When we think of fast fashion, we tend to picture ultra-fast fashion companies like Boohoo, Shein or PLT. They're the companies who are churning out 1,000's of new styles a day and selling dresses for 8p or for free. Surely, it's these companies who are responsible for all the negative impacts of fast fashion on the planet?
What we don't realise is these new ultra-fast fashion companies are built on the business practices of well-established fast fashion retailers, like H&M. With 4,455 stores in 74 markets, you may not be shocked to learn that H&M produces 3 billion pieces of clothing a year! In fact, H&M is the second largest retailer of fashion in the world. With the average piece of clothing being worn 5-7 times before being thrown away, this level of production is causing a huge strain on the environment. The fashion industry is responsible for around 8% of global CO2 emissions and the second largest polluter of waste water globally.
Considering a survey of 1,000 UK consumers ranked H&M as the top sustainable brand, why do so many of us not view H&M as a fast fashion brand and contributor to the climate crisis? The simple answer is - marketing. H&M do a great job as positioning their brand as more sustainable, helping influence consumers into believing they're having a positive impact on the planet. This is greenwashing. And here are just three ways H&M has used greenwashing...
1) The Green Machine
The Green Machine is H&Ms solution the fashion recycling problem. Currently less than 1% of clothing is recycled globally, but H&M have created a Green Machine that helps separate and recycle polyester and mixed cotton clothing. So, what's wrong with that?
Well to start with, there's only one machine that can recycle 1.5 tonnes of clothing daily. To put that into perspective, H&M produce 3 billion garments a year and 92 million tonnes of clothing is thrown away every year. Realistically this one machine does not have the capacity to solve the issues of overconsumption and waste caused by the fast fashion industry. Recycling clothing is not the solution. Instead, we should be reducing our consumption to help the planet.
But clearly H&M does not believe this to be profitable, as their reasoning behind the Green Machine is: “I think the solution is not to stop consuming, but to preserve jobs." Thank you for that great insight H&M. 👏👏
2) In Store Recycling Scheme
What's ironic is H&M do offer an in-store recycling scheme where customers can bring in a bag of old clothing and receive a £5 credit to spend on their next order. But as we've just learnt, only 1% of clothing gets recycled worldwide - so what's happening to these clothes? H&M sends these items onto I:Collect who recently admitted that only 35% of donations are recycled and repurposed into something new. And according to their own Sustainability Report (2018), only 0.7% of H&M's clothing is made from recycled fibres!
So, what's happening to the remaining donated clothes that are not recycled? Well, they're either burnt or shipped overseas to places like Africa where they're either re-sold on the second hand market there or dumped in landfills. Not quite the picture H&M painted with their in-store recycling scheme adverts (see video).
Yet again we see that H&M have fallen short of the sustainability promises they made and projected a false image of their commitments to the environment.
3) Conscious Collection
Now this one is my favourite, and not for a good reason, but more because I can't understand how they got away with such blatant lies and misinformation! In fact, 96% of the sustainability claims made by H&M in their Conscious Collection were found to be in breach of CMA guidelines!
One of the main ways H&M portray their Conscious Collection as sustainable is through the materials used, and yet their Conscious Collection has 72% more synthetic fibres than their main collection. Please could they explain how that is more sustainable? Not only are their "sustainable" clothing worse for the environment, but they're also misleading in their product descriptions. For example, one of the tops in their Conscious Collection claimed to made of 95% cotton, but when you read the fine print, it was only 25% recycled cotton in the outer layer of the top! You can read the full example here. H&M's Conscious Collection leaves much to be desired when it comes to buying clothes that are truly sustainably and ethically made.
Wow! There was a lot of facts and figures there to help demonstrate the misinformation H&M has been spreading about how sustainable their clothes and supply chain really is. I hope this has shown how prevalent greenwashing is in our society, especially in fast fashion, and why it's so important to question everything brands say in their marketing channels. Always do extra research and always read the fine print!
If you're looking for more support and resources on spotting greenwashing, check out this previous blog post I wrote on greenwashing.
And remember, consuming less and better clothing is the BEST thing you can do to create a more sustainable fashion industry! ♻️
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