Sniffy and the Woollen Sock
Written by Maja Pavela
Sniffy was a city dog. He belonged to no one, yet somehow to everyone. He lived on the streets. People often invited him into their homes, because they were fond of him.
When he was indoors, he noticed how much time people spent deciding what to wear. Their wardrobes were stuffed full of clothes. Oh, how long it took to pull them all out! And then they grumbled that they had nothing to put on. Even more time was wasted putting everything back.
As Sniffy wandered the streets, he saw countless people in clothing shops. And near the bins, where they threw clothes away. He couldn’t understand it. He had one little coat of fur, which was more than enough, and he was perfectly happy with it. He didn’t bother with outfits—and so he had more time for his friends. And for sniffing, which he loved most of all.
One day his nose led him to an enormous pile of clothes. So high it nearly touched the sky. Sniffy thought it must be an outdoor clothing shop. Strange, though, that there were no people. Not a single one. As he sniffed around, he heard a faint moaning. He followed the sound, which led him almost to the top of the pile. The moaning came from inside. He began to dig. He dug and dug, until at last he uncovered the source of the sound.
There lay a woollen sock, terribly unhappy to have ended up on the rubbish heap—even though it didn’t have the tiniest hole in it. Sniffy realised he wasn’t in a shop at all, but on a landfill full of discarded clothes.
The woollen sock thanked Sniffy for rescuing it.
Illustrated by Gregor Šuštar
From that day on, they were inseparable. They roamed the streets together, avoiding people with their strange habits who polluted the planet. The sock explained that, when it had still lived with people, it had noticed something: most often they bought clothes when they were sad, angry, frightened or envious. Shopping lifted their mood, even made them euphoric—but only for a short while. Soon they threw away perfectly good clothes to make space for new ones. That was how the woollen sock had ended up in the rubbish.
Sniffy and the sock didn’t want their planet to be covered in mountains of clothes instead of trees and plants. So they decided to act. They prepared an exhibition of discarded clothes. On each item they wrote:
LESS CLOTHES = MORE SPACE
LESS CLOTHES = MORE TIME
LESS CLOTHES = A CLEANER PLANET
LESS CLOTHES = A HAPPIER HEART
They hung the clothes around the city. People began to think. What was the exhibition saying? They came to the conclusion that they had too many clothes. And they started talking about it to each other.
Instead of shopping, they organised swap events. They exchanged clothes there and felt as if they had new ones—without burdening the planet. They saved money too. At home, they had more space, so tidying became easier. With fewer clothes, they decided what to wear more quickly. That meant more time with friends. And their hearts grew lighter and happier. When hearts are content, people give more than they take. And that brings even more joy and connection. Happiness spread across the city, and from there, across the planet.
Grateful for these realisations, people drew pictures of Sniffy and the woollen sock on their clothes. That way they always carried them close. The sock reminded them to care for themselves, to warm their hearts when sadness, anger, envy or fear crept in. Sniffy reminded them how: to face their feelings, and discover what each uncomfortable emotion was trying to say. Once they had the answer, they could care for themselves—and so for the environment and for others on this beloved planet.
Hooray for Sniffy and the woollen sock. And hooray for the people who cared.