I find a huge focus on retail sustainability concerns the product itself. There’s no doubt that sustainable fabrics and textiles play a major role in decreasing the fashion industry’s insanely large carbon footprint. In fact, the fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions.
Even more, the sustainable fashion industry was said to be valued at 6.35 billion USD in 2019. Being an avid shopper and retail employee of seven years, I’ve found more improvement in using greener fabrics for clothing, whether from recycled polyester or fabric made to last a lifetime (a personal favourite being Kotn’s amazing t-shirts).
However, as I’ve grown up in and around the retail industry, I’ve noticed something that has bothered me with every purchase I’ve made in-store or online. The unsustainable manufacturing and shipping of these so-called eco items completely contradict these greener initiatives I’ve seen.
For example, I’ve been in an experience where I was unboxing a shipment of recycled polyester coats and perfectly sourced cotton sweaters while simultaneously creating a mountain of plastic waste behind me. And more notably, those aren’t even being recycled…
A floor manager for a major UK clothing brand puts it plainly, “The company says they are ‘green,’ yet they use plastic bags to repack products for the stock room. They use and dispose of so much plastic.” She adds that these deceiving claims are both “ridiculous” and “embarrassing.”
A 2023 Business of Fashion article cracks down on this deception, calling fashion “one of the worst-offending industries when it comes to greenwashing.” The term “greenwashing” originated in 1986 by environmentalist Jay Westervelt to explain companies using misleading or false claims to suggest it’s doing more for the environment than they actually are. This greenwashing occurs when fast-fashion companies pick and choose positive language in their advertising to trick consumers into believing their items are sustainable.
A TMU fashion student and retail employee of over five years shares, “Despite having green initiatives, stores filter through dozens of repack bags a day and don’t focus on simple practices like recycling or reusing.”
I talked to many retail employees for these large companies, but I also got in touch with a newer and smaller clothing company for their opinion.
Lusia Rached, the founder of the newly launched bathing suit brand Serejuh, shares the difficulty of finding sustainable packaging. She explains that pricing is a roadblock on the path to a fully-green supply chain for her and many small brands.
“As a smaller company, it is really difficult finding a sustainable packaging option that fits my budget,” she shares. “Since my budget is already pretty tight, it is easier to go with the safest and cheapest option until I find a company that does sustainable poly mailers that will also not melt with rain, tear or anything like that.”
Plastic is obviously the cheapest, most tested option for business owners. In fact, the global rigid plastic packaging industry is predicted to hit a whopping 741.89 billion USD by 2030.
Rached has something the major greenwashing retailers don’t — transparency about their sustainable solutions. She shares that while most companies hide their unsustainable initiatives as they don’t “fit their brand,” she knows the importance of transparency in her business.
As she continues to grow her business, her priorities lie in having an all-around sustainable line of production, and she isn’t afraid of being honest with her audience. Which, in my opinion, is the foundation of brand loyalty.
Overall, the packaging problem goes beyond retail; it’s a problem in any industry involved in the buying and selling of products. My reason for looking into it at a retail level is the contradiction of having greener garments wrapped in boxes and boxes of non-recycled plastic.
Words like “eco,” “green” and “organic” have become so oversaturated in every marketing tactic, even beyond the fashion world. Being eco-friendly has been capitalized so hard that it completely contradicts itself. Greenwashing has become such a prominent facade in capitalism it’s becoming impossible to know if something is truly sustainable.
It’s so easy to be happy that your new shoes made out of mushroom leather are a far more ethical product, but until the big brands and packagers do something about the product used in their supply chain, stop telling me that it’s greener.
Certain names were undisclosed for the privacy of the employees.