A trend on TikTok called “Keep or Return” is encouraging users to buy clothes en masse from fast fashion brands, try them on, and return any items their followers don’t like.
In the videos, TikTokers try on fits from fast fashion retailers like SHEIN, Zara, and Amazon, strike a pose, and walk to a “keep” or “return” side.
For one, it increases your carbon footprint. The more clothes you order, the more emissions-heavy the shipment is — and when you send them back, you’re increasing the emissions even further, whether you’re driving to a store to return or mailing a package.
71.54 million
The amount of CO2, in metric tons, emitted by Amazon deliveries alone in 2021 — a nearly 40% increase from 2019.
Amazon 2021 Sustainability Report & CNBC
At the end of the day, most returned items end up in landfills, according to BBC Earth, as it’s often easier and more cost-effective for retailers to trash those pieces (especially cheaply made clothes) than get them ready to re-sell.
Brands that recycle returned clothes make up less than 11% of fashion retailers, according to Baptist World Aid Australia’s 2019 Ethical Fashion Report.
Although returning a bunch of clothes might seem good in theory, it’s extremely wasteful in practice. Quitting fast fashion is complicated for some people, but it’s important that everyone push back on excessive consumption and “hauls.”