As the first five years of this decade slip into the horizon, what resolutions for the next? Does fashion even merit such an undertaking? How many of us have ever done so? Not me for sure, but as air-water pollution soars, maybe it calls for a rethink. Not necessarily a resolution, but a sense of mindfulness when you go splurging, more so since any purchase is just a tap away.
A simple reminder: Each dress you wear has a huge carbon footprint, which is a measurement of all GHG or green house gases we produce depending on our lifestyle and consumption pattern. For instance, the story of a simple cotton shirt, irrespective of cost, begins at a cotton farm before it moves on to ginning, spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing, finishing, cutting, sewing, packaging, shipping, marketing, till it finally reaches the shelf of your favourite brand. And all these processes support a huge eco system, sometimes across continents, many a time through exploited hands.
Mindfulness would mean a pause before you buy that nth pair of footwear just because you dig the funky design, a note to self, questioning, do you really need it, a pause before you hit that click for a dress that may remain in its plastic wrap for months before you decide to even try it on. In fact, ever questioned how many such pieces in your closet?
For that matter, even an unworn wear or something you may have worn just once or twice has a carbon footprint! Yes, you read that right. So there’s a reason now to first pull out the non-worns or once or twice worn and not likely to be worn again, even in the distant future. Decide what to keep and what could be given away.
What can lead you to the right stitch is mindfulness, attentiveness to what you already have with a planet-first sensibility.
Your sartorial responsibility rests in the closet you choose to stock. So here’s looking to mindful eco-warrior wardrobes in 2026!
Happy New Year!
