The costs can be astronomical for individual retailers, but for the planet, the costs are even higher. When you pull out a sticky label and slap it on the front of your parcel, your return is technically free—but what is the price we really pay? What is the true cost of the return economy?
We live in an age of over-consumption. Exacerbated by commercial holidays like Black Friday and shifting post-pandemic shopping trends, the online retail market has grown continuously yearly. This has also led to increased online returns, with 16.6% of all US purchases sent back to stores in 2021.
Online shopping leads to almost three times as many returns as store purchases. There are also substantially more emissions and waste linked to online returns.
Onelogistics firm put the carbon dioxide cost of returns in the US as being equivalent to the output of 3 million cars. Even if the dress you sent back isn’t thrown away, selling it is also costly for the environment. There’s the transport, of course, and often clothes are ‘wrapped in paper and a plastic bag that need to be replaced, and if it’s something that’s easily crinkled, it needs to be steamed.
Forget about just the process of returns; some retailers send many returns directly to landfills instead of reselling them because it’s more cost-effective. In 2022 alone, companies sent over 9.5 billion pounds of returned products straight to landfill.
There’s a lot retailers can do to reduce these impacts. They can help consumers make informed choices about the products they buy by providing complete information about each item and sharing reviews from previous customers. Retailers can also offer a small discount on items that aren’t returned, encouraging customers to buy what they know they’ll keep. Finally, they can make every effort to resell, donate, or recycle returned clothes and minimize what is landfilled.
A more immediate change companies could make is ending free returns. Since last May, Zara—who declined to comment for this article—has charged customers £1.95 to return online orders. Asos, meanwhile, says 97% of its products are resold on the site after inspection and, if needed, repair and cleaning.
It’s time we ended harmful environmental practices linked to bracketing and wardrobing and shop with sustainable clothing brands committed to making durable clothes instead of cheap, easily damaged items. And, instead of buying three of the same item in different sizes, check out the measurements guide to be sure.
Stay curious! Signing off with a smile.
-Savannah
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