The campaign to not buy clothes for one year is active on social media. I applaud a girl who admits she hasn’t bought new clothes in five years. How strong she is, not tempted to buy new clothes amidst the many promotions for clothes from famous designers and online shops.

I take some time to reflect on myself. At home, I have a cupboard full of clothes. I didn’t realize I had accumulated—pants, shirts, and more. I only wear a small portion of them regularly. The others were purchased because of my consumerist appetite.

I never realized how my buying habits wasted money and the world’s resources. Do you know how many resources are required to produce a single piece of clothing?

Apart from raw materials such as cotton and wool, to make the clothes, you also need electrical energy to drive machines, water to wash, process, and dye materials, labor, and technology. In the production process, air and water pollution will occur around the factory and produce waste.

Indeed, the waste caused by a single person may seem insignificant. But if hundreds of millions of people engage in wasteful practices, the total amount of wasted resources becomes substantial.

I want to change my wasteful habits gradually. I’m not a fashionable person who believes that clothes enhance my beauty. This change is manageable.

What about you? Ready to take on the challenge of not buying clothes for a year?