Production of cotton requires a large amount of water, and also produces wastewater.
Part of a series on
Clothing and the environment
Environmental impact of fashion
Key issues
Cotton industry
Fast fashion
Fur trade
Global trade of secondhand clothing
Microplastics
Textile performance
By type
Cashmere
Fur farming
Leather
Sustainability
Anti-fashion
Biodegradable athletic footwear
Circular fashion
Clothing swap
Cotton recycling
Green textile
Organic cotton
Reconstructed clothing
Slow fashion
Sustainable fashion
Textile recycling
Sustainability of vintage fashion
Trashion
Zero-waste fashion
Related
RiverBlue
The True Cost
Environmental record of Nike
Ecological design
Laundry wastewater
Vintage clothing
Fashion portal
Environment portal
v
t
e
The fashion industry, particularly manufacture and use of apparel and footwear, is a significant driver of greenhouse gas emissions and plastic pollution.[1] The rapid growth of fast fashion has led to around 80 billion items of clothing being consumed annually, with about 85% of clothes consumed in United States being sent to landfill.[2]
Less than one percent of clothing is recycled to make new clothes.[3] The industry was estimated to produce 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, which was larger than the emissions produced by international flights and maritime shipping combined. According to a 2017 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, if the fashion sector persists on its same trajectory, its share of global carbon emissions could increase to 26% by 2050.[4][5][6] The production and distribution of the crops, fibers, and garments used in fashion all contribute to differing forms of environmental pollution, including water, air, and soil degradation.[citation needed] The textile industry is the second greatest polluter of local freshwater in the world,[7] and is culpable for roughly one-fifth of all industrial water pollution.[8] Some of the main factors that contribute to this industrial caused pollution are the vast overproduction of fashion items,[citation needed] the use of synthetic fibers, the agriculture pollution of fashion crops,[9] and the proliferation of microfibers across global water sources.[3]
Efforts have been made by some retailers and consumers to promote sustainable fashion practices, such as reducing waste, improving energy and water efficiency, and using primarily eco-friendly materials. Counter movements, such as slow fashion, have also developed as a response to the growth of fast fashion.[citation needed]
^"PLEASE Stop Saying Fashion is the 2nd Most Polluting Industry After Oil". Ecocult. 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
^Bick, Rachel; Halsey, Erika; Ekenga, Christine C. (December 2018). "The global environmental injustice of fast fashion". Environmental Health. 17 (1). doi:10.1186/s12940-018-0433-7. PMC 6307129. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
^ abLiu, Jianli; Liang, Jianyao; Ding, Jiannan; Zhang, Guangming; Zeng, Xianyi; Yang, Qingbo; Zhu, Bo; Gao, Weidong (August 2021). "Microfiber pollution: an ongoing major environmental issue related to the sustainable development of textile and clothing industry". Environment, Development and Sustainability. 23 (8): 11240–11256. doi:10.1007/s10668-020-01173-3. S2CID 230284901.
^Laville, Sandra (2017-11-28). "Stella McCartney calls for overhaul of 'incredibly wasteful' fashion industry". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
^"These facts show how unsustainable the fashion industry is". World Economic Forum.
^Beall, Abigail. "Why clothes are so hard to recycle". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
^Cronin, A.M. (25 September 2015). "Fashion is the 2nd Largest Water Polluter in the World! How to Reduce Your Clothing Footprint". OneGreenPlanet. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
^Regan, Helen (September 28, 2020). "Asian rivers are turning black. And our colorful closets are to blame". CNN. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
^"Textiles". Sew Guide. 16 April 2017.
and 28 Related for: Environmental impact of fashion information
production and distribution of the crops, fibers, and garments used in fashion all contribute to differing forms ofenvironmental pollution, including water...
of the garment industry, women are more vulnerable. Fast fashion'senvironmentalimpact has also been the subject of controversy. The global fashion industry...
waste and reduces the environmentalimpactof the fashion industry. It involves moving away from the traditional linear model of take-make-use-and-dispose...
Sustainable fashion is a term describing efforts within the fashion industry to reduce its environmentalimpacts, protect workers producing garments, and...
significant environmentalimpact. The fast fashion industry emits approximately 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, which accounts for 5% of all global...
sustainablecampus.fsu.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-26. "Fast Fashion'sEnvironmentalImpact: The True Price Of Trendiness". Good On You. 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2022-05-26...
recycling and reuse procedures. Global trade of secondhand clothing Environmentalimpactoffashion Sustainable fashion Hawley, J. M. (2009-01-01), Blackburn...
of any brand to be recycled by Re-Verso in Tuscany. Cameline Pashmina Shahtoosh International Year of Natural Fibres Environmentalimpactoffashion Emiel...
first designers to combine environmental activism with fashion, gave a speech about the environmentalimpactsoffashion at the United Nations. In 1995...
An environmentalimpact statement (EIS), under United States environmental law, is a document required by the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)...
The environmentalimpactof concrete, its manufacture, and its applications, are complex, driven in part by direct impactsof construction and infrastructure...
Human impact on the environment (or anthropogenic environmentalimpact) refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity,...
environmental impact, most notably due to: The carbon footprint of cattle rearing (see environmentalimpactof meat production) Use of chemicals in the...
defoliants), more than any other single major crop. Environmental consequences of the elevated use of chemicals in the non-organic cotton growing methods...
(2018). "Occurrence, sources, human health impacts and mitigation of microplastic pollution" (PDF). Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 25 (36):...
replace environmentally harmful textiles and minimise the ecological impact. Green textiles (or eco-textiles) are part of the sustainable fashion and eco-friendly...
Environmentalimpact design (EID) is the design of development projects so as to achieve positive environmental objectives that benefit the environment...
that focuses on fast fashion. It discusses several aspects of the garment industry from production—mainly exploring the life of low-wage workers in developing...
ways of life. Given the rise in mass production of commodities and clothing at lower prices and global reach, reducing fashion'senvironmentalimpact and...
The environmental effects of irrigation relate to the changes in quantity and quality of soil and water as a result of irrigation and the subsequent effects...
launched it in 2012 and owns and develops the suite of tools. The nonprofit consists of more than 300 fashion brands, retailers, manufacturers, academic institutions...
The environmental effects of pesticides describe the broad series of consequences of using pesticides. The unintended consequences of pesticides is one...
of gases, chemicals and fossil fuels. Some conservationists say that fur farming could have a positive environmentalimpact, reducing the pressure of...
ribs of corsets, in recent years different technologies have been developed that allow bamboo fibre to be used for a wide range of textile and fashion applications...
recover almost all of its solvent, its hazardous impacts to the aqueous ecology is still being researched. The environmentalimpactof cotton recycling...
The environmentalimpactof fishing includes issues such as the availability of fish, overfishing, fisheries, and fisheries management; as well as the...
Museum Cotton recycling Diplomacy of the American Civil War § Cotton and the British economy Environmentalimpactoffashion International Cotton Advisory...
because it has minimal environmentalimpact for its readily biodegradation. A complete biodegradation under aerobic conditions consists of two steps, primary...
Global Information
