What happens to clothes you return?
By Florenne Earle Ledger published 19/11/2021
What happens to the clothes you return?
Brace yourself because it’s bad news besties…We don’t need to tell you how much waste is generated by fast fashion, but you might be surprised to know that a staggering amount of textile waste is made up of clothes never even worn.
Only 11% of clothing companies have a recycling policy implemented for returns. That means 89% of the time, the clothes you return go directly to landfill. It doesn’t matter how little you’ve worn it, how cute it is, or if it’s in perfect condition, it’s going straight in the bin.
Lockdown was a dark time and we don’t blame anyone for trying to spice it up with a little retail therapy, but it has to be more widely known that almost 100% of returned clothing items end up in landfill, they do NOT get resold.
Obviously, the option to return clothes is necessary and useful, but when people buy multiple of one item in different sizes to try on at home or spend hundreds of pounds unnecessarily, they need to be aware of the repercussions this has on the climate.
How to make sure you buy clothes you won’t part ways with
- Try before you buy. Use Whering to style items you've got your eye on with your existing wardrobe, before you purchase them. That way when the item arrives in the post you're sure that you'll actually wear it a lot. Click here to start styling.
- Trust your judgment. We are bombarded with adverts of what Instagram and Facebook think we want, but what do we actually want? We should trust ourselves and our own personal taste when it comes to shopping, not the recommended section (even though it can’t be denied they get it right sometimes). Capitalism likes to tell us how to spend our money, but we got this one on our own.
- Don’t follow trends. I mean follow trends if you actually like them, but there’s no need to hop on the bandwagon every time it comes around. It goes hand in hand with trusting your judgment and being aware of the messages adverts implant in our brains, you know what you like and what suits your style, that does not have to fit in with trends or what your friends are wearing.
- Think about it. Stating the obvious here, but do you actually like the item in your basket or are you just bored and doom scrolling? A way to determine how much you like a piece is to think about whether you would buy it if it was a little more expensive. Are you buying it because it’s cheap and a good deal, or because it has the potential to become an asset to your wardrobe? Try giving it a few days or a week to see you if you’re still thinking about it. If it’s still on your mind, make the purchase guilt-free.
- Is it meant to be? Will it work with the rest of your clothes? If you can’t imagine the item worn in 5 different outfits, second guess whether you actually need it. Having something in your wardrobe that you don’t wear is pending landfill, so make sure it’s a match made in heaven with your closet.
- Know your size. We are no stranger to the fact that sizes change across stores (thanks to Sonny Turners’ Instagram reels educating us on the reality of skewed sizing), but it doesn’t hurt to try on items in stores and work out your exact measurements so you can use the sizing guide online to work out what size you will be. This way when you order something it will actually fit. Sounds basic we know, but the increasing number of returns leaves us with no choice but to state the obvious. It would also help if clothing stores understood the concept of size consistency… but that’s a battle for another day.
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