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Narrator: We’re constantly
bombarded with media

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that puts pressure on us
to buy newer and trendier clothes.

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Just to throw them away
when they’re no longer in style.

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An estimated 93 million tons
go to landfill or are burned every year.

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Suki Dsanj-Lenz: And that’s roughly
about a garbage truckload of textiles,

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every second going to landfill.

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Every second.

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N: Producing clothes also pollutes
our water and churns out CO2.

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The fast fashion model pioneered by Zara

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means that brands are churning out
double the amount of clothing per year

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as they did in the early 2000s.

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But companies say that’s about to change

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because we can now
buy eco-friendly fast fashion.

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And also recycle our clothes
when we don’t want them anymore.

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But can we believe them?

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Inditex, Zara’s parent company,

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and H&M Group

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are two of the biggest
fashion retailers in the world,

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and both have collections
that claim to reduce

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the environmental impact
of making clothes.

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Not only that, but the two fashion giants

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say they are making
their entire brands more sustainable.

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Let’s take a look at these promises,
starting with the materials.

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[MATERIALS]

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Main materials at Zara & H&M,
as well as worldwide, are polyester,

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which accounts for around 52%
of total fiber production,

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and cotton, which is around 24%.

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PET is a different name for polyester

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and is the same type of plastic
that's found in water bottles.

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Actually,

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60% of PET production goes to textiles,

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and only 30% to water bottles.

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The material is produced from petroleum,

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and the process uses lots of energy

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and releases CO2,

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as well as acids and ammonia
into the water supply.

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Recycled polyester uses up to 60%
less energy than virgin material

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and can be made from textile scraps

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or plastic trash.

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But inconsistencies in the threads
can make it require more dye,

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and experts say

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that polyester fabrics can shed
700,000 microplastic fibers

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with every wash,

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which end up in the ocean,

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and also in our food.

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Cotton doesn't have these problems,

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but is still a chemical
and water intensive crop.

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According to the World Wide
Fund for Nature,

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it takes 20,000 liters of water
to make one kilo of cotton,

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which is enough for one T-shirt
and a pair of jeans.

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Also, around 11% of the world’s pesticides
are used on cotton fields.

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So is organic cotton better?

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SDL: Essentially there's
a massive difference

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between organic cotton and cotton.

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N: This is Suki, a representative
of Fashion Revolution,

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which is an organization
that advocates worldwide

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for transparency and sustainability
in the fashion industry.

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SDL: Organic cotton is, in the long term,
much better for the farmer that grows it

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and the environment
and the soil that produces it,

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and it's less water intensive

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and doesn't require
as much irrigation as such.

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N: We requested an interview with H&M

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about the sustainability
of their products,

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but they declined.

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Over email, they said,

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"We are happy to say
that by the end of this year,

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all cotton we use will come
from sustainable sources."

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Zara also responded
only through email, saying,

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"In 2019, the Group [Inditex,
Zara's parent company]

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used over 38,000 tonnes
of sustainable cotton in its clothing,

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up 105% from 2018."

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But what does sustainable actually mean?

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There’s no standard definition,
and it doesn’t equal organic.

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H&M says that sustainable cotton
can also mean recycled

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or cotton that uses
less pesticides and GMOs.

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Zara portrays its cotton as sustainable,

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but calls it ecologically grown
instead of organic.

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It claims the cotton uses
natural fertilizers and pesticides,

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and is certified
by the Organic Content Standard

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and the Global Organic Textile Standard,

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which say they control
for chemical and water use

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in the whole production process.

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Terms like "conscious"
and "ecologically grown"

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are hard to fact-check,

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as well as confusing for the consumer.

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But according to the non-profit
Textile Exchange,

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in 2016, H&M was the second largest
user of organic cotton in the world.

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Zara was the fourth.

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Let’s focus on synthetics.

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In H&M's sustainable collection,

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the synthetic clothing has to be
at least 50% recycled.

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Zara doesn’t specify their percentage,
and their labeling can be confusing.

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This jacket says
it’s 100% recycled polyamide,

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which makes it seem like
it’s completely recycled.

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But the filling is polyester.

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That’s a different material.

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And this isn’t the only time this happens.

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The percentage recycled statement
often doesn’t refer to the whole garment,

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making it look like the item
is more recycled than it actually is.

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On the subject of transparent labeling,

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the Join Life tags
are also on the Zara website

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and are stamped by
the Forest Stewardship Council.

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This would seem to imply the clothing
is certified by this organization.

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The stamp, however,
is only referring to the tag,

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not to the whole clothing item.

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Talk about misleading.

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Zara has committed to sustainable cotton
and polyester by 2025.

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H&M says all of their materials
to be sustainable by 2030,

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and for 2019, that figure
was already at 57%.

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If they stick to these commitments,

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it could mean big changes
for the industry.

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But material is only part of the story.

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[SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSPARENCY]

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To find out if that cotton
is actually organic,

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or that polyester is actually recycled,

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consumers need to be able
to check the production process.

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With an H&M Conscious T-shirt,

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you can find out in which
specific factory it was made.

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So it’s theoretically possible
to check the factory’s sustainability.

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Zara only lists how many suppliers
it has in one city,

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but not their names and addresses.

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They were both evaluated
by Fashion Revolution,

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an organization advocating
for transparency

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and sustainability in fashion.

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None of the 250 large brands
scored over 80%,

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but for 2020, H&M was the highest
scoring brand, with 73%,

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so quite transparent.

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Zara scored a 43%.

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Not so much.

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This is important because:

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Kim Weerd: Suppliers
are one of the few stakeholders

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with a front row seat
to brands' inner workings.

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N: Kim has a background in human rights

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and was a garment
factory manager in Cambodia.

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KW: They uniquely have access
to the information that consumers

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need to be able to crosscheck
brands' actions against their words.

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N: So being able to research suppliers

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allows people to hold brands accountable
to their sustainability claims, but -

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SDJ: Just because you're transparent,
it does not mean you're sustainable,

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It does not mean that at all.

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And that's really, really important.

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N: Even for brands [that] know
their whole supply chain,

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making an eco-friendly garment is hard.

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Jessie Li: Let's pick up a denim.

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You can see the dyeing is done
in a more environmentally responsible way,

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but the cotton is not produced the same.

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N: Jessie has worked
in different industries

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from product inspection to purchasing,

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to product development,
in both China and Cambodia.

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JL: Or take another example.

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The whole piece of the clothes
is made out of the waste,

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but not dyed in a responsible way.

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So, they're green,

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but it's different degrees of green

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or different degrees of less bad.

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N: Because an item of clothing
is made up of many different materials,

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all manufactured in different ways,

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it’s hard to make each piece
less harmful to the environment.

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This is also the reason

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why recycling clothing is much harder
than H&M and Zara would seem to claim.

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[RECYCLING]

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N: H&M’s advertisements

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say that the company is working
towards a circular future for clothing.

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According to the website,

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you can bring your clothing to any store,

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and it will be resold
as second-hand clothing,

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reused as other textiles, or recycled.

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Zara has a similar campaign.

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It says it partners
with different local organizations,

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which then take over
what happens to the clothing.

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[REUSED FOR INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS]

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So what does happen?

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They are resold, reused, and recycled,

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but not in the proportions
you might think.

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Over half of donated clothing
is sold overseas.

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The rest is mostly turned
into industrial material,

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burned, or goes to landfill.

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Less than 1% of the material
in used clothing

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is recycled into new clothing.

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A big reason is lack of technology.

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Remember how many materials
were in the jacket?

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Well, they need to come out
again to recycle it.

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Maxi Bohn: "Garments
that are made from mono materials,

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or can easily be taken apart into pieces,

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can be recycled.

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N: Maxi started her career
as a certified dressmaker

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over ten years ago

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and has headed product development
for Hugo Boss and major online retailers.

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MB: But think about your wardrobe.

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How many pieces would fulfill
these requirements?

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N: So giving back clothing
is better than throwing it away,

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but the chances of it
actually getting recycled

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are very low.

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H&M and Zara are investing
in recycling research,

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but we looked at their annual reports,

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and the amount is 0.5% and 0.02%
of their profits, respectively.

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They say returning clothes is circular,
which isn’t really true.

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And even if it were -

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SDL: That's not the solution
to our overconsumption.

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Or our overproduction.

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N: The problem is that too much clothing
is produced, and bought,

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whether the clothing
is eco-friendly or not.

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MB: Let's just say you're putting
one person here who says,

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"You know what? I don't give a (bleep)
about anything recycled or organic.

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I will, once a year,
buy a nice pair of pants,

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and I don't care about anything,"

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and then there are
these people who are saying,

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"Yes, I'm really aware, I want to do that.
I want to commit to the environment.

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And the pair of jeans
that I'm going to buy every four weeks

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will always be sustainable."

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So -

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still this person is "better?"

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N: Buying clothing every four weeks
is relatively new.

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Before the 90s, designers made clothes
for two fashion seasons per year,

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and now fashion retailers put out clothes
in as little as two weeks.

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More clothes mean
cheaper prices, lower quality,

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and more ending up
in the landfill or burned.

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But it’s not just big fast fashion brands;

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it’s the fashion industry in general,

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and our desire for constantly changing
outfits that need to hit pause.

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SDL: We need to think about how we shop
and what we're really calling for.

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But there is a bold step

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in a number of notable fashion brands
and fashion houses now

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going seasonless,

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and hats off to them
it's an important thing to do.

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N: The concept doesn’t mean
sacrificing style,

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but instead making clothing to last
rather than be thrown away.

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Karishma Khan: So all in all,
what we're trying to do

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is working with clothing
that is not very seasonal, so to say.

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It should be something
that you can wear year after year.

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We want to focus in quality.

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N: Karishma is the founder of Ka-Sha,

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an Indian brand featured in magazines
like Forbes and Vogue

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for championing eco-friendly fashion.

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KK: So we try to make products

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that try to fit into different places

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depending on who's wearing it
and how it's worn.

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So we have a lot of different
aspects to our clothing.

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N: So what do you do
when you want to buy new clothes?

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H&M and Zara say their eco-collections
are better for the environment,

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and they actually are.

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If you want to make sure
the whole supply chain is sustainable,

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there are many smaller brands

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that can account for every step
of their production process.

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And buying seasonless
instead of trendy clothing

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means it won’t go out of fashion
and end up in the trash.

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Because this is a rare industry

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where consumers actually
have a real influence.

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JL: When I look at the whole picture,

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I realize maybe only end consumer
is the power [that] can balance brands

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and can push them,

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give them pressure to make some changes.

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N: So ask yourself not only who made
your clothes and what they are made of,

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but also, "Do I need these new clothes?"

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And go from there instead.

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And if you want to see
more videos like this,

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we post about environmental
topics every Friday.

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Subtitles by Maurício Kakuei Tanaka