Who hasn’t ever looked at their closet and thought that maybe they have too many clothes? When we are choosing an outfit for an event we don’t think about it, but when it comes to changing our wardrobe when moving from one season to another, we probably do. The truth is that it is difficult to quantify how much is too much clothing. There are no absolute figures in this regard, but there are some approximations. The European Union itself has made calculations of the number of times we should wear each type of garment to compensate for the carbon footprint what it means to manufacture it.
With this, the designer and researcher at Torrens University in Australia Alicja Kuźmycz has devised a simple mathematical formula that helps us make the calculations in a much more personalized way, taking into account our real volume of garments.
Mathematics answers. According to the European Union (EU)to offset our carbon footprint we should use each of our shirts and blouses 40 times and our T-shirts 45 times. As for pants, dresses, skirts and jumpsuits, the figure rises to 70 uses. Cardigans, sweaters and sweatshirts must exceed 85 uses and with coats and jackets it would be necessary to reach 100. It is something that seems achievable, but the more garments we have, the more complicated it is.
To get an idea of the time it would take to meet the European Union’s objectives, we can do a simple calculation: multiply the objective by the volume of garments and divide the result by the frequency. For example, in a study carried out by Kuźmyczparticipants owned an average of 23 dresses or similar items of clothing. The target in this case, if you look at the EU figures is 70. Suppose we wear a dress one day a week. That’s 52 uses in the year, because the year has 52 weeks. Now we do the calculation. We multiply 23, which is the volume, by 70, which is the goal, and divide the result by 52, which is the frequency. The result is 30.91 years. We talk about years because we divide uses by uses per year. The uses are gone and we have years left. It would take us 31 years to offset the carbon of making the 23 dresses.
life changes. 60 years ago, a person used to have on average 40 items of clothing. Today surveys indicate that we usually have around 199, of which between 25% and 50% are abandoned in the back of the closet. Therefore, the carbon footprint is never offset.
The origin of carbon. The machines used to make a garment, especially if it is on an industrial level, emit a lot of carbon dioxide. At the same time, resources are spent and materials are used, the production of which has also required the emission of these gases. This ranges from the oil used to obtain some plastic fibers to the emissions from raising sheep for wool. Obviously, the emissions are not the same and wool is a better option, but it all adds up. On the other hand, the transportation for these garments to reach our closets also involves specific carbon emissions. All of this is what the European Union took into account when making its calculations.
Donating is not enough. As Kuźmycz explained in an article for The Conversation, donate clothes we no longer wear to charities is not always the best option. He points out that many times these institutions are overwhelmed and end up using a very small fraction of the clothing they receive. The rest ends up in landfills or is moved to other countries, so the problem does not disappear. It just moves.
Each case is different. Since not all clothes are the same nor does everyone get them in the same way or use them in the same way, Kuźmycz wants to develop an interactive calculator that will help each of us have the ideal wardrobe in environmental terms. We could know how many clothes we need of each type so as not to overdo it and accumulate. With this in mind, we could indulge ourselves as we see fit, but at least we will have the necessary information about the consequences that this entails and, perhaps, it will help us find a balance.
Image | Burgess Milner
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