As awareness of climate change and the importance of sustainability grows, many fast fashion companies have introduced “eco-friendly” or “conscious” lines into their permanent collections. This trend is important because fast fashion companies, in order to maintain high production rates and low prices, often utilize cheap, synthetic materials like polyester and nylon, neither of which are very sustainable or eco-friendly. It’s fantastic that so many companies now seem to be incorporating sustainable lines into their stock, while maintaining their low price points and therefore making sustainable shopping more affordable and accessible. Seems too good to be true, right?
“Greenwashing” refers to the practice of a company branding or styling a product or collection as “eco,” “sustainable,” or “green,” in order to sell more products. It’s great that more people are becoming aware of the importance of shopping sustainably. However, companies have noticed this too. I.e., they have noticed that customers are seeking products that are green, and are often willing to pay a premium for them.
“Sustainable” fast fashion lines, including H&M’s “Conscious Choice” line, Zara’s “Join Life,” Mango’s “Committed” and even Shein’s recent “Evolushein” line all largely rely on materials that are less unsustainable (slightly), but still not what you might call sustainable.
Popular choices of materials for these lines include recycled polyester, nylon or acrylics. These are materials that do not break down easily and therefore pollute landfills – whether they are recycled or not. In fact, the recycling process often weakens the fibers of these already low-quality materials, rendering them likely to end up in landfill even sooner than their brand new counterparts. In other words: recycled plastic is still plastic.
The other major issue with all of these companies is that even when the materials being used in these collections are eco-friendly in and of themselves, they are still being produced by workers in conditions with little to no legal standards, labor rights, or fair pay.
The problem is that there is no legal definition for what is “sustainable” or “eco” in the fashion world. Cornell Law defines sustainability as “The capability to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” The Environmental Protection Agency states: “To pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.” We would argue that even the most “sustainable” goods produced in poor working conditions are not that “sustainable” at all.
We are not the first ones to have noticed this misalignment in values. Earlier this year, a class action law-suit was launched against H&M, by SUNY New Paltz student Chelsea Commodore. She alleges that she and many other customers have overpaid for fashion garments marketed as “conscious” that in truth, are anything but. Specifically, she claims that the amount of water required to produce the fabrics used to make the garments in question was incorrect: H&M claims that this was due to a “technical error.”
But the same can be said for many of these “eco” lines – their definitions of eco are often very imaginative, and there does not appear to be anyone policing what can be labeled as “sustainable” and what cannot be. All that is to say – be careful what you buy, and what you buy into – if something seems too good to be true, it probably is!
Sources and further reading
SHEIN launches its first sustainable collection, EvoluSHEIN - Renoon
H&M Is Being Sued for Greenwashing. What Does That Mean For Fashion?
H&M Facing New Lawsuit Over “Misleading” Marketing of “Conscious” Collection
Evolushein: Shein launches first positive impact collection with recycled polyester - Just Style
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