This article about making more sustainable clothing choices points out that by wearing a garment twice as many times as the average before discarding it, the environmental impact is lessened by 49%.
It goes on to say that it's hard to get numbers on what average is, but one survey estimates clothes get worn seven times. Looking at all the factors, I understand it. But thinking about how little 14 wears is, 7 hammers home the frantic pace of it all.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/fashion/fast-fashion-sustainable-clothing.html
@erinbee i'm weirded out every time i think about this. do other people not wear clothing until it literally falls apart is what i ask myself. and i say this as someone with like 4 giant rubbermaid tubs full of thrifted festival-costume type clothing, so i *know* that's not how it works for a huge percentage of garments manufactured, or really a good model of how people approach clothes in the age of cheap clothes, but...
@erinbee yep, i feel ok about 'em on that level - they're landfill bound otherwise - but the whole economy / stream that they come out of is just astonishing in its scope.
@brennen Honestly, your festival clothes are environmentally better off in your Rubbermaids than anywhere else even if they never get worn again. It's the careless disposal that does it.