The truth about online returns

I hate to break it to you, but the items you order which don't work out, especially clothing that does not fit, don't necessary make it back to the warehouse to be sent out to another customer. Instead, many companies chose to throw the perfectly good items away, rather than look them over and re-enter in the inventory to be re-sold. Mostly because it is "cheaper" for them to do this. It is especially bad, like I said, within the garnet industry. The BBC reported on this with their article HERE   Here is an expert...

Sarah Needham from the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at University of the Arts London says the flow of goods to customers and back to retailers is flawed both from an economic and environmental perspective.
“We know that many of the products that are returned end up in landfill before we even use them which only adds to the vast amounts of used items already ending up in landfill... These products use precious resources which are becoming scarce and we are throwing them away unnecessarily,” says Needham.
It turns out that returns not only create a giant carbon footprint, but a real headache for companies. That new pair of shoes you sent back, with the open box and the untied laces, needs to be handled differently to, say, a t-shirt with a rip in it. Many companies simply don’t have the technology in place to handle these nuances in returned goods, so it is often most profitable for them to sell them cheaply to discounters via a web of shipping, driving and flying them around the globe, or to simply truck them to the dump.
A recent petition arrived into my email box asking Amazon to stop sending so many perfectly good returns to the landfill as reported by whistle blowers in the UK who were asked by management to destroy a staggering number of items per month. Items destroyed are not limited to clothing. We are smart and creative and I am sure a better solution can be found. What a waste of all the resources it took to make, sell, ship, and return it. Then have it add to our ever growing trash problem.
In the mean time and keeping this in mind, when you order online next, please consider your options. Can you return the items yourself to a brick and morter store? Consider contacting the company about how returns are handles.  Would you be willing to donate it to a local charity, thrift store, your neighbor etc. if it isn't right for you? Perhaps you can find the item locally where it is easier to return it. Do you REALLY need it? Pause and think before you hit the "place my order" button. Mother Earth and all future generations say a big THANKS when you do!