New YouGov survey suggests almost a fifth of women will buy something new to wear on Valentine’s DayTens of thousands of women in Scotland are likely to hit the shops this weekend in a bid to find the perfect outfit for Valentine’s Day celebrations.
New research from Love Your Clothes reveals that 16% of women intend to spend £60 or less on items of clothing or accessories for this year’s special day.
Love Your Clothes - the campaign working to raise awareness of the value and environmental impact of clothing - is urging would-be shoppers to instead to have a rummage in their wardrobe for an old favorite.
Lynn Wilson, from Zero Waste Scotland, which delivers Love Your Clothes in Scotland, said: “Let’s stop ditching clothes and instead ditch the outdated view that we always need to buy something new for special occasions.
“If you’re going on a date this Valentine’s Day, try falling in love again with something you discarded long ago. It’ll save you money and you’ll be doing your bit to prevent needless waste.”
The Love Your Clothes inspired research also showed that 35% of women have not tried to mend a garment if it was slightly damaged. And 23% have just thrown it in the bin.
The clothing industry has the fifth-biggest environmental footprint of any UK industry. More needs to be done to reduce the environmental impact of garments by keeping clothes longer and wearing special items more often.
Extending the length of time we wear clothes by just three months would lead to a 5-10 per cent reduction in their carbon, water and waste footprints.
In the UK alone, garments have an estimated life span of two years, three months. The average Scottish household owns around £4,000 worth of clothes, but wears only 70 percent of that each year, most commonly because it no longer fits.
For more information on how to Love Your Clothes by spring cleaning, upcycling and caring for your wardrobe visit:
http://www.loveyourclothes.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/LoveYourClothesUK/
Love Your Clothes
Love Your Clothes is an initiative created by WRAP and delivered by Zero Waste Scotland that aims to raise awareness of the value of your garments and helps you make the most of the clothing you already have by encouraging people to think about the way they purchase, use and dispose of clothes.
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,030 adults, of which 513 are women. Fieldwork was undertaken between 4th - 6th February 2016. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all Scottish adults’ aged 18+).”