It’s easy to think of clothing as a static object—a beautiful dress hanging in our closet or a pair of jeans in a window display. But the reality is that a piece of clothing has a life cycle- a beginning, a middle, and an end, and each stage in this life cycle has an impact. The beginning stage of a piece of clothing is concerned with the type of material used, where that material comes from, how it is made, and by whom. The end stage is concerned with where that piece of clothing goes when we no longer want it. The middle is concerned with what happens in the period of time when clothing is in our possession, including how frequently we wear it, how we care for it, and how long we keep it. Here, we’ll explore how the decisions we make around caring for our clothes impact the environment.