probably contemplating a dresser drawer full of sweaters and thinking to go shopping. At the store, maybe you’ll get a skirt, a pair of jeans, and a bunch of T-shirts and tank tops. One quick tour of the mall, and you’re ready for the sunny days ahead. Awesome.
Well, maybe not so awesome. Your trip to the cash register is just one tiny step in the journey your summer wardrobe made on its way to your closet. The full story is complicated, and it isn’t always pretty, but it’s something you might want to keep in mind the next time you want to shop.
To simplify matters, let’s pick just a couple of items from the bags you brought home: one T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Look at the tags inside each. 100% cotton. Cool, right? Cotton is a natural fiber and a renewable resource. But it’s also one of the thirstiest crops on the planet. Growing cotton has been linked to environmentally bad things, like deforestation, water shortages, and pollution. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that it takes more than 20,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilogram of cotton. Or, to put it another way, more than 200,000 liters of water went into making that T-shirt and pair of jeans—and that’s just one outfit.
Even when we factor in the water cotton consumes, we still don’t have a clear picture of the real cost of buying new clothes. The production of raw materials is just the first step in a cycle that also includes the work of sewing the clothes, shipping them from the factory they were made (which is usually in a poor country like India or Bangladesh) to the store you bought them in, and companies getting you to buy their brand over another. If you’re interested in learning more about this process, watching Annie Leonard’s free 20-minute film "The Story of Stuff" is a real eye-opener.
So, does this mean you should go around naked? Well, no. What it does mean is that we should all think before we buy. To put it another way, don’t take that pile of new clothes to the cash register until you’ve asked yourself a few questions:
• “Do I really need this?”
If you’ve outgrown everything you wore last summer, you probably need some new clothes. But, if you just want something new for the sake of having something new, maybe you should put that T-shirt back on the rack.
• “How long will I wear this?”
If you choose clothes because they’re trendy, you’re probably not going to wear them for long. Try picking something you can imagine yourself wearing for months—even years—instead of a few weeks.
• “Can I get by with less?”
Do you really need a dozen tops to get you through the summer? Maybe four or five is enough. There’s no perfect number that’s right for everyone, but try to keep it as low as you can.
In the United States, it seems like we live in a land of plenty because we are surrounded by so much stuff. Shopping can feel like a trivial act, but our purchases have an impact that travels around the globe. Mindful shopping makes you a part of making a real difference.
Image © Petar Neychev | Dreamstime.com