Fast fashion giant Shein is renowned for its lightning-fast manufacturing, adding up to 10,000 new items to its website every day. But this style and method of production has also generated eye-popping amounts of something else: planet-warming pollution.
What's happening?
Shein pledged to cut its carbon output by 25% by 2030, achieving zero emissions by 2050. Instead, its pollution is increasing at a rate nearly twice as fast as its revenue growth, making it the most polluting company in the entire fashion industry, LAist reported.
This is due to pervasive issues that are commonplace within fast fashion, like excessive energy consumption and textile waste. But it's also caused by issues specific to Shein, experts said.
Part of the problem is that, rather than mailing their clothes in bulk via cargo ships, most of Shein's products are packaged and sent individually overseas by plane.
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And considering that the company sent nearly a million packages per day to the U.S. alone in 2023, per Supply Chain Dive, the pollution racks up quickly. LAist found that Shein released nearly 18.7 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2023.
Why is fast fashion particularly harmful?
Many experts feel that one of the biggest threats from brands like Shein is how they promote a culture of excessive consumerism. This drives increased pollutive outputs, as companies churn out too many clothes as a response to fleeting trends.
Shein has spoken about how it uses AI to calculate consumer behavior and encourages these micro-trends. And considering that, per LAist, 44% of Gen Z-ers buy at least one item from Shein every month, the strategy is working.
Unfortunately, it's not only the people buying these cheaply made, wastefully produced clothes who will pay the price for them. As atmospheric temperatures soar and oceans choke on toxin-rich textile waste, people and ecosystems around the world will feel the impacts.
What's Shein doing to cut down its pollution?
As LAist pointed out, Shein has "a long way to go" before meeting its reduction goals, considering its pollution doubled between 2022 and 2023.
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🔘 Incentivize sustainable options 💰
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The publication also explained that while Shein did reduce some pollution in 2023, it amounted to approximately 3% of the company's totals.
According to experts, the best way to reduce the pollution is simply not to encourage the growth of companies like Shein. That could mean not buying fast fashion items or at least buying them less frequently.
Fortunately, from thrift stores to secondhand marketplaces — both brand-specific and general — there are more options than ever for finding sustainable, affordable clothing that doesn't generate new carbon pollution.
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