How-to guide on shopping more sustainably

Even though all fashion retailers make it obvious that their clothes are made in China, Bangladesh or Pakistan, a lot of people are not aware about the harmful impact of fast fashion production. Those kinds of products prevail in malls and main shopping streets, all around modern cities. The problem is that, not only that they’re harmful for the environment, but production practices very often violate basic human rights.

I dedicate this post to explain what fast fashion is and what is its impact on the environment and how can a person prevent contributing to these harmful practices.

Fast fashion spotting signs

It’s well known that giant retail fashion brands such as Zara, H&M, Mango and most of the brands in the malls, offer trendy clothes for cheaper prices. Generally, if you notice that garments and collections change very fast, not only by season, but also by trend, then most probably it refers to a fast fashion brand. Another spotting factor is a supply chain with poor visibility.

What is fast fashion and why is it dangerous?

A worker at an H&M supplier factory in Bangladesh.

Fast fashion is a tendency that has begun after the 1800s, during the Industrial revolution, when the sewing machine was introduced and eventually production has became a lot more easier, cheaper and faster. It’s innovative to make the processes smoother, but it was until 1900s and 2000s when the competition of who would be first in reproducing trendy elements from top fashion brands on a cheaper price has begun. H&M and Zara were the pioneers in this trend.

With more possibilities of options, consumers take on the “throw-away” attitude, since garments are made with low-quality products and are easily worn off. As a Bulgarian proverb says, “Fast work is shameful for the craftsman.”

Fast fashion garments are harmful for the Planet in several ways:

• The fashion industry is globally the second largest contributor to polluting clean waters, after agriculture, because of the use of cheap and toxic textile dyes, especially for tanning leather materials

• Polyester being the most popular fabric in fast fashion, it derives from fossil fuels, which contributes to global warming and are basically the same menace as non-recyclable or reusable plastic is to the environment. Additionally, nylon, polyester, spandex and fleece shed into microfibers every time they’re put through a wash, which contaminates ocean life and eventually products we consume. For more info on this, watch this informing video

• In response to the low-quality materials, fast fashion clothes are easily disposable and create huge amount of textile waste, when are not reused, recycled or offered to charity

• Fast fashion marketing strategies are based on making consumers believe that staying on top of the trends is necessary and manipulating into making every new trendy garment as a “must have”

• Workers for fast fashion garments are also impacted, since very often they’re working on a minimum wage at dangerous environments and without basic human rights

And those are just a few of the reasons I could think of.

How can we avoid buying fast fashion products and shop more consciously?

It’s hard to avoid fast fashion brands such as Zara, H&M, Mango etc., since they’re both trendy, cheaper and more accessible, compared to others. However, if we’re talking about the price, isn't it more practical to buy a more expensive product and use it twice as longer as the cheaper fast fashion product? Personally, garments I have from big retailers don’t even last a year before they are teared or worn off.

Some tips on becoming a more sustainable consumer

• Be aware of giant retailers stand-point on sustainability : even if you’re buying from them, it’s better to be informed about the brand’s practices. A really nice application for this purpose is Good on you. Check out the environmental path status of your favourite retail brands

• Avoid buying garments from plastic origin (all that start with poly-, but also nylon, spandex etc.)

• Buy from concept stores which offer locally produced clothes or at least from a known resource. The super nice perk of buying from concept stores is that most of the clothes are unique or at least not often recognized, so it’s a great style marker – more about cool concept stores on reasonable prices, you will find in my next post about sustainable fashion

A Bulgarian brand for sustainable and sophisticated garments

• Explore wardrobe give-aways and sales of your favourite bloggers or stylists

• Buy second hand garments – it doesn't sound stylish but there are a lot of stores which select the clothes they offer according to a specific style. You can find more about these stores (online or not) in my next post about sustainable fashion

A very cool Bulgarian second hand shop

• Sell your used and preserved or not anymore needed garments. Currently there are a lot of possibilities to do that, specifically applications, for example Shedd, make this process easier. But either way, there’s always Amazon, Ebay, Etsy where you can make another person happy with your unwanted garment

An application to easily sell your unwanted clothes

• Offer your worn off garments to charities - get informed about the local initiatives around you. In France, next to recycling containers are containers for clothes with this purpose - a very good example to look after. Bulgarian readers can find more about volunteering initiatives in Time Heroes: currently you can offer winter gloves, hats and socks to children from poor families.

An organization about volunteer initiatives, mostly in Bulgaria

• Swap your clothes with your friends or even better - everyone interested. Bulgarian association Empty your wardrobe organizes swapping events in the country and abroad

Bulgarian project for wardrobe swapping events

• For a totally guilt-free experience, shop from sustainable brands. You can find some suggestions in my next article about conscious fashion

• Recycle your used clothes when possible – however stay informed about statistics and keep track of the actual amount of recycled materials. For example, H&M’s campaign seems on first sight very environmentally friendly, however according to statistics, only 1% from the collected material is used for the production of new garments

These are just a few steps leading to a more conscious consumer behaviour. After all, it's not necessary to totally limit yourself for being more environmentally friendly. It's a matter of being informed and choosing well, just as being interested in food ingredients for instance.

Topping it off with a quote from Yves Saint Laurent, good to remember every time before buying something just because it's trendy in the moment.

If you'd like to add to these tips, feel free to comment or like this post if you think it's practical. Check out the blog's Facebook or Instagram pages or simply join my mailing list to stay in touch for new posts :)