The most sustainable brands to feed your online shopping addiction - Fast fashion fixes

What is fast fashion?

Fast fashion is, unfortunately, everything bad about the fashion industry rolled into one. It's this idea that's so commonly stereotyped as the stressy female with the "oh my god I have NOTHING to wear!!" attitude. Remember her? From every rom-com or teen chick flick ever?

This concept society has come up with - that we all need to buy new clothes for every occasion, never to be worn again - is then relayed into the mass manufacturing of cheap clothes at alarmingly frequent rates to keep us buying 'new' all the time.

But at what cost?

The cost of the workers creating the garments. The cost of the environment as we attack it with force, just so another version of that black strappy crop top everyone owns can be thrown into production before Saturday.

As a student on a budget, and a fellow online shopping addict, I know how easy it is to fall into that trap. However, it's time we started making a note of the places we CAN carry on shopping at, without encouraging unethical brands and without having to breaking the bank.

Who are the worst offenders?

I'm not one to call people out, but after reading this article, my suspicions about two of my favourite affordable brands came true. Boohoo and Missguided are my number one 'going out' clothes brands. If I need an item for a social, an event, a one off night out, a birthday...this is where I go. They have us students hooked because they KNOW that's why we go there. That is though, precisely why they're the worst. They're full of cheap, low quality, one time buys that we probably will wear twice before looking for another item.

[Maybe someday, they'll be an app where you can lend out crop tops and random items of going out attire to other students (for that one social you need a neon pink top) for a couple of quid. I hate to think how many pub golf skirts are lying around having been worn once...if it happens, you heard it here first.]

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BRANDS WE KNOW AND LOVE MAKING A CHANGE

Onto the good part though, brands doing their bit! - including tips on how to navigate their websites to find the best products! (All photos are linked!)

ASOS and their 'Responsible' button

Asos are renowned for stocking everything and anything - really, if you delve deep enough there are some shockers, as me and my flatmate found out looking for a costume suitable to be a scaly 'Rainbow Fish' - but with SO many products and brands, how can they really be sustainable? Well, for starters they can stock sustainable brands, which they have done through Weekday, Collusion and their own ASOS design. All three brands cover the majority of a lot of Asos basics and are known in the fashion sector to be using sustainable materials. As well as this, Asos have a new 'Responsible' button! For every section of clothes you're looking at, be it Men's jackets or Women's trousers, there is a drop down filter offering you options that are either recycled or made with sustainable materials. GENIUS. To top it off they have a 'Responsible Edit' in both genders offering over 3000 items in Womenswear and 5000 in Menswear...don't ever tell me you don't have much choice when shopping in a more environmentally friendly way. There we go then that's that out the way. Asos addicts, we can breath again. Shop on people...

Pull & Bear with 'Join Life' (also at Asos)

One of my FAVE brands, I was so happy to find out that they're up there in the top brands making a change to be more environmentally friendly. To quote them:

"We combine Pull&Bear’s carefree spirit with strict SUSTAINABILITY standards to create on-trend, comfortable garments that are ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY, collaborating with suppliers that RESPECT workers and the environment."

Enough said I think! Go to their 'Join Life' page on their site to find out more - they have multiple pages dedicated to product manufacturing, materials and more. They don't have a collection because their whole brand is doing their bit, woo!

H&M with their 'Conscious' collection

One of the first things you see now when you head to H&M's website is the big 'Sustainability' button right alongside SALE. That makes me happy. What do you find there? So much! Entire (and extensive) 'Conscious' collections for Women, Men and even Children. They have a huge tab advertising recycling clothes within their stores and here's a tip we can all make use of - they're giving out free £5 vouchers for every bag of clothes you hand in...time for that clear out I think. They're also one of the most open brands about where their clothes were made and what they're made of, with a transparency promise that they've been engaged with since 2013! On EVERY item now you can also evaluate its product sustainability. The thing with H&M though that I cannot get over, is that they do all of this and yet you can still pick up a gorg pair of tapered trousers for £12 (as I did the other week hehe). It's SO AFFORDABLE! Big box ticked. New fave shopping spot.

PLT with 'Recycled'

It takes a bit of finding to find Pretty Little Thing's recycled edit but they do have a fair amount of clothes on there now. Unfortunately, it's all very similar in terms of if you don't want leggings, joggers, a crop top or a mini dress, this isn't the place for you. We have to give them some credit though as SO many people use their site for the affordable prices and the Recycled collection is no different.

Tips for shopping: To find 'Recycled', you need to go to Edits as it's not very well advertised.

LEVI's sustainability promise

A classic brand doing a good job. Levi's were actually one of the first brands to commit to a more responsible way of manufacturing and being renowned for their quality and popularity this is just another reason why you should splurge a little on a pair of jeans or a jacket that will last you years and not carry the burden of fast fashion. Amongst their promises they have a Responsible Down Standard (down being a material used in the process), a Better Cotton Initiative, a Water-less Innovation and more! They have an entire page dedicated to this - if you want to check it out click here...hats off to you Levi's. No tips needed. Shop away!

Adidas

More of a brands and labels kinda gal or guy? Adidas have been slowly but surely making their brand more and more sustainable, starting over 20 years ago now. They have made a public commitment to reduce their waste production, energy consumption and water use by at least 20% by 2020 and have significantly improved labour conditions aiming to be an ethical brand as well as a sustainable one.

Zara's 'Join Life'

Ohh Zara, we love you. So typically European they are so typically ahead of every British brand when it comes to sustainable and environmentally friendly fashion. 'Join Life' is an entire section on their website explaining their commitments to responsibility and...you know what, I'm going to stop there and simply post their promises:

• Our commitment to sustainability is a goal we set ourselves every day to offer more ethical and responsible products.

• Our 'Join life' clothes collection is made from raw, sustainable materials and processes

• Up to 90% of our stores are now eco‑friendly

• Zara.com's servers and offices consume energy derived from renewable sources that respect the environment

They have a 'Road map for ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY' leading to 2025 and even a link to see an annual report on their progress. They even have a recycling system in store to encourage the re-use of materials. WE LOVE YOU ZARA. No tips needed...shop away!

Mango's 'Take Action' and 'Committed'

I've discovered that, over the last few years, Mango has been making big changes in terms of the types of materials they've been using and their origin. With their new S/S19 collection COMMITTED, it is now the third edit in womenswear using organically sourced materials for the collection, with a similar pattern emerging in the new menswear edit TAKE ACTION. What's a slight shame here is that it's very difficult to know this unless you've followed the brand for years or you've done your research. Unless you know COMMITTED is a sustainable edit, it may seem nothing more than a new fashion feature. What is nice to see though is their use of tencelTM, lyocell, recycled polyester and organic cotton on a multitude of items. Another thing that's hidden beneath those clean cuts and culottes though, is Mango's decision to join the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) to use more sustainable cotton as well as organically sourced. Ethical AND responsible - three stars from me!

Tips for shopping: USE THE SEARCH BAR! Type in keywords like 'organic', 'sustainable' to find these items. If you're after the men's 'Take Action' collection you will also have to type this in the search bar. However, on the whole, their entire brand is backed by their ethics, so browse away!

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I feel like a few of you are still wondering "Surely online shopping won't help?"

Of course, there are better ways to shop that don't involve delivery and carbon emissions BUT it is a lot easier to find more sustainable products than you probably would on a British high street. There are other ways you can do your bit too, including making the most of click and collect instead of relying on a delivery service to your door. ESPECIALLY, if you live in a city. You have no excuse, sorry. As well as this, you can make sure you're buying items that really last and are better quality, or trading in old clothes to be recycled when you buy new ones.

In the next FAST FASHION edit post, I'll be talking about other shopping methods you can use, ways to make your wardrobe go further and how to have that clear out you've been so desperately needing...For now, thank you for reading, I hope you've found this helpful and a bit of fun - let me know what you think and if there's anything you'd like to know or add! Thanks!

Imogen