October 14, 2019 Volume 23 Issue 18 | According to CBC, Canadian households buy four times as much clothing as they did 30 years ago, and throw away 46 kilograms of clothing per year, of which 85 percent ends up in the landfill, where it creates greenhouses gases as it decomposes. We are addicted to cheap and cheaply made clothing, the report claims. Helena Kruger of Steinbach, Man., loved to teach sewing classes for many years. She is pictured, seated third from left, with some of her students in the 1950s. Learning how to make, mend and reuse clothing could reduce costs, reduce our environmental footprint and increase self-worth for having learned a useful skill.