Save the planet one sweater at the time

Last updated on October 24th, 2022 at 05:09 pm

Yay! Warm Sweater Day 2020 is coming! This year the Dutch tradition to save the planet one sweater at the time is on February 7. Want to learn more about Warm Sweater Day? Read on, my dears, read on.

Warm Sweater Day is a fun, cozy tradition from the Netherlands to raise climate change awareness. In Dutch, it’s called Warmetruiendag. A tradition that’s only been around since 2007, but that’s already won the hearts of so many people and corporations. The past few years over 200.000 people joined in. Will you join too? Let’s get the entire world to embrace this Dutch tradition.

Warm Sweater Day is probably one of the happiest and most fun climate actions in the Netherlands. All participants pledge to turn down the heat in their homes, workplace or classrooms. Instead of heating up all that space, they heat up themselves. And they do it wearing a comfy, cozy and warm sweater. Don’t warm the planet, warm yourself. It’s as easy as that.

Some corporations turn Warm Sweater Day into an office challenge. Who wears the best, prettiest, coolest, or even ugliest sweater this year? Whatever style you pick, you better wear something warm, because the office thermostat will be turned low on February 7.

Why wear a sweater?

Wearing a sweater helps to save enormous amounts of energy. Researchers from Cambridge University calculated we could save no less than 70% of energy worldwide with simple adjustments like better insulation. Even small changes in our everyday life can have a big impact on sustainability. This Warm Sweater Day, for every thermostat that we turn down even as little as 1 degree Celsius, we save 6% energy en 6% CO2 emission. Isn’t that amazing?!

By wearing a sweater and turning down the central heating, you take action. You change the world. You help the planet. You take control. Imagine what impact you have if you don’t restrict yourself to 1 day a year. But even if you only celebrate Warm Sweater Day this 1 day a year, you still make a change. And you inspire your family, friends, students or co-workers to do the same. You raise awareness about the way we heat our homes and offices to the point we wear blouses in winter because it would be too hot inside to wear a nice, cozy sweater.

Who started Warm Sweater Day?

Warm Sweater started in 2007. It was the Klimaatverbond, the Climate Alliance, that initiated it. They found their inspiration in the Kyoto Protocol. In the Kyoto Protocol countries around the globe committed themselves to reduce global warming by reducing the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Kyoto’s birthday is on February 16th, so every year around that date there’s a celebration. Warm Sweater Day is supposed to remind all of us of the promises we made to reduce emissions and stop global warming.

After a few years, the Climate Alliance partnered up with Greenchoice, a sustainable energy supplier. Since then, they organize Warm Sweater Day together and even won a few prizes for it. They were runner-up at the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards in 2014 and a year later they grabbed the National Energy Globe Award. Emke Mol, project leader at the Climate Alliance, says: “Technological innovation, energy efficient builds, and legislation are important as well, but energy efficiency starts and ends with the part people play. Greenchoice Warm Sweater Day shows people in a sympathetic way that together we can make a sustainable difference!”

What good does it do?

Many people think that the little things they do won’t matter, so why bother. But it’s never a little thing. Especially when more and more people chip in, those little things become significant. So here are some numbers. Lowering your central heating 1 degree Celsius saves you 6% energy and reduces CO2 emissions with 6% as well.

Greenchoice calculated that if everyone in the Netherlands would turn the heat down 1 degree Celsius, it would save 3.300.000 m3 gas PER DAY. And it would reduce CO2 emissions with 6.300.000 kilograms. Only 1 degree, for only 1 day. And that’s just our tiny country that most of you can’t even find on a map (or could you?).

Inquiries have shown that after participating in Warm Sweater Day, 1 in 5 people start being more aware of how much energy they use. Many of them even turned down their central heating for good and simply started wearing warmer clothing or cuddle up under a blanket when watching television or reading a book. That’s what I always do. I looove my blankets.

The Dutch’s favorite sweaters?

The Climate Alliance and Greenchoice did a poll about people’s sweater preferences. Because, hey, it’s all for climate and sustainability, sure. But it’s also fun! Don’t we all have a sweater that we really really love to wear?! Here are some fun facts about Dutch preferences.

The Dutch are almost unanimous in their favorite kind of sweater: 92% of them prefer a machine knitted one. Nearly half wants it to have a round collar. And 77% prefer the sweater to be in 1 color. Only 33% likes their sweaters to be baggy and 59% want it to be a tight fit. It makes me wonder what kind of sweater you love most.

The sad thing though: most sweaters stay in closets most of the time. The poll showed that many people say it is often too hot to wear a warm sweater. Many own a real thick winter sweater but don’t wear that on a weekday. Because they say it’s much too hot at work, at school, in public buildings and even in public transportation. Isn’t that a shame? Some scientists say it makes our bodies thermostat ‘lazy’. So it would not only benefit our climate to turn down the heat, it might be better for our health too.

Who was inspired?

Early editions of Warm Sweater Day sparked interest in many institutions and large companies. Some participants were the Dutch Railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen), Erasmus University Rotterdam, the province of Groningen, research institution TNO and dozens of primary schools. Even Donald Duck joined in with a special edition of the Dutch weekly magazine. The whole of Duckburg turned the central heating down ‘Scrooge McDuck-style’. How fun is that!

Warm Sweater Day inspires people and organizations to additional action too. Companies, schools, local governments. More and more people support and join the Warm Sweater Day tradition. In my home town, the council calls on all companies, schools, communities, and institutions to turn the central heating down 1 degree too. You can even win some prizes when sharing a fun photo of you and your sweater. 

Last year, Warm Sweater Day had 220.000 participants. Here’s hoping that our numbers keep growing. And if I get my wish, the numbers will grow around the globe, not just in our tiny country. I already keep my thermostat on the low end and use my blankets every day and yet, I’ll still make some extra effort on Warm Sweater Day.

Are you joining in?

It’s fun to go to work or school in your favorite sweater and feel good about doing your part for the environment. Will you join the Dutch tradition of Warm Sweater Day? And maybe even help make it a worldwide tradition? That would be so awesome. Help save the planet one sweater at the time. Maybe your casual Friday can become casual sweater day? I know it’s just a small gesture and there’s so much more to be won. But every bit helps. It really does. 

That’s what I write about on this website all the time: all your choices matter. Everything you do or don’t do, matters. How you spend your money matters. Wearing warm sweaters matters.

On Friday, February 7 I’ll be wearing an extra warm sweater to celebrate Warm Sweater Day. It would be so great if you would too. And I’d love to see you in your favorite sweater, so don’t be shy to message me or share how it went in the comments below. Happy Warm Sweater Day!