I learned "green" from my Mom .. it was a money issue more than a eco issue back then. We "recovered" everything from a garment that had outlived its usefulness in our family. Buttons were cut off, zippers removed, you name it if we could make use of it we did. Any morsel of fabric was saved for a potential use . The only thing my Mom purchased was thread and then thought it was an expensive purchase. We purchased "new" fabric for special occasion clothing , and never bought anything that was not in a budget dollar amount.
Being the third girl , my "wardrobe" was primarliy handme downs, and re-constructed. My younger sister was more fortunate that I was much harder on clothing and shoes .. not much made it past me.. so she had more new clothing that my mom made.