Pass the package: how the end of free returns will change the way we shop | Sophie Benson

The days of the bedroom dressing room are numbered. Online retail giant Boohoo has become the latest in a string of retailers including Next, Uniqlo and Zara to start charging shoppers for returns. From the start of the month, its customers will have to pay a £1.99 fee for each return, deducted from their refund. All in the name of fighting rising shipping costs, says the fast fashion giant.

Bargain shoppers aren't too happy with the new. One person on Twitter said "the fun is actually over", summing up the mood. Others lamented that, like many fast fashion outlets, the sizing is so erratic that they can't confidently buy just one size per order. Brands such as Zara have physical stores that customers can go to to try before they buy, but when an online outlet has inconsistent sizing issues, customers can feel like they're being punished. for this.

By offering free returns from the start, companies like Boohoo have helped drive consumers away from stores altogether and created a whole new behavior when it comes to returns. 'purchase. YouTube, Instagram and TikTok are full of trials where viewers are asked whether the shopper should keep or return batteries on stacks of items they've purchased online. It's a genre all its own, fueled by free returns. A 2018 study found that 9% of UK consumers order clothes to post on social media, only to return them immediately afterwards. Almost one in five people aged 35 to 44 admit to doing so, and men apparently do it more than women.

This is incredibly cheeky behavior, but it There's also another glaring problem with the practice: returns have a terrible impact on the environment. When garments are returned, they are likely to be discarded rather than resold. In the United States, 2.6 million tons of returned goods end up in landfill each year, generating 15 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Processing returns is time consuming and expensive. Buttons need to be re-buttoned, cardboard inserts need to be reattached, labels need to be reattached, products need to be folded up and re-bagged, and then returned to stock on the system. It's a complex process and sometimes the cheapest and easiest solution is to simply cut the losses and send it all to landfill. It's a horrible waste of resources, not to mention an insult to the skilled people who put their time into making every product, but that's the reality of modern fashion and retail in general. p>

When clothing does not become waste, there is always the impact of additional shipping to consider, as well as packaging waste. Around 180 billion poly plastic bags are produced each year to store, protect and transport clothing and footwear, and less than 15% of them are collected for recycling. Everyone knows that it's nearly impossible to open one without drilling a huge hole in it, so every return requires yet another new bag.

The impact of returns is a pretty well-kept secret, likely to keep people guilt-free. But even if it were widely known, it wouldn't guarantee that people would stop treating returns so casually. After all, other environmental and human impacts of fast fashion are visible to all and yet the sector continues to thrive. Cost and convenience most often trump sustainability when it comes to purchasing decisions, so sometimes it takes a drastic decision from the brand or the government to change behavior.

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We know this approach can work. Between 2015 (when the 5 pence plastic bag tax was introduced) and 2020, plastic bag consumption fell by more than 95%...