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If you have a smartphone, social media, or just use the internet, you know it happens all the time: You鈥檙e scrolling away - and bam - there it is: that same cool shirt, trendy new sneakers or the 鈥渉ottest鈥� summer dress popping up鈥� again.

You checked it out once and now the ads are incessant - with big, bright banners screaming, 鈥淏uy now!鈥�, 鈥淟ast chance!鈥�, 鈥淒on鈥檛 miss it!鈥� splashed across your feed.

You don鈥檛 need it, but, it鈥檚 such a steal! Before you know it, you鈥檙e clicking, 鈥淥rder Now鈥�. 

Has this happened to you? If so, you鈥檙e not alone. 

With online shopping soaring during the pandemic and many of those habits now firmly entrenched, those 鈥淥rder Now鈥� clicks are happening constantly. But with many consumers later changing their minds - maybe the item doesn鈥檛 fit, looks cheap - or simply isn鈥檛 鈥渋n鈥� anymore - much of it ends up in the garbage. 

In fact, according to Canadian non-profit Fashion Takes Action, more than half of fast fashion produced is thrown out in less than a year, and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that 10.5 million tonnes of clothes and textiles in North America are disposed of every year - with one garbage truck of textiles landfilled or incinerated every second.

It means that the fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world, and fast fashion brands - like Shein, which has taken Gen-Z by storm - are a major part of the problem.

But with influencers all over the world sharing their 鈥�#SHEINHAUL鈥� videos (i.e. showing off their hoards of cheap deals), combined with the power of social media, plus recent inflation rates, many consumers are succumbing to the 鈥淏uy Now鈥� button.

Want to break the habit, and avoid wasteful online purchases?

Read below to see how you can be more mindful about your spending decisions - helping you save money - and the planet.

7 tips to resist fast fashion and reduce wasteful spending

1. Create a barrier to buying
Persuasive Technology is designed to nudge us in a certain way, says RTA School of Media Professor Richard Lachman, who specializes in digital technology and culture. And while the technology is used to keep us addicted to social media and clicking the 鈥淏uy Now鈥� button, he says there are also ways Persuasive Technology can help us resist making purchases. A few examples are:

• Taking your credit-card off of your phone/autofill/Apple Pay, forcing you to reach in your wallet each time and manually enter the information.
• Instead of buying on-the-spot, bookmark or copy links for everything you see that you might like to purchase. Then go through the list at the end of the week and see what you actually want. This way, you鈥檒l be more deliberate with your spending, Lachman says, editing your choices beyond the heat of the moment. 鈥淏asically, it鈥檚 re-introducing 鈥榝riction鈥� into the process, in opposition to the one-click impulse purchase,鈥� he said.

Lachman also recommends using a budgeting app to track goals and spending.

鈥業t's easy to lose track of how much or how often we're making online purchases,鈥� he said. 鈥淪imply seeing totals and progress is another way to use tech to help us visualize our behaviours.鈥�

2. Hide ads
Depending on the platform, you can sometimes "tune" your feed to exclude certain vendors or advertiser categories, which Lachman says can help reduce temptation for impulse purchases. You can use the "Hide this", "Hide ads from this advertiser" or "See fewer ads like this" link on individual posts, check which ad categories the platform thinks you like, or remove personalized ads entirely. This way, you鈥檒l need to proactively seek out the things you might want to buy.

3. Check: Where do returns go?
Buying clothing online is a risk - the item may not fit, may not be the right colour, or it might look so cheap that you don鈥檛 want it. Checking the return policy of a vendor can deter you from making a purchase if you know that the free returns offered actually just go to a landfill - which is often the case since it鈥檚 cheaper for companies to burn or destroy returns, and/or they don't have the logistics in place to inspect and repackage return items for resale. In other cases, Lachman says they're sold to bulk-purchasers for resale at huge markdowns, replaced by new products at the vendor.

So, checking return policies might dissuade you from making a purchase, or, you might feel better about clicking 鈥淎dd to Cart鈥� if the vendor donates return items to charity.

4. #OOTD - is for the day
Ever seen an 鈥渋nfluencer鈥� showing off their Outfit Of The Day - or #OOTD - and thought, 鈥淥ooh, I have to have that!鈥�? Today, fast fashion brands have capitalized on the trend, instilling a sense that these are the must-have items of the moment. And, thanks to the speed of social media, that trend du jour can seemingly change minute to minute - instilling a sense of immediacy in the consumer who wants to keep up.

鈥淏ut trying to keep up is exhausting - since fast fashion is designed and produced so quickly that you can鈥檛,鈥� says School of Fashion Professor Anika Kozlowski, whose research focuses on sustainable fashion. So, before buying that #OOTD, keep in mind that it won鈥檛 be trending for long.

5. Trying to keep up can bring you down
With fast-fashion brands continually updating styles, rendering once-trendy items obsolete, it makes the desire to stay current potent, says TRSM Professor Matthew Philp, an expert in consumer behaviour. He says it鈥檚 intrinsically linked to Social Comparison Theory, which suggests that individuals evaluate their opinions, abilities, and possessions by comparing themselves to others.

鈥淔ast-fashion exploits this innate tendency by constantly introducing new styles and collections, fostering a sense of urgency for consumers to keep pace with evolving trends. This dynamic perpetuates a cycle of purchasing and discarding clothing to maintain social standing and acceptance. As a result, consumers may experience diminished self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy if they do not keep up鈥� Getting influencers to show-off their 鈥榟auls鈥� on social media just perpetuates this further,鈥� he said.

So, if you're feeling discouraged because you don't have the latest 鈥渇it", you鈥檒l be a lot happier if you tune it out.

6. Remember - there鈥檚 always more time
Fast fashion ads are full of messaging to elicit and create a 鈥渟carcity mentality鈥�, says Prof. Kozlowski. Emails that say 鈥淟ast chance鈥� want to make you feel that the item will be gone if you don鈥檛 order right away.

鈥淏ut when we look at the fashion space, it's so homogeneous now because there's so much product being created.鈥�

Plus, she says, the trends are global. Unlike many years ago, today, the items in an H&M in Barcelona are the same items in an H&M in New York. That is - what鈥檚 鈥渉ot鈥� is everywhere - and there鈥檚 lots of it.

鈥淪omehow they've really trained us to feel like there's a scarcity and you have to act now, but really, we're living in this amazing abundance,鈥� Prof. Kozlowski said.

So, while the ad might say it鈥檚 your last chance to buy - it鈥檚 probably not.

7. Be your own brand
Ever think to yourself, 鈥淗mm, everyone鈥檚 wearing (insert style-du-jour here), but it looks terrible on me.鈥� ? It鈥檚 time to ignore what鈥檚 on your feed and be your own brand, says Prof. Kozlowski.

鈥淲e need to move toward being our own individual, buying things we really like, that we can restyle, and that will last,鈥� she said.

鈥淚f you buy something you love and that looks good on you, and not just what鈥檚 trendy, it will make you feel good and you鈥檒l want to keep it around,鈥� she said, adding that with quality items over time, you can get things repaired or tailored as needed.

鈥淚f you feel great, that鈥檚 what matters, because you project differently. But if you buy something trendy and don鈥檛 feel good in it, you can tell. You hold your body differently, and it can impact how you feel,鈥� she continued.

鈥淚t鈥檚 time to come back to the old rules of fashion - dress for your body type, wear what you feel good in. Those are the things you should gravitate towards.鈥�