Buy, buy, buy. We want to get rid of that. It destroys our planet and saddles us with more stuff that we don’t need at all. The information organization Milieu Centraal also thinks so and that is why they have created an online training that can help us buy less clothing.
Research has shown that most women, despite knowing the negative impact, continue to buy new clothes.
Climate split
In the Netherlands there are almost every year a billion items of clothing on the market. If all residents of the Netherlands were to buy six fewer articles of clothing per year, this would save as much CO2 emissions as driving 85,000 laps around the world by car.
From the behavior monitor Sustainable Living from Milieu Centraal and recent in-depth research into buying less clothing, this almost appears two-thirds of Dutch people know that it is better for the environment to buy less clothing, but only that a third consciously buy less clothing.
Discover your clothing style
That is why Milieu Centraal has started a campaign to get women who are aware of the impact to actually buy less clothing. With the free online training My Style iD women discover how they can consciously choose clothing that matches their identity and how they can resist the temptations of marketing with creativity.
We are constantly tempted to buy new clothes and we have come to believe that it is normal to spend money on them again and again. While clothing is correct a beautiful form of self-expression is when you make careful choices. It shows who you are and what you stand for.
By carefully putting together your wardrobe and… consciously buy less clothing, instead of always following trends, you really create your own style. At the same time, you can reduce the impact of the clothing industry on the environment, which is desperately needed.
Clothing as a disposable product
Dutch people buy on average about fifty new items of clothing per year. Since the Fast Fashionindustry produces cheap, poor-quality clothing, clothing is increasingly becoming a disposable product become. It is even being talked about Ultra Fast Fashionbecause some brands release new collections more than twice a month (!).
This maintains the temptation to buy new clothes. Milieu Centraal sees that a large group of women are in a split. They are aware of the negative impact that the clothing industry has on nature, people and animals and in the meantime they buy quite a lot of new clothes.
Shopping provides dopamine
Another disappointing conclusion from the research: the majority of clothing buyers (60 percent) think it is positive if others buy less clothing, but only 15 percent are intrinsically motivated to buy less clothing themselves.
How come? Judith Roumen, behavioral researcher at Milieu Centraal, explains that dopamine is released in our brains when we buy new things. “That gives us one feeling of happiness. However, this is always short-lived, but the temptation to buy clothes remains, so there is a repeated urge to buy arises.”
It delivers short-term a good feeling, but in the long term often a feeling of guilt. Just like the dopamine released with food, sex and falling in love; the feeling doesn’t last long.
Follow your style, not fashion
Our urge to buy is also continuously stimulated by advertisements in stores and online, sale, new fashion and social media, where influencers promote new products. A standard has emerged, as it were: ‘buy a lot and buy often, because that is normal’. While there is more than enough textile in the world to last twenty years.
It’s time for it to become normal to buy less clothes. And we also know from psychology that the unconscious perceived norm is one of the most important determinants of your purchasing behavior. So it’s time for a new norm: ‘follow your style, not fashion’.
Free online training
With the help of My Style iD you will learn in six steps to create a own, sustainable clothing style to develop and make informed choices. Concrete tips are given on how you can consciously buy less clothing by staying true to who you are and what you stand for.
You also learn to be creative to combine with clothes that are already hanging in the closet, avoid bad purchases and opt for sustainable materials. With inspirational videos, workshops and self-reflection when it comes to… purchasing behaviorparticipants are made aware to buy less clothing.
Would you rather have one? offline training? Then register for the physical meet-up ‘Fashion victim of temptations’ on May 1 in Pakhuis de Zwijger. Experts, such as behavioral scientist Reint Jan Renes, speak about the climate divide. You can also participate in various workshops and there is a clothing exchange.
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