{"id":10617,"date":"2026-05-29T16:31:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T16:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=10617"},"modified":"2026-05-29T16:31:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T16:31:48","slug":"clothing-rental-services-promise-a-sustainable-alternative-to-fast-fashion-experts-say-it-depends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=10617","title":{"rendered":"Clothing rental services promise a sustainable alternative to fast fashion. Experts say it depends"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By AYA DIAB<\/strong><\/p>\n

For weddings, vacations or other special occasions, more consumers are turning to clothing rental services instead of buying something new.<\/p>\n

Read more WHO chief lands in Congo, saying Ebola outbreak \u2018can be stopped\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

These subscription-based services, often marketed as a sustainable alternative to fast fashion, ship straight to customers everything from everyday and workwear to dresses, handbags and formalwear. Then, the items are returned for someone else to use.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t bought anything for a big occasion since 2019,\u201d said Sasha Eck, a user of clothing rental services.<\/p>\n

Along with giving her continuous and affordable access to newer, trendier clothes, she said renting formalwear made more sense than spending the equivalent of a month\u2019s rent on a dress she would only wear once. A recent survey from ThredUp suggests others face the same predicament, with the resale platform finding 87% of wedding guests said they had purchased at least one outfit they wore only once.<\/p>\n

Clothing rental services appear to be an environmentally ethical alternative: One garment can be worn by multiple people instead of being tethered to a single closet. But fashion and logistics experts say the reality of rental subscriptions is more complicated, especially once shipping, returns and consumer habits are factored in.<\/p>\n

The promise (and problem) of rental fashion<\/h4>\n

Kate Fletcher, a professor of sustainability, design and fashion systems at Manchester Metropolitan University, said rental services can sometimes encourage the same mindset that drives fast fashion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn theory, the embodied resources within that garment get a chance to be worked harder by having that many more people wear it. And so that\u2019s the sort of compelling argument of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But Fletcher said many of those environmental benefits can be undermined by repeated shipping, returns and cleaning.<\/p>\n

Aja Barber, a sustainability consultant and writer, said people often overlook the footprint of those processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think about rental, you don\u2019t think about the packaging that comes every time you get something from rental. You don\u2019t think about the carbon footprint of shipping the item to you. And you certainly don\u2019t think about the carbon footprint of dry cleaning,\u201d said Barber.<\/p>\n

Still, both experts said rental services can have advantages in certain situations.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIf you are someone who occasionally has to wear occasion-wear and you don\u2019t want to buy a dress that you\u2019re going to wear just once, I think it can be really impactful,\u201d said Barber.<\/p>\n

Fletcher pointed to older, more localized rental models, like with suit or gown rentals, where customers visited a shop, were fitted in person and later returned the item. She said those systems often had a very different environmental profile than modern, app-based rental services that rely on repeated shipping.<\/p>\n

Why shipping matters<\/h4>\n

The rise of online shopping has heightened the environmental affect of \u201clast mile delivery\u201d \u2014 the final stage of transporting a package from a fulfillment center to a customer\u2019s home. Transportation is already one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, said Johanna Amaya, assistant professor of supply chain management at Pennsylvania State University.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe more deliveries going to our homes, the more delivery that goes to our preferred location, the more that impact on the environment,\u201d said Amaya.<\/p>\n

Rental services can also create an added logistical challenge because the process involves two trips \u2014 one to deliver the clothing and another to return it.<\/p>\n

Amaya said fast shipping can also make delivery systems less efficient because companies have less time to consolidate packages into fuller routes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe longer they can wait to consolidate more orders and use the capacity of the delivery vehicles, the better,\u201d said Amaya.<\/p>\n

She added that returning items to centralized locations, like parcel lockers or post offices, may be less environmentally impactful than home pickup services.<\/p>\n

So what should consumers do?<\/h4>\n

Experts say renting can still be a better option in some situations, particularly for special occasion outfits that may otherwise only be worn once. But they also said consumers should think carefully about how often they are ordering, shipping and returning clothing.<\/p>\n

Fletcher encouraged people to \u201clook within a wardrobe and yourself before you look without and try and get a new piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amaya said consumers can reduce the environmental impact by avoiding rush shipping and choosing consolidated or pickup delivery options when possible.<\/p>\n

And the broader sustainability challenge in fashion cannot be solved by a single service or product alone, Fletcher said.<\/p>\n

For consumers trying to shop more sustainably overall, experts said some of the simple options may still be the most effective, like re-wearing clothing, repairing items, swapping with friends, buying secondhand or donating pieces so they continue to be used.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing we can do is engage with fashion as a practice. So, a lived experience of what it is to be dressed \u2014 full of capabilities of who I can be in the world \u2014 and not as something to buy,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cFashion as shopping, that sort of idea of it, is something that industry has encouraged us to believe is the only way of engaging with fashion. And fundamentally, that\u2019s only going to lead to more climate impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more France asks prosecutors to investigate Israel\u2019s treatment of Gaza flotilla activists<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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