How to Buy a Jacket as a Broke Environmentalist

Prices are rising and fast fashion is everywhere; come on a journey to find the perfect winter coat as an environmentally conscious (albeit a little skint) person.

A woman browsing clothes in a shop. Credit: Burst on StockSnap

As winter approaches, the summer clothes in our wardrobes are slowly becoming obsolete. The need for thick winter coats, sturdy trousers, heavy boots, and jumpers to keep us warm as the months get colder becomes impossible to ignore.

Maybe you still have your winter wardrobe from last year in storage, or you’ve moved and it got left behind. Maybe you’re just looking for something new to add to what you already have, but oftentimes we’re left with a difficult decision: spend a small fortune on quality clothes, or get something cheap that will get you through the winter and no further?

The fashion industry itself is one of the biggest contributors to microplastic pollution in the ocean, the second biggest consumer of water, and produces 10% of the world’s carbon emissions. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has described the current fashion industry as linear rather than circular, with 85% of textiles ending up in landfill every year.

With the industry in such disarray, how do our individual choices make any difference and why should we even consider where we get our clothes when the problem is so vast? Why should we have to foot the bill for a systematic issue?

Let’s use an example of a winter coat; something everyone needs at this time of year and often one of the biggest investments needed when looking for quality.

Photo of fabric with 'Organic Certified' tag. Credit: Anna Voss on Unsplash

For the sustainable choice, a simple grey puffer jacket found on the website of Rapanui Clothing is on sale for £95. It is made from recyclable plant based fibers and recycled polyester and has no components tested on animals. Rapanui Clothing have dedicated that their products will be sustainable and have a simple statement:

“We exist to create products responsibly and positively because we believe that through good design, a waste-free world is possible in our lifetime.”

With money taken out of the equation, this would be a popular choice for those who have a care about the environment, but even in the sale, £95 is a lot of money to spend for students and young people.

This cost can be justified of course when  sustainable fabrics, safe and ethical production, and quality products are guaranteed, but understanding the price of something does not make it easier to pay for. Knowing that this coat may last you years, whereas a cheaper one will be useless come March, may make an investment seem reasonable, but that does not make nearly £100 appear in your pocket. 

So, what are our other options? We still need a winter coat and with the holidays approaching, money is tight and limits our options. 

Photo of a pile of clothes. Credit: Alejo Reinoso on Unsplash

Sold by QuickFashion Hub on Shein for a low price of £26.32, this winter jacket is a much easier purchase to make in terms of money. At first glance, this jacket is similar to the first - but at a much lower price. It is 100% polyester which is incredibly similar to the other jacket even at a fifth of the price. 

However, Shein does not have anything similar to the environmental mission that the previous company did; instead, it is caught up in scandal after scandal. One of the most recent was a call from the French government to the EU to investigate Shein for the sale of illegal items such as child-like sex dolls. They have their fair share of environmental complaints as well, with their sustainability report revealing that they had doubled their carbon dioxide emissions from the previous year, due to an increase in AI use which has been said to have made Shein an “ultra fast fashion industry”. 

So maybe we don’t want to give our £25 to companies like Shein and Temu which are actively harmful, but we still don’t have a jacket and feel like we’re running out of options.

Photo of a charity shop. Credit: Prudence Earl on Unsplash

Let’s pop down to our local charity shop and have a look there. Second hand is sustainable and cheap, right? There, you find a grey puffer jacket much like we’ve seen before, but this time for £25. It’s originally from a more reputable company than Shein, despite the similar price point and seems to be in pretty good condition. 

It seems we’ve finally found our jacket! Hurrah!

Wait, it’s not your size? Surely there’s another in the shop somewhere? Nothing in your size? Have we checked online? It’s all resellers doubling prices for “vintage” items from 2010? 

Is it time to give up?

Photo of a clothes shop. Credit: Hugo Clément on Unsplash

What’s this? A £34.99 winter coat, from Trespass - a respected company with a sustainability pledge and a 10% discount for students and under 26 year olds? Where was this when we started looking for jackets? 

Is this one perfect? Likely not, but it could be a very happy medium. It may not be made from recycled polyester like the one from Rapanui, but it doesn’t come attached to controversies like it would from Shein and also has a wider range of sizes available than one from a charity shop. This is a sturdy coat that will last you, and will likely be easier on the morals than some other options. 

Of course, none of these options would be criminal. Sometimes, fast fashion truly is the only option when money is particularly tight and maybe that additional £10 isn’t a feasible sacrifice. Your local charity shop may be a gold mine for quality clothes at low prices and you may be able to fill your wardrobe. Maybe you have a little extra money and want to make that investment.

Buying clothes in this day and age, where everything seems to have an evil underbelly, can be incredibly difficult. However, spending an extra 30-60 minutes scouring the internet for the best of a bad bunch could make a small difference. While a small difference may seem like nothing when the problem is so vast, it’s these small choices that can drive change. 66% of people were willing to spend more on sustainable brands, and raising that number puts pressure on companies to make changes to become more sustainable. 

About the Author:

Lauren Smillie is a Zoology BSc Graduate, current Animal Welfare Science, Ethics, and Law MSc student at the University of Glasgow and the current Lifestyle Editor of Wild Magazine.