Clothing Tags Have Gotten Out of Hand

Too Many Tags Wind up in landfills

As I was getting ready to start my day on Saturday, I pulled out a pair of cargo pants. I had purchased them from Marshalls. Tan in color, the cargo pants were made by a brand called D.Jeans. I like this brand because their jeans contain stretchy material and always fit me well. The problem wasn’t the pants — it was the tags. There were about six of them in total. Besides the price tag, there was the company’s tag, the size sticker, the materials patch on the back of the pants, a tag on the waist, and a tag attached by a string with a larger version of the company’s name. There were too many tags! I understand that clothing tags are a part of the company’s marketing, but the number of tags on my pants was excessive. It takes time away from the getting ready process. As an avid shopper, I remember a time when clothing had only one tag, maybe two tags max. Now, I spend several minutes cutting and peeling tags off my clothes. Most retailers where I shop have fallen into the multiple-tag trap. If I go to Target, there’ll be a size sticker tag on the front of the shirt, the price tag, and the brand’s tag. Do consumers need to see all of those tags? I’m okay with the price and the brand name on the same tag. Some brands in Target do just that, which saves time getting the clothing ready to wear. However, even the shoes in Target have the same issue. The shoes will be in a box with tissue paper, the price and brand on the box, and a tag with the same information attached to the shoes. And there’s often more tissue paper inside of the shoes. Old Navy and Macy’s are also guilty of tag overload. There are tags on the inside and outside of the clothing. You have the price tag, the brand tag, the materials tag, and another brand tag. Don’t forget the security sensor, which needs to be removed at checkout. All of these tags are a waste. If they’re made of paper, at least they can be recycled, but I’ve removed metal and plastic tags from clothing. Those tags are more challenging to recycle and often end up in landfills. If we’re serious about saving the planet and fixing the climate, we must have retailers and their manufacturers do something different with their tags. The environment doesn’t need to be tagged by tags!