Every time you guess your size and order clothes online, you're creating environmental impact—even if you return them. Shipping, handling, repackaging, and often disposal all have costs that aren't visible in the checkout process. When you multiply this by millions of orders, the footprint is huge. Here's how size guessing fuels waste and how measuring once can eliminate it.
The Hidden Cost of Size Guessing
Each guess triggers a shipment. When you order a garment that doesn't fit, it ships to you, you try it on, package it back up, and ship it back. This creates two shipments for one garment—double the transportation impact. If you order multiple sizes (bracketing), you might create three or four shipments for one garment that fits.
Handling and repackaging add impact. Returned items require inspection, repackaging, and often reprocessing. This takes time, labor, and resources. As we explore in What Happens to Clothes That Get Returned?, many returned items never make it back to shelves, creating additional waste.
The cumulative impact is massive. Multiply this by millions of online orders, and the footprint from size guessing becomes significant. Why Online Clothing Returns Are So High shows that returns are mostly fit failures, meaning this waste is largely preventable with better sizing.
Why Size Guessing Is So Common
Size charts are unreliable. As we explain in Why Clothing Sizes Don't Exist, size labels are marketing tools, not measurements. Charts compress complex 3D bodies into a few numbers and ignore critical dimensions. Even when you match a chart perfectly, the garment might not fit because charts don't account for body shape variations.
Online shopping forces guessing. Without the ability to try on before buying, shoppers are forced to guess based on size charts, photos, and reviews. This uncertainty leads to bracketing—ordering multiple sizes and returning the ones that don't fit. It's a rational response to unreliable sizing information.
The cost is hidden. Shipping is often 'free' for customers, and returns are easy, so the environmental cost isn't visible. But the impact is real—transportation, handling, repackaging, and often disposal all have environmental costs that aren't reflected in the price you pay.
How Measuring Once Eliminates Waste
Capture your body data once, reuse it forever. When you measure yourself consistently (see How to Measure Your Body), you create a dataset that can be used for all future purchases. This eliminates the guesswork that leads to returns and multiple shipments.
Match garments to your measurements, not size labels. Instead of guessing which size might fit, compare your measurements to garment specifications. This reduces returns by matching garments to bodies, not bodies to arbitrary size categories. AI body scanning makes this practical—you can capture your body shape accurately using just a phone camera.
Fewer shipments, less waste. When garments fit from the start, there's no need for returns and multiple shipments. This eliminates the transportation, handling, and repackaging that create environmental impact. One accurate purchase is more sustainable than multiple guesses.
The Bigger Picture: Reducing Fashion's Footprint
Size guessing is a hidden driver of fashion's environmental impact. The transportation, handling, and waste from returns add up to significant impact that isn't visible in the checkout process. Reducing returns through better sizing is one of the most effective ways to reduce fashion's footprint.
Technology makes this practical. AI body scanning and digital tailoring can reduce the cost and time of body-aware sizing, making better fit more accessible. This reduces returns and waste without asking people to buy more 'eco' items.
The solution isn't to stop shopping online—it's to shop smarter. Start with your body measurements, match garments to those measurements, and eliminate the guesswork that creates waste. One accurate purchase is more sustainable than multiple guesses, and better fit keeps garments in use longer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much environmental impact does size guessing really create?
Significant. Each return requires shipping (often twice—to you and back), handling, repackaging, and often disposal. Multiply this by millions of online orders, and the footprint from size guessing becomes substantial. Returns are mostly fit failures, meaning this waste is largely preventable with better sizing.
Can measuring once really eliminate returns?
It can dramatically reduce them. When you start with your actual body measurements and match garments to those measurements, you eliminate the guesswork that leads to returns. You're matching garments to bodies, not bodies to arbitrary size categories, which reduces fit failures.
What about the cost of body scanning?
Modern AI body scanning uses just a phone camera—no special equipment needed. The cost is minimal compared to the environmental cost of returns and multiple shipments. One accurate purchase is more sustainable and cost-effective than multiple guesses.
Does this mean I should never return anything?
No. Sometimes returns are necessary—damaged items, wrong items, or items that don't match descriptions. But fit-related returns, which make up the majority of returns, are largely preventable with better sizing. Starting with your measurements reduces fit failures and returns.
What's the most sustainable way to shop online?
Start with your body measurements, not size labels. Measure yourself consistently (see our guide on how to measure your body), then compare those measurements to garment specifications. Look for brands that use body scanning or provide detailed measurements for each garment.
