Recycling
The Amount of Clothing and Food We Buy and Don’t Use Is Enormous — and Likely More Than You Think
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Before you go out this week and decide to buy back-to-school clothes or other clothing, consider how much of that clothing will actually be worn. According to a survey in 20 countries, the vast majority of items will hang around in your closet or sit in your drawers for a year or more without being worn.
Back-to-school clothes worn by growing kids may be an important exception (since kids do grow out of their clothing), so adults should be thinking about their own clothing purchases. In the last 12 months, 82 percent of the clothing Americans had previously bought and still have has not been used, according to an international study. Also, 24 percent of the food Americans buy ends up not being eaten. And we don’t realize that the waste is this high, according to a study released by a German moving and relocation company, Movinga.
