(Note this is part of an ongoing study on relocation behavior to be release in the months to follow)
Methodology :To conduct this study, 18,000 heads of households in 20 countries were polled with the following questions: What percentage of your wardrobe hasn't been worn in the last 12 months?; What percentage of your grocery shopping ends up as waste?; Since your most recent move, what percentage of your transferred belongings are still not in use?
The survey included 1,000 people in the USA, 2,000 in Germany, 2,000 in France, 1,500 in Sweden and 500 to 800 participants from other countries. Only householders between 22 and 60 years of age were interviewed. Margin of error is +/- 5%
Afterwards, the results were compared with the data from specialists in the field of waste and hoarding. Interviewing 20 families comprising of two adults and two children as well as 10 single households about their behaviour regarding the topic of wasting and hoarding.
For the clothing, they took an inventory of the participants’ closet; then follow the daily use during a period of 12 months to record how many things in the wardrobe they didn’t use at all during the past year.
In terms of how much food people throw away, the participants were asked to keep track of their wasting habits during a period of six months - in doing so, they had to take into account grocery shoppings that went directly to the bin as well as leftovers.
The unused things were determined in an one-time interview where the interviewer took a tour through the participant’s house (including the attic and basement). Together, they counted the things which hadn’t been used in the last 12 months with the exception of pieces of art and other decoration which is for display only.
Comparing these two datasets allowed to calculate a margin of delusion for the three fields of clothing, food and stuff. On this basis, the participants’ home countries can be ranked according to their rate of delusion.
Source: Discard Studies Compendium: The Discard Studies Compendium is a project by Max Liboiron, Michele Acuto, and Robin Nagle.
https://discardstudies.com/discard-studies-compendium/Additional sources for research:
Circle Economy: A social enterprise based in Amsterdam.
https://www.circle-economy.com/dutch-closet-study/#.W2v7_v4zZ24Environmental Health Perspectives: Claudio, Luz: Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry, Sep 2007.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1964887/WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme): A registered charity based in UK.
http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/VoC%20FINAL%20online%202012%2007%2011.pdf