The new generation facing up to a scary climate reality

Generation Alpha, born between 2010 and 2024, are coming into a world defined by one particular, unavoidable truth: the climate crisis is here, and it’s getting worse.

But how might this indisputable fact impact the way the younger siblings of generation Z behave, think, and consume? Could coming of age against a backdrop of catastrophic extreme weather see them transform one of the most pervasive and environmentally destructive industries of our time? We are, of course, talking about fast fashion.

But before we get into how the world’s youngest generation might impact the clothing industry, first we need to define exactly why talking about a generational divide is relevant in this instance. So let’s start there.

Who are generation Alpha? And why are we talking about generations, anyway?

“They are the start of something new, not a return to the old,” said Australian social researcher Mark McCrindle, who was the first to decide that the generation born from 2010 onwards would be known formally as “generation Alpha.”

“It conforms to the scientific nomenclature of using the Greek alphabet instead of the Latin alphabet,” he explained on his social research platform McCrindle. “And there was no point in going back to A. After all, they are the first generation born fully into the 21st century.”

For some, this concept of dividing people up into generations seems a little nonsensical. Do people born in the same time period really possess a set of characteristics so different from previous generations that it’s worth defining them by one arbitrary term for their entire existence? It’s up for debate—much like most of the strange behaviours of late stage capitalism.

But for researchers trying to predict and assess how certain social, cultural, and economic events happening now might impact the future, splitting people up into age groups can be helpful, explains Dr. Gordon Fletcher of Salford Business School, whose areas of research include digital business, digital transformation, innovation, and change.

“Generations can be very useful for identifying groups of people who will have shared history, common cultural references, have completed their education at a similar time, and will usually have parental influences from the previous generation to rebel against,” he notes.

He adds: “Although two individuals born in the same year may have very different stories, the important point is that their stories share the same background of world events, popular songs, new technologies, and celebrities.”

For generation Alpha, the climate crisis and how we handle it now defines their future.

For generation Alpha, the climate crisis and how we handle it now defines their future. After all, many will live to see the world move into the 2100s. A century that may or may not be defined by complete climate catastrophe, depending how much we continue to procrastinate here in the 2020s. So, it’s safe to say, the stakes are pretty high.

But this generation is also the first generation to be born into a world completely dominated by technology. They were the first to be handed a pacifying iPad as a baby, or to fall asleep to the sound of white noise generated on an iPhone 14 Pro.

“This is a generation already really familiar with the metaverse—it is called Roblox and Minecraft,” says Fletcher. “The indicator, so far, is that [generation Alpha’s] collective assumption is that the businesses are by default online and that physical products from these businesses will get delivered within 24 hours.”

This presents a predicament for those hoping to see an end to fast fashion in the near future. The clue is in the name, but this is a business model that thrives on delivering to your door a zeptosecond after you’ve clicked purchase. For young consumers, this signals a big conflict of interest—one that Alpha’s older sibling gen Z has already fallen foul to.

Fast fashion dug its heels in with gen Z, will the same happen for the Alphas?

For years, gen Zers have been called the most caring, compassionate, environmentally conscious generation yet, largely because, like the Alphas, they were born into a world hyper aware of the climate emergency.

But despite this, they are still the biggest consumer group of fast fashion—even though research suggests this industry is destroying the planet by filling up landfills with plastic waste, pumping out up to 10% of carbon emissions, and also, lest we forget, exploiting not thousands, but tens of millions of garment workers around the globe.

This may be all to do with something called the intention-behaviour gap, which, in a nutshell, is a cognitive theory that refers to the space between wanting to do something, and actually doing it. The intention-behaviour gap is strong with gen Z and fast fashion.

According to a study last year by Unidays, a popular discount website for students worldwide, two-thirds of gen Z want their clothes to be manufactured to the highest ethical standards, and almost 80% say that sustainable fashion is important to them. But their relationship with fast fashion still persists.

SHEIN remains one of the most popular brands to post about on TikTok, gen Z’s social media platform of choice. And, at the time of writing, #sheinhaul has nearly 10bn views.

This is likely because the ultra fast fashion giant has nailed the mean feat of delivering trend-led garments at very cheap prices (at the time of writing, one of the cheapest items of clothing on SHEIN’s UK website is a crop top for less than £2.50.) To put it simply, this is a very appealing business model to a group of trend-led consumers who, in general, haven’t reached an age where they are generating much disposable income yet.

The slippery, changing image of fast fashion

But to say gen Z hasn’t influenced any change at all would be unfair to Greta Thunberg’s peers. Alongside fast fashion, they are also the main target consumer group for apps like Depop and Vinted, each of which specialise in the resale of pre-loved clothing, helping to keep more garments from ending up in the landfill.

That same Unidays study found that nearly 40% of gen Z would buy pre-loved clothing, because it’s more sustainable than fast fashion. And according to Statista, it’s gen Z that will help drive the resale market to a value of $218bn in 2026, up from $96bn in 2021.

But fast fashion is clever. It evolves and adapts to fit the tastes of its primary consumers, hence why it has strived to achieve such a high level of TikTok domination. The industry as a whole now also understands this pull of resale, and has managed to tie that business model to its own, with many companies—including SHEIN, Zara, and Pretty Little Thing—launching their own pre-loved platforms.

This gives gen Z the illusion that the intention-behaviour gap is now closing. That they can have their cake, and eat it too. Or in this case, have their Zara miniskirt, and buy it too. And then another, and then another, and then another. But for every pre-loved garment they buy, there’s a new shiny option they can choose next.

The same brands that are launching resale platforms aren’t scaling down the amount of new clothing they offer. If anything, they’re scaling up production.

And that’s because the same brands that are launching resale platforms aren’t scaling down the amount of new clothing they offer. If anything, they’re scaling up production. And many of the garments they’re making and selling are not actually suitable for multiple rewear anyway, so they’ll still end up in the landfill sooner rather than later (just take a look at SHEIN’s quality reviews for further proof of that assessment).

But despite gen Z’s appetite for fast fashion, this generation has, arguably, planted seeds of change when it comes to clothing consumption. Time will tell if generation Alpha can nourish those seeds to produce the fruit of a more sustainable fashion industry, but right now, it’s looking hopeful.

Look out fast fashion, Alphas are set to establish a new status quo

“The signals are that Alphas are taking the expectations and behaviours of previous generations even further,” says Fletcher. “They are the generation to ‘do’ something rather than just ‘talk’ about it.”

And we’re already seeing this in the way they engage and interact with their parents, who are, for the most part, millennials.

Millennials are a unique generation: they know their way around a walkman, an MP3 player, and an iPhone, and as a result of the latter, were among the first to be obsessed with social media. This also made them the first fodder for fast fashion, which linked up with social media pretty fast, helping to birth influencer culture. But Alphas are rebelling against all of this, observes Fletcher.

“Alphas are showing signs of being critical, ethical, and conscious consumers, even pushing back on their own parents’ online behaviours,” he notes. “Unlike millennials, they are more likely to put down their device and do activities that are thoroughly analogue.” He added: “They are already showing themselves to be more than just ‘mini-millennials.’”

But while they rebel against the immediate generations before them, Alphas are also developing signs of romanticising their grandparent’s generation. “Alphas, and [gen Z] beforehand, show nostalgia for earlier generations, including the baby boomers,” he adds. And this romanticization could serve them well. Boomers may have a reputation for creating the climate mess we’re in now, but it’s important to remember that those born between 1946 and 1964 also initiated some of the most influential environmental movements of our time.

Think of Earth Day, for example, which is now in its 53rd year. It started in 1970, when many boomers were in their teens and 20s, after a massive Santa Barbara oil spill shocked California. Subsequent activism created real, tangible change in the form of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Gen Alpha may go searching for the life that existed before we were all glued to a screen, and as a result, develop more sustainable shopping habits.

But boomer nostalgia could trickle into fashion choices, too. And not just in terms of style, as we’ve seen on many occasions, but in terms of behaviour. Fletcher says research suggests that Alphas may start to use the technology that defines their generation in a new way: as a tool for finding simplicity. They may go searching for the life that existed before we were all glued to a screen, and as a result, develop more sustainable shopping habits.

“Their goal not to be defined by the technology they use may come out in terms of fashion choices,” explains Fletcher. “Not just imitating the fashion of the 1960s, but actively seeking out the vintage clothing from this and other decades, when clothes were made to last. Seeking authenticity away from the screen—but discovered through the screen—could become defining for Alphas as they enter the workforce and become independent.”

Right now, it’s important to note, this is all largely informed guesswork. The oldest members of gen Alpha are only 13 years of age, which means they don’t have any real spending power or influence over the fashion market—yet. In just three or four short years, this generation of consumers is going to emerge strong. And if the trends and patterns observed so far are anything to go by, they’re going to be making some serious changes around here. Fast fashion, beware.

The post Could the Rise of Generation Alpha Signal the End of Fast Fashion As We Know It? appeared first on Good On You.

Tackling textile waste in the laundry basket

What do landfills, charity collections, and the ports of Ghana have in common? We’ll tell you: it’s mountains of old, discarded clothes.

Every year, the world throws away around 92m tonnes of textile waste. Some old garments will simply go to the landfill, where, if they’re made with synthetics (like most are), they will likely stay for centuries, rotting chemicals into the earth. Others will be donated, and while this is preferable to the trash, the scale of donations given to charity shops and bins is often unmanageable, leading to many clothes getting sent overseas, to places like Ghana. The country’s capital, Accra, receives around 15m items of old clothing every week. It’s too much to manage, so guess where most of these clothes end up? Yep, we’re back to the landfill.

The seemingly loud-and-clear message from all of this is to stop throwing away clothes. But it’s not always that easy. What if a much-beloved garment has shrunk in the wash and no longer fits? Or you just can’t get that stubborn stain out? Or it has lost its shape? We’ve all been there. Paying attention to laundry care labels and washing clothes the right way won’t totally fix fashion’s colossal waste problems, but it might save you from grappling with the moral dilemma of throwing away clothing because of an avoidable laundry mistake.

While clothing tag laundry symbols may look a little bit confusing at first (what are all these tubs and squares and circles about?), when you know what they mean, all will become clear. Here, we’ve provided a breakdown of many of the most common symbols. But first, here’s a little more about why developing good laundry habits is a key part of nurturing a more sustainable wardrobe.

Why learning good clothing care is good for the planet

It might seem like a boring task (and we’re not here to argue that it’s super exciting), but learning to do the laundry properly is one of the best ways you can help your favourite clothes to last longer, keeping them out of the landfill and in your wardrobe where they belong.

“The average piece of clothing is only worn seven times before being thrown away,” says Lulu O’Connor, the founder and CEO of clothing care brand Clothes Doctor. “Often, this is simply because they’ve lost their shape, colour, or the appearance they once had. In many cases this is caused by being washed too often or the wrong way. A few simple changes to our laundry routine can really extend their life.”

In many cases, clothes are thrown away after being washed too often or the wrong way. A few simple changes to our laundry routine can really extend their life.

Lulu O’Connor – Clothes Doctor CEO

O’Connor notes that making simple changes, like following the care symbols instead of chucking it all into your washing machine and hoping for the best (of which we are all guilty) or using the right type of detergent for the fabric you’re using, can make a big difference. But it’s also important to know when to wash.

Is an item actually dirty or have you just worn it once? If it’s the latter, it might not actually need another turn in the washing machine. Instead, you could freshen it up by using a steamer, for example. “Steaming works for refreshing items between wearing,” says O’Connor. “It will kill odour and remove wrinkles, without you having to put your item through the wash. Our Blue Lilly and Bergamot Steamer Water, for example, beautifully scents your clothes during steaming.”

But don’t be afraid to just brush dirt off, either. This is advice not just followed by O’Connor, but also by some of the world’s most respected designers. In fact, Stella McCartney once told the Guardian that she simply allows dirt to dry and then brushes it off, and only washes clothes when they can’t go another day without it. “In life, rule of thumb,” she said, “if you don’t absolutely have to clean anything, don’t clean it.”

Should you always follow clothing care symbols to the letter?

When you can’t avoid the washing machine any longer, ignore clothing care labels at your peril, says Laura Mountford, laundry expert, content creator, and author of Live, Laugh, Laundry: A Calming Guide to Keeping Your Clothes Clean – And You Happy. “[The washing machine] can cause fabrics to shrink, bobble, and stretch, due to using the incorrect temperature or spin cycle,” she explains, adding that she has her own laundry chart framed by her washing machine to help her remember which symbol means what.

“You usually can’t go wrong if you follow the garment care instructions on the label, but it can be confusing to know what all of the symbols actually mean,” she says. “My book features a handy chart to decode the laundry symbols you might come across. I have this framed on the wall of my laundry room, as I thought it looked cute, as well as useful. I would advise keeping a note of the symbols to hand, by your washing machine for ease of use.”

But it’s important to note that sometimes, a little extra research is necessary—laundry care labels don’t always give the full picture. For example, they won’t tell you that if the t-shirt is blue, it should ideally be washed with other “cool” colours, like greens.

It is often overlooked to separate warm and cool tones from black items, putting all darks together, but this can lead to colour bleeding and fabrics losing their brightness.

Laura Mountford – laundry expert and author

“Most of us know that all fabrics should be separated by colour before washing,” Mountford notes. “But did you know that the most effective way to do this is whites, lights (neutrals), warms (reds, pinks, oranges), cools (blues, greens), and blacks? It is often overlooked to separate warm and cool tones from black items, putting all darks together, but this can lead to colour bleeding and fabrics losing their brightness.” If you’re not interested in spending precious time separating your clothes, however, you could opt to use colour catchers instead.

Another crucial laundry care tip from O’Connor is all about dry cleaning. Or, more specifically, a lack of dry cleaning. While many garments specify dry cleaning on the label, you can use a little of your own judgement here. “More often than not, items made from silk or wool are labelled as ‘dry clean only’ due to their delicate nature,” she explains. “But these delicate fabrics can in fact be washed just as (if not more) effectively at home with a gentle detergent.”

She adds that most synthetic fabrics, as well as cottons and linens, are durable enough to be popped in the washing machine with a gentle detergent and on a low temperature with no issues. But if the material is viscose, it’s wise to adhere to the dry cleaning symbol or risk damaging the clothing. “This type of rayon requires particular care,” she notes.

Your simple guide to reading clothing tags and laundry symbols

While it might be best to do your own research and use your own judgement in a handful of cases, on the whole, following clothing tags properly is going to do your wardrobe a world of good, helping your garments look new for much, much longer. So, for next time you load up the washing machine, here is a simple guide to the symbols you need to look out for and what they mean.

1. Bucket or tub filled with water

If the tag has a bucket (or tub) of water symbol, this means the item is safe for the washing machine. There may also be a temperature indicated on the bucket (30°C, for example, is a cold wash, 40°C is a warm wash, and 60°C is a hot wash), but, as well as numbers, the temperature could also be indicated with dots. The more dots in the bucket, the hotter the wash temperature should be. So if you just see one dot, this indicates the item should be washed on a cold temperature.

Sometimes the bucket will have a single line underneath it, which indicates you should select a synthetics cycle on the washing machine, while two lines means you should select a gentle cycle. If there is a hand in the bucket, you guessed it, this means it’s time for hand washing (no machine).

And finally, if you see a red bucket of water with a cross through it, do not use the washing machine at all for this particular garment. (You may also see a rolled up red tag with a cross through it, and this means you should avoid wringing out the garment.)

2. Triangle Symbols

Next up is triangle symbols, and these are particularly important because they indicate whether bleach can be used on a garment or not. Wool, for example, shouldn’t be bleached, and this is why you’ll see a red triangle with a cross through it on these garments, or any other fabric that’s too delicate for bleach. If you see an empty green triangle, however, it’s safe to use bleach. If it’s a green triangle with green lines, this means you should opt for a non-chlorine bleach.

3. Square symbols

Square symbols don’t actually refer to washing at all, but rather drying. If you see a green square with a green circle, then you’re clear to pop that item in the tumble dryer. If there are dots in the square, again, this indicates heat (one dot for low heat, three dots for high heat). One line underneath the square indicates a synthetic cycle, while two lines is for gentle cycles.

If you see a red square and circle with a cross through it, this means you should not put this item in the tumble dryer at all. It may be accompanied by other symbols, though. A square with three vertical lines is for drip drying, a square with one horizontal line in the middle is for flat drying, while a square with a curved line at the top means the item can be hung up to dry.

4. Ironing symbols

After washing and drying, the next step is often ironing. But, again, proceed with caution before you set up the board, as not all garments can be safely ironed. If you see a green iron with one dot in the centre, this means you should select a cool setting. Two dots is for a medium heat setting, and three dots means the item can be ironed on a high heat. A red iron with a cross through the middle means do not iron, while a red iron with a cross underneath means the item cannot be steamed.

5. Dry cleaning symbols

And finally, if you are thinking about heading to the dry cleaner, there are also symbols to follow. Your dry cleaner will know what each of these mean, but it’s also helpful for you to understand what your item needs and if it’s even safe to be dry cleaned in the first place.

Green circles mean the item can be dry cleaned, while different letters inside the circle indicate the type of solvent that can be used (P, for example, means any solvent except Trichloroethylene). Lines on the outside of the circle indicate things like cycle length, heat, moisture, and whether the item can be steamed. And finally, if you see a red circle with a red cross, don’t take it to the dry cleaner at all.

The post Your Handy Guide to Reading Laundry Tags for More Sustainable Clothing Care appeared first on Good On You.

Fast fashion’s plastic problem keeps growing

Polyester is everywhere. You might even be wearing the synthetic fibre right now without realising it, as it’s surprisingly versatile. Scan over any fast fashion website and you’ll find the material composition for everything from dresses and blazers to knit jumpers and loungewear to be primarily polyester.

Polyester is so pervasive that Textile Exchange reports it’s the most used fibre on the planet, accounting for 52% of the global fibre market in 2020. For fast fashion brands, using polyester makes sense: it’s cheap, strong, and durable. But that durability also presents a problem: polyester doesn’t biodegrade.

In more ways than one, fast fashion’s overproduction and reliance on virgin polyester is driving the waste crisis and the industry’s environmental scorecard to new lows. When it’s thrown out, polyester stays in the landfill for decades and potentially even centuries. And it’s made with non-renewable petroleum, a fossil fuel.

Due to these many negative impacts, organisations like Textile Exchange are pushing the industry to move away from its overuse of virgin polyester. In 2021, Textile Exchange and the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action launched the 2025 Recycled Polyester Challenge, with more than 130 companies signing on to accelerate a transition to polyester from recycled sources.

Even fast fashion brands have been publicising their commitment to using recycled polyester, with the fibre factoring heavily into almost every “conscious” and “sustainable” collection launched in recent years. Take evoluSHEIN, SHEIN’s “conscious” collection. Recycled polyester is the star material in almost every garment in the collection. A recent H&M campaign branded products like a faux fur jacket and a blazer dress made with recycled polyester as “circular”.

On the surface, that can make a cheap SHEIN dress seem like a better choice to the growing number of conscious-minded consumers. And many see the shift away from virgin polyester toward more recycled polyester as positive.

But when you look specifically at fast fashion brands, this one material switcheroo can seem like the only tangible change underpinning many of their sustainability claims. And that’s a big problem, according to a range of experts who worry fast fashion brands are greenwashing their use of recycled polyester without addressing the key drivers of their negative impacts: overproduction and waste.

Here’s what you need to know about fast fashion and recycled polyester, including how it’s made, its impacts, and the future of synthetics.

Recycled polyester is rarely made of recycled clothing

First, let’s clear up a common misconception: recycled polyester is rarely made from the fibres of recycled clothing.

The term “recycled” makes some consumers imagine that recycled polyester clothing means fibres from old polyester garments are recycled into new ones. But that’s rarely the case.

It’s quite challenging to recycle old clothing into new clothing. This is because garments are often a mix of different materials: there are blended fibres (commonly polyester blended with cotton), elastics, yarns, metal zips, plastic buttons, and so on.

This explains why so few of our clothes are actually recycled. In the US, just over 13% of clothes were actually recycled, according to 2018 data from the Environmental Protection Agency. Instead, unwanted clothes are more often discarded in environmentally harmful ways. More than 11m tonnes of clothing are incinerated or dumped in the US every year.

Instead, the recycled polyester you see advertised by fast fashion is almost always made from old plastic—coming from sources like water bottles instead of plastic fast fashion. In fact, Textile Exchange reports that in 2020 99% of recycled polyester was sourced from PET bottles—meanwhile “less than 0.5% of the global fibre market came from pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles”.

How recycled polyester clothing is really produced

Currently, taking plastics like single-use bottles and turning them into clothes is largely achieved through a mechanical recycling process. The items are melted down into pellets before being spun into new yarn. And this is what most brands use to make their recycled garments or accessories. Adidas, for example, works with Parley for the Oceans to turn marine plastic waste into sneakers.

This is a seemingly great solution for repurposing plastic waste, but it’s not so clearcut. Recycled polyester created through a mechanical process can’t be recycled again and again. This raises some concerns when fast fashion brands increasingly rely on the material. It also likely sustains demand for single-use PET bottles, not something we want to see. Recycled polyester is still often blended with virgin polyester, furthering the reliance on fossil fuels. And at the end of these garments’ lives, they’re still often destined for the landfill.

There’s no doubt that recycled materials have environmental benefits; they require fewer initial resources to make and cause fewer greenhouse gas emissions when compared with virgin materials.

Any brand shifting to some percentage of their production run to recycled synthetics is better than the alternative.

Cat Salvidge, a sector specialist for sustainable textiles at British nonprofit the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), says that even if recycled polyester is only used to make 20% of a garment, and the rest uses virgin synthetics like nylon or viscose, it’s still reducing the impact of that particular item of clothing—at least from the point of view of its carbon footprint.

“Replacing a proportion of the product with recycled fibres will still help to reduce a product’s impact when compared to using virgin materials. Switching 20% of the virgin polyester used by the industry to recycled polyester made using plastic bottles would reduce the carbon footprint by 4.5%,” she says. “And if we replaced all virgin polyester with recycled polyester, we could expect carbon footprint savings of more than 25%.”

Turning recyclable plastic bottles into non-recyclable clothing isn’t a sustainable solution for these brands.

But “better than the alternative” isn’t setting the bar very high for fast fashion brands, which are a primary driver of the industry’s environmental problems. Salvidge says the industry needs to go further when it comes to recycled materials. Turning recyclable plastic bottles into non-recyclable clothing isn’t a sustainable solution for these brands.

“We need to move towards our own closed-loop system of fibre-to-fibre recycling,” she says. This essentially means that every garment produced is made back into a new garment at the end of its life, reducing the need for virgin materials.

One proposed solution: textile-to-textile recycling

Textile-to-textile (or fibre-to-fibre) recycling means turning textile waste like old clothes into new textiles and new clothing. It’s a more circular paradigm.

But today, less than 1% of textile waste is textile-to-textile recycled, according to McKinsey.

There are a range of factors currently limiting textile-to-textile recycling, ranging from collection and sorting to processing challenges. For polyester, it can be a logistically difficult and labour intensive puzzle to solve.

A new wave of technologies described as chemical recycling aim to make textile-to-textile truly scalable—and resulting in better quality materials, as well.

UK-based Worn Again Technologies, for example, has been working on a scalable chemical recycling process that would turn hard-to-recycle blended garments into new virgin-like materials, keeping them in constant circulation. It’s still in the early phases of demonstrating whether its solution has broader potential. It’s building a textile recycling plant in Switzerland, which would demonstrate the company’s ability to create a scalable “closed-loop chemical recycling solution.”

But chemical recycling still raises some concerns of its own. Salvidge notes that chemical recycled synthetic fibres demand less energy than producing virgin synthetics, but more energy than conventional mechanical recycling. “The de-polymerisation and re-polymerisation processes typically happen at high temperatures” and thereby require a lot of energy to complete, she says.

There’s another obvious snag: the use of chemicals. If chemicals used in the recycling process aren’t correctly managed, they can be hazardous to both workers and the environment, explains Salvidge. To prove they’re recycling responsibly, brands can acquire third-party certifications. The Global Recycled Content Standard, for example, monitors waste management and prohibits the use of hazardous chemicals according to the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List.

It’s not a straightforward issue. But for Salvidge, recycled fabrics always come out on top in comparison to virgin synthetics. And the biggest asset of chemical recycling is the end result. “The outputs [from chemical fibre-to-fibre recycling] are of the same quality as virgin materials, so 100% recycled content can be used,” she says. “With mechanical recycling, the fibres generally need to be blended with virgin materials to achieve the required performance quality from brands.”

Fast fashion is investing in textile-to-textile recycling

When chemical recycling is commercially accessible, fast fashion brands are already indicating they could adopt the practice. In fact, H&M is an investor in Worn Again Technologies.

In 2019, H&M’s investment manager for sustainable fashion said that the brand “looks forward to being an early adopter” of Worn Again’s solutions and will “integrate” the technology into its supply chain.

But moving toward innovative recycling methods still doesn’t do anything to address the root of fast fashion’s environmental impacts: overproduction.

For example, H&M reportedly produces around three billion items of clothing every year. If in some hypothetical future a brand like it could produce all of its clothing with fibre-to-fibre recycling methods, that still wouldn’t solve the environmental woes that come from overproducing clothing at that scale. Even with the ecological improvements that come with using recycled fibres, the recycling process still has its own environmental impacts, which only increase when ramped up to meet such a huge demand.

Another big snag: recycled polyester sheds microplastics

Recycled or not, synthetic fibres are a prime source of microplastics, which are tiny but environmentally-toxic particles of plastic.

“[Microplastics] are released from garments during all life stages, from production to use to washing to end of life,” explains biologist and ecotoxicologist Bethanie Carney Almroth, associate professor at the University of Gothenburg. She adds that these microplastics make their way into the waterways, causing damage to marine life. Research suggests they are toxic to fish, causing oxidative damage and neurotoxicity.

In the Arctic, studies have found that nearly three-quarters of microplastic pollution comes from polyester. These particles likely made their way there through manufacturing and laundry.

Fast fashion is highly problematic. This small effort to ‘recycle’ is not making a major impact.

In Almroth’s view, using a few more recycled materials is simply not enough to fix fashion’s environmental problems. “[Conventional] recycling only adds one ‘loop’ before the material becomes waste, so it is not truly sustainable or circular,” she says. “Fast fashion is highly problematic. This small effort to ‘recycle’ is not making a major impact.”

Almroth recently worked on a new report with the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the findings showed that plastic and chemical waste is already out of control. With that in mind, she says there is only one way to reduce fashion’s impact on the planet: slowing down.

To put it simply, Almroth says: “we need to consume less.” And to accomplish that, fast fashion brands need to produce less. But right now, fast fashion’s overproduction only seems to be accelerating. SHEIN, for instance, relies heavily on synthetic materials, and every day it uploads thousands of new products to its website.

There’s no change without systems change

The bottom line: recycled polyester can’t solve fast fashion’s overproduction problem. Nothing can—aside from a systemic shift away from the take-make-waste model.

But innovations in this space should inspire some optimism. When combined with a slow down in production, fibre-to-fibre recycling could offer the industry a chance at reducing its impact. And if we’re going to deal with the polyester nightmare, a slow down is exactly what we need, experts tell me.

Fashion needs a fundamental system change, Salvidge tells me. “Brands and retailers need to address the issues of continued overproduction and overconsumption,” she says. WRAP, her company, is working with brands through its Textiles 2030 initiative to help them move towards circularity.

“Brands need to design for circularity, which means making sure their products are made using low impact materials and production processes, and are made to be long lasting and recyclable,” Salvidge adds.

And recycling is only one component of a truly circular business model.

“Brands also need to support their customers to care and repair for their clothing so that they can be kept in use for longer,” adds Salvidge. “[They need to] provide alternatives to buying new, such as resale and rental services, as well as provide accessible ways for customers to return clothing they no longer use, to be resold or recycled.” That’s only a start towards a truly circular economy.

Because, really, circularity isn’t just in the hands of fast fashion. It can start at home, with us, in our own wardrobes.

We, as consumers, have a role to play too, which starts with doing everything we can to stop piling more polyester into the landfill. We can buy second hand, outfit repeat, upcycle, personally resell what we already own, or swap with friends. And we can engage with our representatives to support the kind of regulation the industry needs. Because, really, circularity isn’t just in the hands of fast fashion. It can start at home, with us, in our own wardrobes. We can each be an enabler of change.

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Investigating fast fashion’s harmful chemicals

Fast fashion is notorious for its problems. The supply chains of the world’s biggest retailers are riddled with inequality and exploitation. By now, most of us know that factory workers often aren’t paid fairly, and overproduction strains landfills. But what is perhaps less understood is that the impact of our clothing choices is also much closer to home.

Research suggests we could be risking harmful chemical exposure in our own homes when we buy from fast fashion brands.

According to a CBC investigation, led by environmental chemist Miriam Diamond, some of the most popular fast fashion brands on the planet (looking at you, SHEIN) have been selling toxic chemicals to the public, hidden in clothing and accessories.

Finding chemicals in fast fashion

For Diamond’s study, commissioned by Marketplace, researchers tested 38 samples of children’s and adult clothes and accessories. One in five had concerning levels of chemicals, like lead, PFAS, and phthalates.

Unsurprisingly, one of the worst offenders was SHEIN.

The China-based retail behemoth (the most popular fast fashion retailer in the US) was selling a toddler’s jacket with 20 times the amount of lead that Canada’s health department deems safe for children. Zaful and AliExpress were also found selling garments with high levels of toxic chemicals, like phthalates.

This could all have some alarming consequences, says Diamond. As a neurotoxicant, research suggests that exposure to lead can damage the brain and nervous system, impacting growth, development, and behaviour patterns. Children are particularly at risk, given their tendency to forget to wash their hands and chew on sleeves. “[This habit] is not uncommon, and that would give a higher dose,” says Diamond.

Research also suggests that phthalates, a group of chemicals often used in plastic to make it more durable, can interfere with some people’s reproductive hormones. Diamond explains that one phthalate is even associated with an increased risk of childhood asthma.

Why use toxic chemicals in clothing?

If the health consequences are so grave, why are some of the world’s biggest fast fashion brands using dangerous chemicals in their clothing?

The child’s jacket has since been removed from SHEIN’s online shelves. But Diamond and her team don’t have any definitive answers as to why such a high quantity of lead was being sold in a clothing item made for children, although they speculate it was being used as a pigment.

But zooming out, one seemingly obvious answer is that SHEIN simply doesn’t care what goes into its clothes, as long as it’s turning a big profit. The retailer’s estimated worth is a cool $100 billion, and it’s no secret that the company (and indeed the rest of the fast fashion industry, as this is by no means a one-brand problem) has reached its size by turning a blind eye to ethics.

Last year, a report by Swiss watchdog group Public Eye accused SHEIN of producing its clothes in factories with barred windows and no emergency exits. Workers were reportedly sewing for 75 hours every week, and only received one day off a month.

The impact of chemical use in fashion is far-reaching

Unfortunately, fast fashion’s chemical use is far more insidious than a few isolated incidents of alarming levels of lead or phthalates. In fact, we’ve actually become quite used to chemical use in our clothing. The items in our wardrobes all have to be dyed, bleached, and processed—all of which calls for chemicals. Some are more harmful than others.

“[Safer alternatives] exist,” says Diamond. “Such as alternative plasticisers, not phthalates. [SHEIN] could be using other dyes if it’s the dye that is the source of the lead.”

But in some instances, chemical use is intrinsic to the creation of a material. Viscose, for example, is used to make dresses, blouses, skirts, and more. In fact, the global market for the material is predicted to hit more than $11 billion by 2026. But in order to transform wood pulp into fibre, chemical input (as well as a lot of deforestation) is required.

“Cellulose is treated with a number of toxic chemicals, such as carbon disulphide, a powerful solvent,” explains Urska Trunk, campaign manager for the Changing Markets Foundation. The nonprofit, which strives to expose irresponsible corporate practices, has carried out a thorough investigation into the viscose industry.

The most vulnerable to succumbing to the ailments associated with carbon disulphide exposure are, of course, factory workers and their communities.

Research links carbon disulphide exposure with a number of serious health conditions, including psychosis, coronary heart disease, and leukaemia, explains Trunk. The most vulnerable to succumbing to these ailments are, of course, factory workers and their communities.

In Indonesia, which is home to more than five million garment workers, some people living near a viscose plant have been forced to stop drinking from their local well. “They fear the effect it will have on their families’, particularly their children’s, health,” says Trunk.

“In India, people in communities surrounding factories are suffering from serious health conditions,” she adds, “including cancer, tuberculosis, reproductive problems, birth defects, and stomach disorders.”

Not only do they harm people, but viscose chemicals are an environmental nightmare, running off into the water, and polluting the surrounding air and soil around factories.

What can be done to limit chemical use?

Brands need to take more responsibility. It’s as simple as that.

“Viscose production can be cleaner,” says Trunk. “Better production methods exist.” Changing Markets even produced its own roadmap for the viscose industry in 2018, to help it move towards responsible manufacturing.

If it is produced correctly, viscose could present a lower-impact fabric alternative to its synthetic peers, like polyester and nylon, which take hundreds of years to biodegrade and, shocker, contain harmful chemicals. Polyester is made with antimony trioxide, for example, which is a suspected carcinogen.

But change is happening, albeit slowly.

“Fourteen fashion companies have signed up to the roadmap so far and are now paving the way for the rest of the industry,” she explains. “With this, they made a public commitment to clean up their viscose supply chains, sending a strong signal to viscose manufacturers that they expect the industry to move to more responsible viscose production by 2023 to 2025.”

Another initiative brands can sign up to to reduce harmful chemical use across all of their materials is the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL), explains Kristian Hardiman, head of ratings at Good On You.

Issued by Roadmap to Zero, a program that aims to eliminate harmful chemicals from fashion, the ZDHC MRSL is a list of chemical substances that are banned from intentional use in the industry.

“Brands can join the Roadmap to Zero and implement the use of the ZDHC MRSL,” explains Hardiman. “Thereby requiring their suppliers to conform the list.” Phthalates are on the ZDHC MRSL, as are azo dyes (often used to colour textiles) and heavy metals, like chromium VI. The latter is often used to tan leather; it’s hemotoxic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic, and the most common pollutant found in groundwaters.

Unfortunately when it comes to chemicals, it is possibly one of the most greenwashed issues. For some brands, it is done out of naivety, whilst with others it is more malicious.

Kristian Hardiman – head of ratings

But the issue is complicated. Good On You is trying to create more transparency for consumers, by examining brand’s chemical use and their processes for monitoring worker safety. But “unfortunately when it comes to chemicals, it is possibly one of the most greenwashed issues,” Hardiman admits. “For some brands, it is done out of naivety, whilst with others it is more malicious.”

Brands can gloss over the issue by saying they are certified by the OEKO-TEX Standard 100, which confirms a garment has been tested for harmful substances. Or they can state they are compliant with Europe’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals) or California’s similar Proposition 65 List.

To a consumer, this may seem like the boxes have been ticked, but it’s not that simple. “In most of these cases, the emphasis is on testing the final products for chemicals that are harmful for human health rather than environmental health,” says Hardiman. “We do give very small rewards in our methodology, but we would still not consider this to be particularly meaningful.”

“Meaningful action in Good On You’s methodology would be a brand adopting an MRSL that is at least ZDHC standard or using fabrics or products that have been certified by credible bodies such as Bluesign, the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, Global Organic Textile Standard, the Global Recycle Standard or OEKO-TEX MADE IN GREEN,” he says. “It’s also important to note that brands should be adopting standards across their entire collection, not just a handful of products.”

What can shoppers do?

There’s no doubt: the issue of chemicals in fast fashion is vast, complicated, and overwhelming. For us shoppers, learning about how deep the rabbit hole goes can create a feeling of powerlessness.

But there are things we can do. Firstly, if you’re buying new, look out for solid certifications. “These are usually the best way to ensure that no or few hazardous chemicals are used,” says Hardiman. “The GOTS certification, which has been measured throughout the supply chain, is one of the stronger certifications.”

But we can also simply change our habits, so that we bring fewer clothes into our homes and create less waste. “Refrain from compulsive shopping,” says Trunk. “Choose quality over quantity. Buy only what you really need and plan to wear for a long time.” She adds: “shop second hand and buy for maximum durability, and seek to repair, reuse, and swap items.”

There is no silver bullet to fix the fast fashion industry. But we do have power.

As Hardiman poignantly notes, there is no silver bullet to fix the fast fashion industry. But we do have power. We can change our behaviour, and choose to limit our engagement with an industry that is destroying the planet, making people sick, and even putting our own children at risk.

The post Toxic Chemicals in Fast Fashion Could Be Harming Your Health appeared first on Good On You.

The growing backlash against fast fashion

Across social media, especially on TikTok and Instagram, few brands cause quite the stir that SHEIN does. The ultra fast fashion giant has quickly grown from a virtually unknown brand into one of the most profitable on the planet, surpassing similarly troubling fast fashion brands like Zara and Boohoo in both profits and quantity of clothes produced. SHEIN adds thousands of new styles to its website every day.

While many people eagerly snap up SHEIN garments due to the cheap prices, those garments are often disposed of just as quickly. Where do these polyester garments go? The best garments will end up cramming the racks at your local second hand shop, where they often don’t sell—landing them in landfills in countries like Ghana and Chile. To SHEIN’s credit, it’s the only fast fashion brand that has made a significant contribution to funding solutions to fashion waste, but its multi-million dollar investment is a mere drop in the bucket when you consider the scope of the fast fashion industry’s waste crisis.

In certain social circles, the headlines about these brands’ many ills means buying new fast fashion now has a stigma associated with it. That’s a good thing given their many labour and environmental abuses.

Due to this perceived stigma and lack of quality, many people now avoid buying these brands’ products at second hand shops and prune them out of their closets. That only makes the waste crisis worse.

But there’s a related phenomenon that’s more problematic: due to this perceived stigma and lack of quality, many people now avoid buying these brands’ products at second hand shops and prune them out of their closets. That only makes the waste crisis worse.

If we’re honest, most of us own several pieces of fast fashion. Finding out more about the industry’s environmental impact might make you want to purge every such garment from your wardrobe. But wearing the fast fashion items you already own for as long as possible is far better for the planet than throwing them out.

Equally so, rescuing fast fashion garments from your local thrift store or charity shop is a noble exercise in saving those garments from landfills. And if you know how to responsibly care for these items to make them last longer and avoid microplastic pollution, then buying second hand fast fashion is a low-budget way to make more sustainable choices. And with the cost of living crunch many of us are experiencing, it’s both a noble and practical choice.

Scroll on for more reasons why you should keep second hand fast fashion in your closet—and for easy tips on how to make those garments last longer while lessening the negative impacts from caring for those garments.

Throwing out fast fashion is an environmental catastrophe

Keeping fast fashion garments in your wardrobe and buying them from second hand shops saves them from landfills. Because when people in wealthy countries mindlessly throw away their fast fashion clothes, they’re polluting historically exploited countries.

When fast fashion gets trashed, most clothing goes to the landfill. There, it not only contributes to more emissions (in the US, landfills emitted roughly 109m metric tons of potent greenhouse gas methane in 2020), but it also causes plastic pollution.

Keeping fast fashion garments in your wardrobe and buying them from second hand shops saves them from landfills.

Most fast fashion clothing is made with synthetics, like polyester, which is derived from petroleum-derived plastics. That means that when it breaks down (over the course of decades or even centuries) in landfills, it leaks microplastics into the earth.

According to the United Nations, one third of plastic waste ends up either in freshwater or the soil. From there, it has a harmful impact on ecosystems. One 2020 study found that microplastic soil pollution has resulted in a decline in mites, larvae, and other small creatures that are crucial for land fertility.

But not all trashed clothing goes to landfill. Some of it gets incinerated, and unfortunately, that’s also terrible for the environment. This process emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere too, and perhaps even more alarming: research suggests it could release microplastics into the air.

Why you should keep fast fashion in your wardrobe—and buy it used

Certainly, there comes a time when you need to find a new alternative to a brand you’ve purchased from in the past. Whether it’s sizing needs or some other reason, buying new fashion from more sustainable brands is sometimes the only accessible option.

But that’s not the same thing as trashing a fast fashion polyester jumpsuit and replacing it with a new organic cotton alternative. However sustainably made your new garment is, trashing your old fast fashion or avoiding those brands in charity shops isn’t necessarily the right thing for the planet.

Trashing your old fast fashion or avoiding those brands in charity shops isn’t necessarily the right thing for the planet.

What to do instead? Keep your fast fashion items. Buy fast fashion second hand. Take care of those garments. Wash them responsibly. (Important note: microplastics leak into the water and impact ecosystems through our laundry too. More on that below.)  And if or when it gets to the point where you really don’t want them anymore, there are ways you can upcycle or rehome them responsibly.

With the help of a few experts, we’ve got all the tips below.

Tip 1: learn how to launder fast fashion responsibly

Careful laundering is a key part of taking care of polyester or other synthetic clothing and helping to ensure it stays in good condition for longer. The good news: polyester is easy to wash, because of the material’s inherent durability.

That said, fabric care experts The Laundress’ recommended best practice for polyester is washing it by using stain removal first on any marks, before soaking in cool water and vinegar. Next, machine wash, before air drying or popping in the dryer on a medium temperature.

Tip 2: minimise microplastic damage in the wash

Washing responsibly is about more than just taking care of fabric. Clothing doesn’t just contribute to the microplastic problem when it’s thrown away. One single wash of 6 kilograms could release 700,000 fibres into the waterways.

Rachael Miller, co-founder of ocean conservation nonprofit Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean, was horrified by this, so she developed the Cora Ball. Inspired by coral, the in-drum device prevents 31% of microplastics from entering the ocean through laundry.

“Once we realised that nature, herself, had the solution, we created the Cora Ball with coral-like stalks,” explained Miller. “The stalks catch and help tangle the fibre.”

One day though, Miller hopes her device won’t be necessary. Right now, a few countries, as well as the US state of California, are working on legislation to regulate microplastic pollution from laundry. For example, the UK’s Microplastic Filters (Washing Machines) Bill would require manufacturers to fit microplastic filters to washing machines if it becomes law.

Consider spot cleaning and only washing clothes when they really need to be washed.

Rachael Miller – Co-founder of ocean conservation nonprofit Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean

But we’re still a long way away from tackling the problem globally. Until then, Miller says there are a few other things you can do to reduce microplastic pollution from laundry.

The first is simple: wash less. “Consider spot cleaning and only washing clothes when they really need to be washed,” says Miller.

Next, opt for cold water. “This makes a difference in reducing how much your clothes shed and minimising energy use,” she explains. “Three, make sure all of your loads are a minimum of three-quarters full. This reduces the friction between garments, which reduces shedding.”

Finally, until washing machine manufacturers have a more global solution, you can also pick up products like the Guppyfriend bag to help catch microplastics in the wash.

Tip 3: get creative with styling and upcycling

If you’re bored of an item of clothing, before you get rid of it, ask yourself: could it be customised, amended, or upcycled?

If clothing is the wrong size, you could consider visiting a tailor or a seamstress to have it altered. (Or if you’re brave, invest in a sewing machine yourself and hit up some YouTube tutorials.)

But if an item is really past the point of no return clothing wise, could it have a new life as a cushion cover, a headband, or even a reusable food wrap? The answer is probably yes. Find our tips on creative upcycling here.

Tip 4: avoid overwhelming your local charity shop

If a new chic cushion cover just isn’t in your old garment’s future and you need to get rid of it, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a thrift store or charity shop donation.

But Amanda McCarty, a former fast fashion buyer and merchandiser turned sustainable clothing advocate and host of the Clothes Horse podcast, says this can be problematic. Why? These places are already overwhelmed.

“The sheer volume of donated clothes is a burden for thrift stores, both in terms of actual manpower to sort, price, and process it all, and the physical space to sell it,” she explains. This leads to clothing being sent overseas, where it inevitably ends up going to landfill anyway.

The sheer volume of donated clothes is a burden for thrift stores, both in terms of actual manpower to sort, price, and process it all, and the physical space to sell it.

Amanda McCarty – Sustainable clothing advocate and host of the Clothes Horse podcast

Earlier this year, ABC released an investigation called Dead White Man’s Clothes, which revealed that millions of garments are sent to Accra, in Ghana. There, around 40% end up in the landfill. “One needs to only look to the beaches in Accra, Ghana or the Atacama desert in Chile to see how our cycle of buy-donate-buy-donate is not working for the planet and its people,” says McCarty.

Instead of donating, you could utilise your local Buy Nothing group, she suggests, or host a clothing swap with friends, family, or neighbours.

She adds: “Other resources for rehoming locally, and ensuring that garment gets a lot more wears, include Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Freecycle, and clothing closets at schools and shelters.”

Tip 5: reflect on your own consumption impulses

One of the most important tips for keeping clothing out of the landfill for longer is changing our mindsets, so we don’t feel the need to buy new clothing constantly. Yes, even from sustainable brands. Buying new garments all the time paves the way for an overcrowded wardrobe, and increases the urge to purge.

But while “buy less” is simple in words, it’s difficult in practice. After all, we live in a capitalist society that is always preaching at us to buy, buy, buy. But rising above this is crucial. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy new things, but instead, take a minute to really think about what you’re buying and why you’re buying it.

McCarty encourages mindful shopping habits all the time, no matter the brand. “Ask yourself ‘What do I actually need?’”, she advises. “‘What will I wear the most often and longest? How will this fit into my existing wardrobe? Do I love this enough to wash it carefully and mend it when necessary?’”

“I like to imagine the various outfits and occasions for a particular garment,” she added. “If I can only think of one or two very specific examples, then it is a pass!”

When it does come to making new additions to your wardrobe, here’s a curveball: consider actively seeking out fast fashion finds in thrift stores. After all, if they don’t get bought, they're more likely to go to trash and cause more damage.

And when it does come to making new additions to your wardrobe, here’s a curveball: consider actively seeking out fast fashion finds in thrift stores. After all, if they don’t get bought, they’re more likely to go to trash and cause more damage.

“Frankly, these clothes are going to be on this planet a lot longer than they were in someone’s closet, so it is very important that we get a lot of use from them,” says McCarty.

Ultimately, when it comes to clothing already produced and bought, it’s vital that we put aside any negative attitude we have towards fast fashion companies. By actively buying and taking care of synthetic garments, we’re not supporting the Boohoo’s or Missguided’s of the world. Instead, we’re doing the planet a service, and we’re clearing up their mess.

The post How to Care for Fast Fashion Clothes So They Last Longer appeared first on Good On You.