Chances are, you have either logged on to online shopping apps or walked into department stores at the beginning of a new season and were greeted with sale signs and discount codes. And while your initial reaction might have been the rush of excitement associated with saving money, discounted clothing is worth taking a second glance at. Sure, we've all heard that stores are making room for their next season's catalog, but what if this societal stress on constantly keeping up with new trends and fast fashion is actually devastating our environment - while encouraging shoppers to turn a blind eye by lowering consumer costs?
Why Do Brands Discount Their Clothing?
When a retailer does a semi-annual sale or an end-of-season sale, these marked-down items are the product of excess supply and under demand. This means that retailers are manufacturing and purchasing more goods than they could ever sell in an effort to keep up with current trends and fast fashion.
In an attempt to sell these clothing items, brands will often mark the price down by large margins. These sales create a sense of urgency and trick consumers into purchasing more items than they intended to, all while maintaining their budget. This makes the overproduction of clothing a problem for the consumer rather than the company. In the United States alone, 13 million tons of clothing textiles are thrown away each year, accounting for 85% of all purchased clothing.
What About Bargain Shops?
Traditionally, large department stores buy from their manufacturers under a buy-back clause. This means that if the department store doesn't sell these items, the manufacturer has to buy them back. When this happens, the manufacturers like to then sell their products at a discounted price to bargain shops like Ross Dress For Less or T.J. Maxx. So, the discounted merchandise found at bargain shops are also caused by overproduction.
While sales and bargain shops make the consumer's wallet happy, they shine a light on just how much clothing waste we see in our daily lives. These discounted items that don't sell can end up in landfills but are sometimes burned. In 2018, the clothing and accessory brand, Burberry, revealed that it had incinerated $37 million worth of unsold clothing and cosmetics.
The Global Impact Of The Overproduction of Clothing
Overproduced fast-fashion pieces typically end up in the garbage just as quickly as they were created. Across the globe, we produce 92 million tonnes of fashion waste each year. Along with filling our landfills with waste, the fashion industry produces nearly 20% of global wastewater. If we keep up this lifestyle and general acceptance of the overproduction of clothing, our environment is on the path to no return.
Fast fashion is responsible for the emission of 1.2-billion tons of CO2 per year, which is more than air travel and shipping combined. Research has led scientists to believe that our planet will suffer from irreversible damage if CO2 emissions reach 450 parts per million (ppm). Currently, NASA estimates that our global CO2 emissions are at 419 ppm. Additionally, with over 8,000 different types of dye used on clothing alone, textile dyeing is the second largest water pollutant in the world.
Should You Buy Overproduced, Discounted Clothing?
If we want to see any real progress made towards improving our environmental crisis, supporting the overproduction of clothing will not get us there. While the occasional shopping of discounted clothing pieces is generally acceptable, actively waiting on end-of-season sales to go overboard in your shopping cart is not a sustainable practice.
The best way to sustainably source clothing is to make a list of what you absolutely need for each season - including outerwear, swimsuits, and shoes. Having a minimalist attitude toward what you consider a wardrobe essential will naturally lead you to making more intentional purchases. It will not be the end of the world if some of your pieces come from sales at H&M or Target - but it is a better practice to source your clothing second hand, or to buy new items from brands who commit to sustainable practices like using recycled textiles and traceable and regenerative farming.
Key Takeaways
- Brands discount their clothing due to excess supply and under-demand.
- We produce 92 million tonnes of fashion waste globally each year.
- Overproduction of clothing contributes to the fashion industry, making up 20% of global wastewater per year.
- Buying discounted clothing is not the most sustainable practice - and consumers should consider purchasing clothing second-hand instead.
