Our Environment
The clothing industry is an incredibly resource intensive industry. It takes about 400 gallons of water to produce enough cotton for a tee shirt; the number more than quadruples when you look at how much a pair of jeans takes to produce.
When you look at how much clothing we're purchasing and throwing away in landfills, it's enough to make your head spin. We've increased clothing consumption 400% in the last ten years according to the film, The True Cost, and about 85% of these "disposable" items of clothing will end up in landfills instead of being recycled.
Disposable Clothing
In 1941 the magazine, Design for Living, conducted a campus poll to discover how many items of clothing women own. The poll revealed that the average woman owned a total of 42 items and spent an average $240 per year. Many women today own more blouses than the total wardrobe of a woman in 1941! In truth, the average American woman adds 64 pieces of clothing each year to her wardrobe.
We are purchasing more and more clothing and producing more and more waste. According the the Wall Street Journal, women only wear about 20% of their wardrobe; the rest just sitting waiting for the trash pile.
Instrument for Change
At Valhalla, we strive to change the way women consume clothing, in fact, Valhalla was founded on the principle of ethical consumption. What's why we modeled Valhalla after key elements of the share economy. Valhalla is a collective closet for our Seminole Heights neighborhood and provides access to purchase used/recycled clothing in Tampa. Women can abandon their overfull, unused closets for a membership that provides unlimited clothing options without a negative environmental impact.
Our Commitment
We're committed to doing what we can to minimize the impact we have on our environment. We use environmentally friendly laundry detergent, high efficiency laundry equipment, and we ensure that any damaged clothing is recycled.