Moa Zettervall loves to go shopping. She visits H&M, Zara, Mango and other stores of international apparel brands about once a week, and buys at least one new item per month. But she has also heard from friends and read online about the textile industry’s frequent harsh treatment of its workers, along with its impact on the environment. “In Bangladesh, for example, it is not fair. The people that work and make the clothes don’t get enough money and their work conditions are bad,” said the 19-year-old Zettervall, in a shopping mall in Stockholm. “And also it is not good for the environment that the clothes are made there and flown here.” Zettervall is not alone in worrying about her clothes-shopping habits. Surveys conducted by the Global Poverty Project and by universities throughout the Western world — in places such as France, Wales and California — all point to increasing consumer awareness to negative social and environmental effects of the fashion industry. And the leading brands are starting to respond – at least on the surface. Many fashion industry labels employ "green" and "ethical" marketing to target "conscious" consumers: H&M's Conscious collection, made of organic cotton and recycled polyester; Puma’s biodegradable InCycle Collection; Adidas’ Design for Environment gear; Uniqlo’s All-Product Recycling Initiative; Zara’s eco-efficient stores; and the Gap’s P.A.C.E. program, to benefit the lives of female garment workers.

Last year's deadly collapse of a massive textile factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, raised big questions about worker safety. Munir uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images But it is not that simple. Advocates say the challenge for consumers like Zettervall, who says she wants to shop responsibly, is to discern the difference between those companies seriously engaged in minimizing the social and environmental cost of fashion, and those employing mere marketing gimmicks – often dubbed “greenwashers.” “There are so many initiatives out there right now that are ‘sustainable,’ ‘green’ or ‘eco,’” said Lewis Perkins of Cradle to Cradle, a nonprofit organization that helps manufacturers produce in a responsible manner. “I think it is really confusing for the consumer to understand and validate what it means.” A truly sustainable product, Perkins believes, is a reusable item that has a positive impact on the environment and those who make it. That is an area where the clothing industry, which is based mostly on mass manufacturing in the developing world, has serious problems, mainly labor abuses and industrial practices that lead to pollution or accidents. These issues were highlighted in the starkest way last year when more than 1,100 garment workers were killed and about 2,500 injured after the collapse of a textile factory in Bangladesh. The disaster, which took place in a facility that was producing for American and European buyers, brought global attention to the issues. But activists complain that evidence of unethical and environmentally damaging norms in the apparel production process had long been available. In 2013, a report by the Center for American Progress revealed that workers in many apparel-exporting countries earn little more than subsistence wages for 14-hour workdays. Human Rights Watch reported that factory owners used beatings and death threats to stop organizers from unionizing garment workers. In China, where over half the world’s clothes are made, industrial waste in areas where textile manufacturing is concentrated has created severe water pollution and has negatively affected the soil and air, according to the Beijing-based Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs.

There are so many initiatives out there right now that are ‘sustainable,’ ‘green’ or ‘eco.’ I think it is really confusing for the consumer to understand and validate what it means. Lewis Perkins Cradle to Cradle

Greenpeace has also created a Greenwashers list to shame leading brands that are failing to follow through on their promise to phase out toxic chemicals from their supply chain, after investigations in China and in Indonesia — another hub for global apparel production — found a range of hazardous substances being discharged from textile factories into nearby rivers. But identifying greenwashers is more complicated than just pointing out abusive labor conditions and polluting industrial practices, according to Livia Firth of Eco Age, a London-based consultancy firm. Firth is one of the loudest voices lobbying against fast-fashion brands — which encourage excessive consumption by constantly putting out inexpensive new collections while simultaneously promoting sustainable fashion. She said fast fashion and sustainability is an oxymoron. “Sustainability and consumerism do not go hand in hand,” said Firth. “It is admirable that H&M is doing so much work in sustainability, but all these brands — H&M, Zara, whatever — they are still producing in such volumes and at such ridiculous prices.” Firth said fast-fashion brands must change their business model. Otherwise, she said, their sustainability efforts — no matter how genuine — are a form of greenwashing. That point of view gets short shrift from the industry. “It is not greenwashing,” said Catarina Midby, H&M’s head of sustainable fashion, about the Swedish brand’s Conscious collection. “It is a way to raise awareness with the consumers about these different fabrics and offer them a better choice.” Midby said that all of the company’s suppliers are required to follow a strict code of conduct to ensure workers’ rights and minimize the supply chain’s ecological impact, and that all the information about the production process is transparent on the brand’s website. Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability officer for Kering, a corporation that owns 22 brands including Puma and Gucci, gave a similar response. Daveu said that Kering has set competitive targets with specific deadlines for reducing CO2 emissions and energy waste, and also that the company is developing a tool to measure the environmental footprint of all its brands. “For us, sustainability is not only an obligation, it’s an opportunity,” Daveu said. “We go beyond the traditional approach and take account of the impacts of our entire supply chain, and not just those resulting from our own operations.”

Sustainability and consumerism do not go hand in hand. It is admirable that H&M is doing so much work in sustainability, but all these brands — H&M, Zara, whatever — they are still producing in such volumes and at such ridiculous prices. Livia Firth Eco Age