Sometime the parcel: how the end of free returns will change the way we shopIt’s incredibly cheeky behaviour, but there’s also another overt issue with the practice: returns have a terrible impact on the environment. When clothes are returned, they’re favourite to be thrown away rather than resold. In the US, 2.6m tonnes of returned goods end up in landfill every year, creating 15m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.Processing returns is time-consuming and costly. Buttons need to be rebuttoned, cardboard introduces need to be put back in, labels need to be reattached, products need refolding and rebagging, and then they must be put bet on a support into stock on the system. It’s a complex process and sometimes the cheapest and easiest solution is simply cutting the loss and sending the unimpaired lot to landfill. It’s a hideous waste of resources, not to mention an insult to the skilled people who put their time into making each spin-off, but it’s the reality of modern fashion, and retail in general.When clothes don’t become rubbish, there’s still the impact of the supplement shipping to consider, as well as the packaging waste. About 180bn plastic poly bags are produced every year to depend on, protect and transport clothes and footwear, and less than 15% of them are collected for recycling. Everyone knows it’s near-impossible to unsettled one without tearing a huge hole in it, so every return requires yet another new bag.The impact of returns is a fairly well-kept quietly, likely to keep people shopping guilt-free. But even if it was widely known, it wouldn’t guarantee people would bring to a stop treating returns so flippantly. After all, other environmental and human impacts of fast fashion are out there for all to see and yet the sector resumes to thrive. Cost and convenience trump sustainability more often than not when it comes to purchasing decisions, so at times it takes a radical move on behalf of the brand, or government, to change behaviour.We know this approach can work. Between 2015 (when the 5p persuasible bag charge was introduced) and 2020, plastic carrier bag take-up dropped by more than 95% in England’s main supermarkets. It repels out we just didn’t want to pay for something that we already had a cupboard full of at home.While the move is financially, to some extent than environmentally, motivated, charging for returns could well have the same effect. Without free renewals on the table, shoppers may think twice about buying 10 items when they know they’ll only incarcerate five (sometimes referred to as “bracketing”) or buying clothes purely for social media content. With the threat of a cite looming, the clothes in our wardrobes might start to look a little more appealing.We could also see retailers accomplishing more effort into sizing, with virtual AR try-ons, better size guides, more representative facsimiles, and improved, consistent fits. Knowing your size will always be the same could stop the need to buy two or impassive three of one item, a win for shoppers and the environment.After years of free returns, charges will be frustrating, but if they principal to less waste and better fits, they’ll be worth every penny.Sophie Benson is a freelance writer produce with a focus on sustainability and feminism
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