What we wear has a huge environmental impact: the apparel industry accounts for 10 percent of global carbon emissions and remains the second largest global industrial polluter (second only to oil). Over 11 million tons of textiles end up in U.S. landfills each year. So how can we look beyond a garment’s price tag to make choices that are a little easier on the planet?

First, before we even get to the fabric, these simple actions can make a key difference:

• Consume less (an estimated 80 billion pieces of clothing are consumed globally every year!) Wash your clothes only when necessary.
• Wash laundry in cold water. Using cold water will cause the least damage to fabrics like shrinking, fading or color bleeding. It is also an easy way to save energy: about 90 percent of the energy a washing machine uses goes towards heating the water! According to the Sierra Club, every household that switches to cold water washing could eliminate about 1,600 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, and a recent estimate from Consumer Reports suggests that using a cold-water detergent and setting your machine to 60ºF (compared to 75ºF) can save you at least $60 a year in energy costs!
• Hang-dry your clothes instead of using the dryer, if possible. A typical household pays over $100 in annual utility bills to operate an electric dryer and $40 for a gas dryer. Clothes dryers are one of the most energy-thirsty appliances in your home — air drying your clothes during the spring and summer can save an average household approximately $25 a year in energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint by 800 pounds of carbon dioxide! Not to mention that air is gentler on fabric, keeping your clothes in good shape for a while longer.

After that, it is important to buy high quality pieces — ideally ones made of natural, biodegradable fibers like hemp, linen, Tencel, and organic cotton. Hemp and linen require minimal fertilizers, pesticides, and water, and are breathable and durable. Tencel is made from sustainable wood pulp in a closed-loop system where 98% of by-products are reused. Cotton is an environmentally demanding crop (it’s the most pesticide-intensive crop in the world, and it takes nearly 700 gallons of water to make a T-shirt!), so look for organic or recycled cotton.

Avoid synthetic fabrics like polyester, nylon, and acrylic which are made from petroleum (which also creates plastic water bottles) in chemical and energy intensive processes and can take hundreds of years to decompose. When washed, these fabrics give off thousands of tiny plastic microfibers that end up in the ocean, where marine species (and eventually we) ingest them. Consider recycled polyester (rPET) instead, which is made from post-consumer recycled plastic.

And, before you toss your worn out clothes, consider recycling them: Google “your town + textile recycling” – your city might have a textile recycling program! This site also has resources for recycling by type, from athletic clothes to denim to shoes. 

Other fabrics like leather, silk, and bamboo fall in between – check out sites like this one for the pros and cons (or see a summary below). High-quality fabrics may be more expensive, but that also means you’ll likely buy less—which is better for both you and the planet!

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BUY:

• Hemp: The most sustainable fabric we have. Hemp is a low maintenance crop grown primarily with rainwater, requiring minimal chemicals and irrigation. And the entire plant can be used! As a fabric, hemp is breathable, warm, moisture-wicking, very durable fabric, and biodegradable. It can also produce 2-3x more fiber per acre than cotton.
• Linen: Made from flax, linen has recently become a favorite eco-friendly staple. As a fabric it is breathable, durable, lightweight, absorbent, antimicrobial, moth-resistant, and cool (it lowers your body temperature in summer, unlike cotton). It requires far less water than cotton, is biodegradable, and doesn’t require any chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
• Organic/recycled cotton: While cotton is a natural fiber that can biodegrade at the end of its life, it is also one of the most environmentally demanding crops: the cotton industry uses 25% of the world’s insecticides and 10% of the world’s pesticides (most pesticide-intensive crop in the world). Cotton crops also require a huge amount of water to grow (think nearly 700 gallons for a T-shirt). For a more eco-friendly fabric, consider organic or recycled cotton.

BUY WITH CAUTION:

• Bamboo: A natural fiber made from the bamboo plant. The fabric is silky in texture, incredibly durable, and has moisture-wicking properties. Bamboo is also biodegradable and requires very little water and no fertilizers or pesticides to grow. However, the process of turning bamboo into fabric is very chemically intensive, and produces a fair amount of waste. This makes bamboo much less sustainable than you might think at first glance.
• Leather: This controversial material is often considered unsustainable since it comes from animals. It also is usually made using highly toxic processing and tanning methods. That said, The Leather Working Group is currently working to provide resources for more sustainably sourced leather that is naturally tanned with environmentally friendly agents and dyed using natural vegetable dyes that don’t end up further polluting our waterways. Designers are now playing around with recycled leather, and there are plenty of new “plant-based” leather innovations coming into play like Pinatex and mushroom leather that are much more sustainable.
• Cellulose fibers like Tencel: This fabric is found in travel clothing that’s easy to wear. It is made from responsibly forested trees in a closed-loop system (the water used is recycled, fewer chemicals are used, and is biodegradable) that is efficient and clean, where 98% of by-products are recovered and reused.
• Recycled wool: Wool is resilient and can absorb more moisture than cotton; however, over 60% of its carbon footprint comes from the sheep (methane emissions from burping sheep).

AVOID:

• Synthetics: Polyester, nylon, and acrylic fabrics give off thousands of tiny plastic microfibers when washed which end up in the ocean where marine species can ingest them (and then we eat them). Recycled polyester (rPET) is a more eco-friendly alternative, made from post-consumer recycled plastic.
• Acrylic: A synthetic alternative to wool that may be cheap but is made from polyacylonitrile (a soft plastic and known carcinogen) in a chemical and energy intensive process. Toxic by-products during manufacturing have been linked to occupational hazards and the wastewater is difficult to treat. Acrylic fabric cannot biodegrade or be recycled, and requires toxic chemicals and a lot of energy to create.
• Polyester: cheap, widely used synthetic fiber made from petroleum (which also creates plastic water bottles) in an energy-intensive process. It’s durable but can take up to 200 years to decompose.
• Rayon viscose: Made in an energy intensive process that generally starts with unknown tree sources which can lead to deforestation in places like the Indonesian rainforests. Toxic chemicals are used in the pulping and spinning processes, which generates harmful waste by-product. A better alternative is Lenzing Modal®.
• Silk: feels amazing but requires a lot of trees and their leaves to keep those worms fed. Large quantities of chemicals are used for growth hormones and de-gumming the silk thread from its sticky residue. A lot of energy is also required for processing.

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Sources:

• https://www.cleaninginstitute.org/industry-priorities/outreach/cold-water-saves
• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/case-washing-clothes-cold-water-180955459/#:~:text=It%20can%20also%20save%20you,make%20your%20clothes%20last%20longer
• https://www.travelfashiongirl.com/best-eco-friendly-fabric/
• https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/eco-friendly-fabric-ranking
• This guide has more details on the pros and cons of each fabric: https://www.vettacapsule.com/blogs/blog/your-guide-to-eco-friendly-fabrics