Regularly sorting through your closet allows you to save space, time and money, as well as do something for the planet.

Think about the way you consume (and dress), and get rid of all those clothes you haven’t worn for years. Here are some tips to help you make your closet greener.

Sort out the clutter

There’s no doubt that sorting through your closet is a major endeavor. What’s more, many find it difficult to get rid of certain clothes for various reasons, which are often sentimental. How many times have you thought that you could, one day, slip back into those jeans? Classic.

But there’s nothing green about keeping clothes that you don’t wear. To sort properly, you need to start by emptying the contents of your closet, and prepare three piles: what to keep, what to sell, and what to recycle (avoiding the garbage, of course).

Note that it is useless to keep clothes that do not fit anymore, whose cuts do not suit you, or that are worn out. In the first two cases, they will likely be able to be used by someone else, who will not have to buy new items. Clothes that fall into the third category can be recycled and used in the creation of new clothes.

Learn the labels

Labels could progressively become a practical source of a wealth of indispensable information to guide you when choosing a garment. New York start-up Eon has even been working on a digital identity card designed to trace a garment from the beginning to the end of its life cycle, demonstrating a real demand for traceability.

Labels also help you become aware of the quantity of clothes made from environmentally harmful fibers. They can also tell you how far a dress or a pair of jeans has come before it arrived in your closet. It shouldn’t be a shaming exercise, it’s not designed to make you feel guilty or blame yourself for all the world’s ills. It’s simply about helping you adopt more environmentally friendly habits.

Use applications and platforms such as Good on You, which analyzes the commitments of ready-to-wear brands and provides the necessary information to find out if such and such a label respects a sort of specifications that includes the environmental aspect, the conditions of workers, health, or animal welfare, among others. A truly useful tool.

Reflect on your consumption

Now it’s time to sit down and think about how you approach shopping — and your wardrobe. In other words, ask yourself the right questions.

Do you feel like you’re over-consuming? What criteria do you look for when buying clothes? What’s more important to you: having “only” three pairs of jeans made ethically with eco-responsible materials or, having a dozen pairs that won’t last the year?

Once again, it’s not a question of radically altering how you consume, dress or shop, but of modifying a few habits to make your wardrobe more sustainable. There are many alternatives, such as second-hand clothes or sustainable denim, to look at when you’re taking the first steps towards a wardrobe with a lower environmental impact.

Resell, recycle, repair

Obviously, this is the easiest way to reduce environmental impact. Several solutions are available to you.

You can opt to sell unwanted clothes on the second-hand market, which will allow you to save both space and money without polluting the planet. In fact, some brands have already launched their own second-hand platforms and take back clothes in exchange for vouchers.

It is also possible to recycle via collection points set up by dedicated organizations, but also in some stores. If you opted for “consignable” clothes when you bought them, all you have to do is send the worn-out model back to the brand to get your deposit back.

If you don’t want to part with your used clothes, it’s also possible to repair them, either by yourself or through a dedicated service. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought sewing back into fashion, but also the many online resourceful DIY tips that allow you to touch up, patch up, and customize clothes in record time, even on a tight budget.

All that’s left to do is get started.