Be Eco: The More I Know, the Less I Need

September 12, 2018 mlampret blog

An Honest Look at Fashion, Waste, and Conscious Choices

Over the past twenty years, my work in the fashion industry has spanned seminars, corporate uniforms, individual styling consultations, and, increasingly, shopping support. Today, the overwhelming range of choices has made shopping more confusing than ever. We are buried under clothes—yet, somehow, never have the right thing to wear.

One revealing statistic has remained consistent throughout my career: 70% of clothing in the average Slovenian wardrobe is never worn.

Fashion’s Hidden Cost

The fashion industry is now the second most profitable industry in the world, just after oil. It generates a staggering $3 trillion annually.

We buy60% more clothing than we did just a decade ago.
Back then, items were worn for up to10 years.
Today, they are worn on averagejust six times before being discarded.

How Much Should We Spend?

Reasonable wardrobe spending amounts to about 5% of one’s monthly income. But given that 70% of those purchases are never worn, the loss becomes significant. Over seven years, a person spending 5% of their salary on clothing will have effectively wasted around €3,077 on unused garments.

The Weight of Waste

Each Slovenian throws away an average of 14 kilograms of clothing per year. Nationally, this adds up to more than 20,000 tons annually.

Yet only 10% of these discarded items are donated or recycled, despite the fact that 90% of textiles can be reused. This speaks volumes about our collective lack of awareness.

Where Can Unused Clothing Go?

Instead of throwing clothes in the bin, consider one of the many eco-conscious alternatives:

Textile recycling bins in your municipality
Charitable organisations: Red Cross, Caritas, Materinski dom, Anina Zvezdica
Swap events: Waldorf School Textilnica, high school exchanges
Online platforms: Omara.si, Podarimo.si, Facebook groups

Social enterprises: Cooperative Dobrina, Friends of Youth Association

The Planet Can’t Keep Up

If everyone lived as we do in the developed world, we would need two additional Earths to sustain current consumption. The textile industry ranks among the world’s largest polluters—and most of us contribute to that with every purchase we don’t truly need.

The Dark Side of “Everyday” Clothing

One T-shirt = 2,700 Litres of Water + 50 Chemicals

To manufacture a single cotton T-shirt, producers use:

2,700 litres of water
30–50 different chemicals

One Pair of Jeans = 8,500 Litres of Water

Cotton cultivation is especially problematic. It:

Requires vast amounts of pesticides, fertilisers, and water
Leads to polluted soil and waterways, especially in cotton-exporting countries like Uzbekistan
Is often harvested by children under toxic exposure, causing respiratory illness, skin disorders, and cancers

Cotton clothing can take over 200 years to decompose in landfills, releasing harmful methane gas. In contrast, organic cotton decomposes in just six months.

The Chemical Threat in Fast Fashion

Clothing—especially from China and Southeast Asia—often contains untested or unregulated toxic substances, such as:

Formaldehyde (in synthetic fibres)
Azo dyes (release carcinogenic amines)
NPEs (banned in the EU but still found in imports)
Phthalates (in children’s prints; hormone disruptors)
Flame retardants and metallic pigments

These substances can:

Pass through the skin
Disrupt hormones and fertility
Damage the nervous system
Trigger allergies, skin conditions, and cancer

How to Protect Yourself

Wash all new clothes before wearing—at least three times, if possible
Avoid clothes labeled “non-iron” (chemically treated)
Steer clear of chemical dry cleaning (uses toxic perchloroethylene)
Trust your sense of smell, but remember: some toxins are odourless

Be a Conscious Consumer

Buy less, and shop intentionally
Choose natural materials, higher quality, and better fit
Return what doesn’t suit you—don’t let it sit unused
Donate what no longer serves you
Most importantly: don’t hoard

If you wear everything in your wardrobe—no matter the price—you’re already making an eco-friendly choice.

Conclusion
The more we know, the less we need.
The less we consume, the more value we give to what we already have.
Fashion can be beautiful, expressive, and still respectful of our health, our budgets, and our planet.

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