They are counting all textile waste in the country. Not just fashion related, not just clothing, and not restricted to consumer goods.
NYT is using their typical corporatist-absolving-tone which blames consumers for the environmental evils of industry. Textile waste is not something that consumers can make truly significant impact in because the majority of what NYT is blaming on them is outside of their control. The entire premise of this article that reducing textile waste should fall to the responsibility of consumers is unfounded.
Consumer guilt can do a little bit, but they are a relatively small proportion of the problem. Reminds me of 1990s recycling propaganda. Suggesting that poor people buying cheap clothing is the cause is disingenuous at best.
I can believe that consumer clothing wouldn't make up a majority, but I really want a breakdown of that textile waste now, instead of the NYT or cwkoss's ready-to-eat opinions.
Edit: here is the EPA's study
The main source of textiles in municipal solid waste (MSW) is discarded clothing, although other smaller sources include furniture, carpets, tires, footwear, and other nondurable goods such as sheets and towels.
https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-...
EPA estimates that the generation of clothing and footwear was 11.9 million tons in 2015 (4.5 percent of total MSW)
If 4.5% in the majority, they have too many categories.
The first is that clothing is the majority of textile waste.
The second is that textiles are 4.5% of all MSW.
Which means that clothing is >2.25% of all MSW.
Industry exists to sell to consumers. You can't decouple them.
“But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness”
I think the best practice is to only use your running shoes when you run. Wearing them around town as you do errands just adds the amount of time you are compressing the foam in the soles. That said, the old running shoes still work fine for walking around after the 500 mile mark. They just don't provide much cushion to absorb impact.
300 feels low, but when you get into a new pair of basically the same trainer after running around in a 300-350 mile old pair, the new ones feels amazing in comparison so I feel like there is some accuracy in that.
-- I've pretty much always dressed the same -- it is more difficult to find quality clothes these days, even from mail-order places that used to be reliable in that regard.
What I look for is : - practicality - durable + comfortable fabric - quality fittings e.g., zippers / snaps - solid workmanship - thrifty price for value - where it's a reasonable option, I go for stuff made in the USA
Since certain makes of clothing are already under discussion here, I'll add a few of my go-tos -- n.b. I have zero affiliation with these or any clothing companies:
~ Flannel shirts : Codet / Big Bill
~Rugby shirts and similar : Columbiaknit
~T-shirts, turtlenecks, sweatshirts : Union Shirt Supply
~Jeans : Roundhouse, Texas Jeans
~Khakis : Bill's
~Polyester "dress jeans" [? right] : Wrangler 'wrancher' [made in Mexico, last forever] ~Cycling bibs : TheBlackBibs [great, made overseas]
~Mountain bike shorts : Zoic [reasonably OK, made overseas]
~Dress shirts : WhiteDressShirts [when absolutely necessary]
~Belts : Bison Designs
Socks and underwear - there used to be good options in this category, but getting verrrrrry hard to find, so I've regrettably started treating them as one-or-two-season-then-toss
- When I can find the time [rarely], I also look for stuff at thrift stores, mainly for the environmental benefit [though the low price doesn't hurt!] -- mostly oxford shirts for everyday wear
I have a hard time focusing if I'm not comfortable, so for me, clothing like the above is a worthwhile investment
*I used to get this much wear and more out of shoes [buy quality boots and shoes, get resoled as needed], but since I've moved to sneakers [due to leg and foot injury], generally I only get a season out of sneaks even with a multi-pair rotation.
You'll also have a lot of luck with clothes meant for serious outdoors use. The prices can be seriously inflated but are often found 30-60% off on season end clearance. There are too many brands to list but I'm very happy with my Salomon, La Sportiva, and Inov-8 shoes.
Inov-8 has recently pioneered the use of graphene rubber in the outsoles of their running shoes doubling or even tripling their longevity.
Also keep an eye out for Vibram rubber outsoles. They're an Italian rubber brand known for being more durable. They're a bit more common to find.
It has been years since I've skated, but I've always liked the simple style of some skate shoes. After experiencing the same wear-out with running/walking/training shoes I went back to skate shoes. The last pair I bought five years ago and the soles are just now wearing out.
It occurred to me that most are designed to be durable against constant contact with sandpaper. While they aren't _as_ comfortable as running shoes, I found a pair that I really like. Being both simple in look, lightweight, and comfortable.
This isn't about price but weight. Because of new materials tech, we've gotten used to super light shoes (and they definitely help in terms of performance) but the cost of that is durability. Typically in materials science weight and durability have an inverse relationship. There are exceptions, but you're not finding those in department store sneakers.
I work for a niche company[0] that manufacturers high quality running shoes as well as healthy everyday footwear and depending on the particular model and its sole design we offer a resole service, which many customers take advantage of.
Granted, you're not likely to save much _money_ this way, a cobbler will charge about as much as a new pair of sneakers cost, but you'll throw a lot less stuff away.
I was walking to and from work (~7 miles round trip) for a couple years, and made the switch to these hiking boots [1] for the same reason. I also hiked a lot (local 10+ miles hikes, Kilimanjaro, etc.) and these have just gotten more comfortable with time and use.
A small quibble I have is the laces wear out regularly. I have to replace them every ~8 months.
Maybe I need to wear a full-time bib.
Just have to remember to put it on before washing. Ha!
Modern detergents are amazing. I once spilled cooking oil directly onto some cotton shorts and they came out fine.
Not for running, but for almost everything else, Vans and Chucks will last a lot longer. They are great for squatting as well! (100% contact with the ground)
I put a lot of miles on each pair of Vans, they last me ~2 years before the sole gives out, the fabric starts to rip at about the same time.
Anything from Ecco will probably last. I've also never seen any of my Keen stuff fail. Both brands are rather expensive.
Switched to Vans because they are a little bit wider.
Sad if the cheapened out on the soles. I used to wear the leather down before I wore the soles out.
(Obviously garbage leather if it got worn out...)
I've been pretty happy with my New Balance 990 shoes. Has lasted me years longer than any other shoes I bought. These are made in the US so I don't know if the quality is better than their other models or even other brands. I've never bought expensive shoes until I bought these but now I'm sold.
Then again, maybe I'm wearing them longer than I should. I often go years without buying any new clothes and still wear clothes from when I was in college 20 years ago.
I don't buy anywhere near that much clothing. Assuming there are perhaps 20% similar people to me who buy very few items of clothing each year and pretty much throw away a handful of pairs of worn-out shoes and torn socks per year, then the rest of the US has to be averaging 91 pounds per year.
That feels very high.
That figure is not limited to consumer clothing. This article is NYT recasting the repercussions of bad industrial practices as something that customers should feel guilty about, when they are actually responsible for only a small proportion.
As an ultra runner I used to buy more durable shoes focused on the idea of I wanted to get more miles per dollar out of them. As I'm aging, I now realize the value in the shoes taking more beating than my legs is worth the extra value in rotating my shoes more frequently.
Growing up in poverty doesn't make this an easy life change for me to adopt, but I consider spending more for something that provides better long term fitness/health a valid reason for increased costs.
The item that drives me nuts with disposability at the moment is sneakers. I walk & work out a lot and I'm finding a lot of the running/training type shoes wear out in 3-4 months, the sole is shot but the uppers are totally fine. I'm trying to find more durable shoes to wear for casual wear & walking that actually last.
Stuff that I can get 10 years out of makes me happy. I've successfully done that with stuff like boots & winter coats/mountaineering jackets. Gore Tex has a lot of competitors these days, Gore Tex stuff is really expensive cause of the standards they apply to licensees.. Most of the competing products are cheaper because they don't put as many requirements on the clothing designer. But almost anything I have bought that is a Gore Tex outerwear garment will easily go 10 years which makes it a huge bargain over other stuff.