How to shop consciously – and enjoy it

By now, we produced enough clothes worldwide for everyone. The classic white shirt, the flower dress, the summer sandal- all of them are in this world already, ready for you to wear. But our appetite for brand new clothes is still big: 

Around 400 billion square meters of textiles are produced every year. 60 billion square meters never make it to the customers; they end up on the cutting room floor. Each year over 80 billion pieces of clothing are produced worldwide, and after a short time, three out of four garments will end up in landfills or be incinerated. Only a quarter will be recycled. One of the reasons for this low number: only one per cent of collected clothing can be used as recycled fibres. Yes, we were also shocked. 

The environmental impact

Producing that sassy dress and those fancy trousers use up a lot of resources. First, there’s water consumption: 2 billion pairs of jeans are produced every year, and a typical pair takes 7,000 litres of water to produce. Do smaller items fare better? Well, it takes 2,700 litres of water to make a T-Shirt – that’s the amount of water an average person drinks in 900 days!

Then there’s the dyeing process: 1.7 million tonnes of various chemicals are used; Many of them are hazardous chemicals like PFCs that permanently change our environment. Especially the denim industry is one of the most polluting in the world. The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity’s carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply. Few of us would say that is necessary. 

The amount we buy has also changed: In 1991, the average American bought 34 items of clothing each year. By 2007, tat number went up to 67. That’s a new piece of clothing every four to five days!

Germany isn’t too far behind: An estimated one ton of garments end up on the landfill each year. Every German throws away 4.7 kilograms of clothes. And 40% of the clothes we own are rarely or never worn. 

Our philosophy 

At Vinokilo, we want to do our bit to help you stand against mindless consumption. That’s why we don’t have crazy sales that devaluate the items but rather price all products fairly. And let’s be honest: most deals just exist to make you buy something you don’t need. That means you don’t save money but spend more. 

We also want to give your clothes a longer life. Do you also have a favourite item that you wore so often it darts to show? On our social media, we constantly educate our community on reusing, repurposing and upcycling to save a garment. We love a good hack- if you have one, share it with us! 

So can shopping still be fun?

We say yes! Buying a great pair of shoes or slipping into a well-designed leather jacket is one of life’s little pleasures – and there’s no need to give that up. Here are two tips on how

to shop better: 

1. You want to save the planet but still get your hands on clothes that are perfect for you? Come to one of our pop up events! There, you can find thousands of vintage and secondhand clothes of excellent quality – plus some music and a glass of wine. A guilt-free shopping spree awaits you! Why not grab your friends and turn it into a get-together? Follow us on Facebook to get the latest dates!

2. If you, like many people, have clothes in your wardrobe that never see the light of day,why not send them to us? Start a decluttering session (maybe with a friend- that’s always more fun) and then purchase a label from us. We will then email you a shipping label to print and stick on your package. And off they go! Once we received them, we will send you a discount matching the weight of your items. You can then use that discount to buy some new secondhand clothing from us. And your items? They will be on sale at a pop-up event or online and make someone else happy. For more details, just click here. 

Do you want to know more? Follow us on Instagram– we have some surprises in store!