What Affects Garment Lifespans? International Clothing Practices Based on a Wardrobe Survey in China, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the USA

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 3. november 2020

Kirsi Laitala and Ingun Grimstad Klepp

Abstract

Increasing the length of clothing lifespans is crucial for reducing the total environmental impacts. This article discusses which factors contribute to the length of garment lifespans by studying how long garments are used, how many times they are worn, and by how many users. The analysis is based on quantitative wardrobe survey data from China, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the USA. Variables were divided into four blocks related respectively to the garment, user, garment use, and clothing practices, and used in two hierarchical multiple regressions and two binary logistic regressions.

The models explain between 11% and 43% of the variation in clothing lifespans. The garment use block was most indicative for the number of wears, while garment related properties contribute most to variation in the number of users. For lifespans measured in years, all four aspects were almost equally important. Some aspects that affect the lifespans of clothing cannot be easily changed (e.g., the consumer’s income, nationality, and age) but they can be used to identify where different measures can have the largest benefits. Several of the other conditions that affect lifespans can be changed (e.g., garment price and attitudes towards fashion) through quality management, marketing strategies, information, and improved consumer policies.

Click here to read the full article (mdpi.com).

Environmental impacts associated with the production, use, and end-of-life of a woollen garment

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 25. mai 2020

S.G. Wiedemann, L. Biggs, B. Nebel, K. Bauch, K. Laitala, I.G. Klepp, P.G. Swan and K. Watson.

Abstract

Purpose

The textiles industry is a substantial contributor to environmental impacts through the production, processing, use, and end-of-life of garments. Wool is a high value, natural, and renewable fibre that is used to produce a wide range of garments, from active leisure wear to formal wear, and represents a small segment of the global fashion industry. Woollen garments are produced by long, global value chains extending from the production of ‘greasy’ wool on sheep farms, through processing to garment make-up, retail, consumer use, and end-of-life. To date, there have been limited life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on the environmental impacts of the full supply chain or use phase of garments, with the majority of wool LCA studies focusing on a segment of the supply chain. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap via a cradle-to-grave LCA of a woollen garment.

Methods

This study investigated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fossil fuel energy, and water stress associated with the production, use, and end-of-life of a lightweight woollen sweater (300-g wool), together with inventory results for freshwater consumption and land occupation. Primary datasets were used for the wool production and wool processing stages, while primary datasets relating to consumer garment use were supplemented with literature data. Impacts were calculated and reported per garment wear event.

Results and discussion

Impacts per wear were 0.17 (± 0.02) kg CO2-e GHG, 0.88 (± 0.18) MJ fossil energy, and 0.96 (± 0.42) H2O-e water stress. Fossil fuel energy was dominated by wool processing, with substantial contributions of energy also arising from retail and garment care. Greenhouse gas emissions from wool production (farming) contributed the highest proportion of impacts, followed by lower contributions from processing and garment care. Contributions to water stress varied less across the supply chain, with major contributions arising from production, processing, and garment use.

Conclusions

Opportunities to improve the efficiency of production, processing, and garment care exist, which could also reduce resource use and impacts from wool. However, the number of garment wear events and length of garment lifetime was found to be the most influential factor in determining garment impacts. This indicated that consumers have the largest capacity to influence the sustainability of their woollen garments by maximising the active garment lifespan which will reduce overall impacts.

Click here to read the full article (springer.com).

Klær og miljø: Innkjøp, gjenbruk og vask

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 23. april 2020

Sammendrag

Rapporten diskuterer klesanskaffelser og vedlikehold i dagens Norge basert på en spørreundersøkelse om bærekraftig forbruk. Respondentene rapporterte at de hadde anskaffet i gjennomsnitt 23,5 plagg i løpet av det siste året. De yngste mennene 18-19 år og alle kvinner frem til 59 år anskaffer like mye klær. Menn anskaffer færre ettersom de ble eldre og de eldste over 60 år anskaffer minst. Kvinner derimot holder samme nivået, 28-29 plagg uavhengig av alder frem til den eldste aldersgruppen. Kvinnene over 60 år anskaffer noe mindre (totalt 20 plagg). De aller fleste (20,2 av 23,5) plagg kjøpes nye. Dette tilsvarer 86% av klærne. Det nest vanligste måten å skaffe klær er å få de som gaver med 2 plagg per person.

I gjennomsnitt er det mindre enn ett plagg per person som er kjøpt brukt (0,6), og tilsvarende mindre enn ett plagg som er arvet (0,7). Totalt utgjør dette 1,3 gjenbrukte plagg per respondent per år. De unge kvinnene mellom 18 og 29 år anskaffet størst andel av gjenbrukte klærne med 12%. Klesvask har stor påvirkning på miljøbelastning og utgjør en vesentlig faktor for klesforbrukets miljøbelastning totalt sett. Ikke overaskende og helt i tråd med tidligere undersøkelser vaskes det kroppsnære plagget trøye, oftere enn gensere, og ullgensere og ulltrøyer sjeldnere enn tilsvarende plagg i bomull. Forbrukere som er opptatt av miljø vasker sitt ulltøy sjeldnere enn andre. En tilsvarende sammenheng finnes ikke for bomull.

Klikk her for å lese hele rapporten (oda.oslomet.no).

Summary

This report discusses clothing acquisition and maintenance in Norway based on a survey on sustainable consumption. Respondents reported that they had acquired an average of 23.5 garments during the past year. The youngest men (18-29 years) and all women up to age 59 purchase the same amount of clothing. Men acquire fewer as they grow older and the oldest age group over 60 years acquire the least. Women, on the other hand, hold the same level, 28-29 garments regardless of age up to the oldest age group. The women over the age of 60 purchase somewhat less (a total of 20 garments). The vast majority (20.2 out of 23.5) garments are purchased new. This corresponds to 86% of the clothes. The next most common way to get clothes is to receive them as gifts, with 2 garments per person. On average, less than one garment per person is purchased used (0.6), and correspondingly less than one garment that is received as hand-me-down (0.7). In total, this represents 1.3 second-hand garments per respondent per year. The young women between the ages of 18 and 29 acquired the largest share of reused clothing by 12%. Laundry has a major influence on environmental impact and is a significant factor for overall environmental impact of clothing consumption. Not surprisingly and completely in line with previous research, the next-to-skin garments are washed more often than sweaters, and woolen undershirts and sweaters are washed less often than similar cotton garments. Consumers concerned about the environment wash their woolen clothes less frequently than others. A similar connection does not exist for laundering frequency of cotton.

The full report is only available in Norwegian.

Wardrobe sizes and clothing lifespans

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 19. september 2019

Ingun Grimstad Klepp, Kirsi Laitala and Vilde Haugrønning

Abstract

It is easy to assume that a large wardrobe is characterized by excessive clothing and high acquisition, with little use of each garment and thus a big environmental impact. However, it is also possible to think the opposite; that the large wardrobe is a result of clothes remaining in use for a long time, that disposal happens rarely, while acquisition can be normal or even low. Whatever the reason, in a large wardrobe it is more likely that clothes become old before the technical life expires. This is because many of the garments are seldom used. Small wardrobes are often presented as favourable for both people and the environment, and as part of an ecological-friendly lifestyle, but we know little about the interaction between wardrobe sizes, longevity and the environmental impact.

In this paper, we investigate this relationship based on survey material from five countries; China, Germany, Japan, UK and the USA. We find that consumers with large wardrobes use their clothes longer, but consumers with small wardrobes use their clothes more often before they are disposed. We conclude that a good utilization of resources is possible with both large and small wardrobes, but in different ways. As we work towards more sustainable clothing consumption, we need to approach consumers differently, in order to give constructive advice to all.

This is a conference article from the 3rdPLATE 2019 Conference. Click here to find the full conference proceedings including this article (depositonce.tu-berlin.de).

Does Use Matter? Comparison of Environmental Impacts of Clothing Based on Fiber Type

ingridha on 19. juli 2018

Kirsi Laitala, Ingun Grimstad Klepp & Beverley Henry

Abstract

Several tools have been developed to compare the environmental impact of textiles. The most widely used are Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) and MADE-BY Fiber Benchmark. They use data from production to evaluate the environmental impacts of textiles differentiated by fiber type. The use phase is excluded from both tools. This article discusses whether there is evidence that the use of textiles differs systematically between different fiber types and examines the consequences of comparing the environmental impacts of clothing based on differences in production of fibers alone without including differences in their use.

The empirical material in this paper is based on analysis of rating tools and a literature review on clothing use. It shows that fiber content contributes to the way consumers take care of and use their clothing. When use is omitted, major environmental problems associated with this stage, such as spread of microplastics, are also excluded. This one-sided focus on material production impacts also excludes the importance of product lifespans, quality, and functionality. The consequence is that short-lived disposable products are equated with durable products. Comparing dissimilar garments will not help consumers to make choices that will reduce the environmental burden of clothing. We need an informed discussion on how to use all materials in the most environmentally sustainable way possible.

Click here to read the full article (oda.oslomet.no)

Use phase of apparel: A Literature review for Life Cycle Assessment with focus on wool.

ingridha on 24. februar 2018

Kirsi Laitala, Ingun Grimstad Klepp & Beverley Henry

Summary

This report presents a literature review of clothing use phase. The purpose is to support improved methodological development for accounting for the use phase in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of apparel. All relevant textile fibres are included in the review. However, the main focus is on wool. We ask whether the use of wool has different environmental impacts than clothes in other fibres. The report builds on a review of literature from the past 20 years. The review showed that clothing made from different materials are used, and reused in different ways. Wool is washed differently as it has about ten degrees lower washing temperature than the average laundry in Europe. Wool is also more likely to be either dry-cleaned or washed by hand than other textiles. Moreover, when dried, it is less likely to be tumble-dried.

When comparing the number of days between the washes of different types of clothes, we found that respondents were likely to use their woollen products about twice as long between washes compared to their equivalent cotton products. We also found that woollen products had a longer average lifespan and were more likely to be reused or recycled. There is a lot of research-based information available concerning the use and re-use of clothing, and we believe there are sufficient results available on which to base LCA studies. Furthermore, we believe that environmental tools that compare different fibres but exclude use phase provide misleading results. Including the use phase in fibre ranking benchmark tools will improve the rigour and accuracy of these tools for all fibres, compared to reporting results for fibre production only. However, we have also shown that there are several methodological, conceptual and empirical knowledge gaps in existing literature.

Click here to read the full report (researchgate.net)

Klærs levetid – LCA på liv og død

ingridha on 24. januar 2016

Ingun Grimstad Klepp & Kirsi Laitala

Innledning

Et av de mest fremtredende trekkene ved de siste 50 års tekstilforbruk er veksten i mengde. Import av klær har økt med 67 % i de siste tjue årene, og ligger nå på 15 kg per innbygger i Norge (SSB, 2014). Vi vet lite om denne veksten, men at den henger sammen med en nedgang i priser og en oppgang i kjøpekraft, er åpenbar. I samme periode har andelen av husholdningenes forbruk av klær og sko falt fra 6,6 % til 5,4 % av utgiftene (SSB, 1999, 2013). Til tross for denne nedgangen har klesforbruket målt i volum økt. Dette har ikke skjedd uten miljøkonsekvenser. Carbon trust (2011) har estimert at 3 % av globale klimautslipp, målt i CO2-ekvivalenter, stammer fra produksjon og vask av klær. I tillegg kommer utslipp av skadelige kjemikalier, uetiske arbeidsforhold, problemer med dyrevelferd, og høyt forbruk av energi, vann og land-arealer (Fletcher, 2008).

Livsløpsanalyser (LCA) blir brukt for å skaffe informasjon om de totale miljøpåvirkningene av et produkt eller en aktivitet. LCA-studiene brukes blant annet som grunnlag for ulike typer verktøy som gir råd til bedrifter, designere og forbrukere om hvordan de kan produsere og handle mer miljøriktig (for oversikt over slike verktøy, se f.eks. Klepp et al., 2015; Kviseth, 2011). Et viktig element i disse verktøyene er at de rangerer ulike fibre mot hverandre. Dette kan få store konsekvenser fordi det brukes som grunnlag for beslutninger om hva klær og andre tekstiler produseres av. Mange bedrifter, designere og forbrukere ønsker jo å ha «miljøriktige» klær, som lett forstås som klær i bestemte materialer. Den store vinneren har så langt vært resirkulert polyester. I dette kapitlet diskuterer vi hvorfor de LCA-studiene verktøyene bygger på er lite relevante, og hvorfor de dermed kan få store miljømessige konsekvenser.

Klikk her for å lese hele kapittelet (researchgate.com)

Environmentally Sustainable Textile Consumption—What Characterizes the Political Textile Consumers?

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 10. desember 2015

Marthe Hårvik Austgulen

Abstract

The textile and clothing industry is considered as one of the most polluting industries in the world. Still, the regulation of environmental hazards connected to the industry is very limited, and much responsibility is placed on the shoulders of consumers. One of the few ways that ordinary consumers can seek to influence the textile and clothing industry is through their own consumption practices and their wallet. This article departs from the discourse on sustainable consumption and the role of the consumer as an agent for change, and the article investigates the characteristics of the consumers who practice deliberate environmentally sustainable consumption of textiles and clothing. This is done through the lens of political consumption. Based on a cross-national survey conducted in five Western European countries, factors that have been found to predict general political consumption in previous research are tested on the field of textiles and clothing. The findings demonstrate both similarities and some discrepancies with previous studies of political consumption as well as significant country variations.

Click here to read the full article (springer.com).

His mother’s dress: growth in the number of clothes

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 12. mai 2015

Ingun Grimstad Klepp and Kirsi Laitala.

Introduction

Eivind Stø likes a tell an illustrative story about his mother who went through World War II with only one dress due to rationing. Today women have many dresses; more than we can wear out in 5 years. Since 1990, Norway’s clothing imports have almost doubled (Statistics Norway, 2014) and we did not lack clothing in 1990. This chapter discusses what we know about this change. What do we know about the number of clothes in use? When did they multiply to such an extent? What sources and methods do we have to describe this growth? In general, growth should be a more central theme in the environmental debate, especially when it comes to clothing and other items where growth in numbers is completely decoupled from a corresponding increase in satisfaction. As long as we produce (and purchase) far more clothes than we need, quantity should be an essential theme.

Lifecycle thinking has little relevance when the cycle ignores use. To put it another way, without knowing anything about the amount we can hardly reach a future where production matches our need to be warm and beautiful. Nevertheless, there are a few relevant studies of this growth. We will use previous investigations of clothing consumption in Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as material from SIFO’s projects on clothing consumption, where we have attempted to approach an understanding of the number of clothes that people possess.

This article is from the book in The Consumer in Society – A Tribute to Eivind Stø, edited by P. Strandbakken and J. Gronow.

Consumption Studies: The force of the ordinary

Lisbeth Løvbak Berg on 15. januar 2014

Ingun Grimstad Klepp and Kirsi Laitala

Abstract

Consumer research deals with the acquisition, use and disposal of goods and services. Our workplace, SIFO, the National Institute for Consumer Research in Norway, dates back to the 1930s, when home economics and testing of products were predominant. The work aimed at guiding consumers, at that time called housewives, through the ‘jungle’ of novel consumer goods. More recently, SIFO’s work combines social science and textile technology to study the social and technical aspects of consumption.

In this chapter, we ask: how can knowledge of clothing consumption contribute to the work on sustainable fashion? We will answer the question through examples from interdisciplinary projects on textiles at SIFO, as well as from consumer research. However, we will not give an overview of consumer research on clothes and sustainability. But first, an admission: fashion – the topic of this book – operates according to a different logic from our field of work. We would have posed the question differently: how can consumer research – and all the other fields of expertise covered in this book –contribute to more sustainable patterns of clothes production and consumption? Therefore, we also have to include a discussion of the concept of fashion.

This article is Chapter 12 in the book Routledge Handbook of Sustainability and Fashion, edited by Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham that you can find here (tandfonline.com).