The true cost of fashion ...

We all love the quick and easy ordering of the 21st century, the endless choices of clothes from the big box stores, but did you think for a moment about the other side of the equation ?  The waste ?

It's estimated that about 10% of the material used to make a single garment is waste material or what is called in the industry 'deadstock'.  This is also the term used for the nearly 40% of clothes NEVER sold.

There is also another hidden aspect of the fashion industry, the carbon footprint.  This is estimated to be around 12% of global carbon emissions. 

The leading fashion houses are starting to wake up to this environmental mess. There are also some non-profits that are sorting through all the deadstock and getting it recycled to shredded material for manufacturing or selling at a huge discount the off-cut material from the garment manufacturing. 

Am I still going to buy clothes ?  uhm, sure, but maybe I am going to be more choosy on how much I am going to wear it and how many different outfits I can wear it with vs buying for a one-off I-need, I-need mindset.

So before you decide to buy that multi-pack of a dozen panties just so you can have the pretty one in the front, think about what is going to happen to the other 11 you aren't going to wear ...