Make your wardrobe effective

In creating a more sustainable wardrobe, it can be useful to explore creating a capsule wardrobe for yourself. This can be helpful in disrupting your desire to consume and always have more or new things to wear. It can also help you to learn how little you really need to own to order to look good and have outfits to wear for all the occasions you need to dress for. If you care about the health of our planet and the people who inhabit it (present and future), then you should totally care about your own personal carbon footprint which includes your clothing. The fashion industry is one of the most harmful industries to planet Earth taking a whopping 10% responsibility for the world's annual carbon emissions. That is more than all international flights and sea shipping combined.

Wash Your Clothes Less And Avoid The Tumble Dryer

Research by the Energy Saving Trust has shown that laundering accounts for 60% to 80% of a garment's total environmental impact, so you can significantly reduce your impact even by washing your clothes after every few wears. To further save energy, wash your clothes at 30º and dry them naturally. Saving energy means reducing the burning of oil and gas and, ultimately, a reduction in the contribution to the rise in global temperatures causing climate change.

Organise Your Wardrobe

Organise your wardrobe and look after what you have so you can celebrate the pieces that you love. If you can actually see what's in your closet, you're much more likely to be inventive when styling outfits, meaning you're less likely to buy new pieces. There is so much value in having less. With less, our minds are calmer and our headspace clearer.

The Ex Test

One of the most conscious ways to shop is simply to buy things you only intend to wear time and time again that you will value and make last. One of the silliest but most effective ways to consider how to do this is to ask yourself, 'Would you want to run into an ex in the garment? Would you feel confident and assured and good about yourself?' If not, don't buy it. Simply cutting down on what we buy allows us to have a small, considered and hopefully more sustainable wardrobe.

Try to Always Buy Organic Cotton

Try to avoid fabrics that use microfibres, these fabrics often end up polluting the oceans and are difficult to clean up because the particles are so tiny. Alternatively, choose an organic or GOTS certified cotton. GOTS certified cottons are monitored from the point of growth and monitor the fair trade of the farmers and the consumption of water; regulate pesticides used; and, on a whole, monitor the full supply chain. Ensure you always do your research, but try to ensure fabrics are taken from a source that can be replenished, and always, always recycle.