More and more people in Germany cultivate a sustainable approach to clothing. Although most people still buy new fashion, the trend towards a new everyday behavior is also evident in clothes that have already been purchased.
Hamburg – The environmental organization Greenpeace certifies that consumers in Germany are becoming more aware of the need for a more sustainable approach to fashion.
According to a representative survey in Hamburg entitled “Sustainability is bearable”, this has increased significantly over the “last seven years”.
For example, two-thirds of the population are now willing to buy fewer new clothes – and the vast majority of 89 percent intend to wear existing clothes longer. In addition, climate and environmental protection has become an important motivation for more sustainable fashion management for well over half of the population.
“This new awareness has already found its way into everyday behavior in Germany,” writes Greenpeace. “Because even if people still mainly buy new and many clothes are only worn a little and for a short time, Germans still have 6.5 percent fewer clothes in their closets than in 2015, and they keep the individual pieces much longer before they are sorted out. “
Clothing is worn longer on average
“It’s a good development that German consumer behavior is going against the industry trend,” said Viola Wohlgemuth, resource protection expert at Greenpeace. The environmental organization took a close look at consumer behavior in Germany in view of Earth Overshoot Day this Thursday.
The day marks the point in the year when humanity consumes more natural resources than are actually available that year. The day is earlier than last year, according to calculations by the Global Footprint Network based in the USA and Switzerland.
“For a sustainable consumption of clothing, only 40 percent newly produced and 60 percent recycled fashion should hang in the German wardrobe from 2035,” said Wohlgemuth. “To do this, textile retailers must consistently become textile service providers. We need the right laws so that borrowing, sharing, repairing and second-hand become the new normal.” dpa
