The fashion industry, especially the making and use of clothing and shoes, has a major impact on the environment. It contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, water use, and the creation of textile waste. In the 19th century, industrialization led to the large-scale production of textiles, which worsened environmental harm. The fast fashion industry has grown quickly, leading to about 100 billion clothing items being used each year. In the United States, around 85% of clothes are thrown away in landfills. Recent studies show that even though animal-based fibers, like wool and leather, make up a small part of clothing production, they are a major source of methane emissions. For example, one study found that wool and leather, which account for 3–5% of global fashion production, may be responsible for 70–80% of the industry’s methane emissions over 20 years.
Less than 1% of clothing is recycled into new clothing. In the late 2010s, the fashion industry released 2% of the world’s total greenhouse gases and contributed to climate change through energy-heavy production. The creation and delivery of crops, fibers, and clothing used in fashion cause different types of pollution, such as water, air, and soil damage. The textile industry is the second-largest polluter of local freshwater and causes about one-fifth of all industrial water pollution. Major causes of this pollution include making too many fashion items, using synthetic fibers, pollution from growing fashion crops, and the spread of tiny fibers into water sources worldwide.
Some retailers and consumers have tried to support sustainable fashion practices, such as reducing waste, improving energy and water use, and using eco-friendly materials. In response to fast fashion, movements like slow fashion have also developed.
Fast fashion
Fast fashion is a method of designing, making, and selling clothing that focuses on quickly and cheaply providing new fashion trends to customers. Traditional fashion processes usually take about six months to complete, but fast fashion can finish these steps in just a few weeks. This allows stores to respond faster to changing consumer preferences. Fast fashion has become possible because of global supply chains, low-cost manufacturing, and systems that help stores produce and deliver clothing quickly and in large amounts.
Since the 1960s, the number of new clothing items bought by Americans has increased three times. Globalization has helped fast fashion grow rapidly. In 2019, global clothing sales reached 1.9 trillion U.S. dollars, a record high. This number is expected to reach 3 trillion U.S. dollars by 2030. Worldwide, more than 80 billion clothing items are used each year, and this number is rising because fashion trends change faster and people want inexpensive, stylish clothes.
Fast fashion is sometimes called "disposable fashion" because trends change so quickly that many people wear clothes only once or twice before throwing them away. Clothing made for fast fashion often uses low-quality materials, which are not made to last because they are sold cheaply. This causes the clothes to tear, have broken seams, or wear out faster than clothes made with better materials.
As fast fashion became more popular, a faster version called "ultra-fast fashion" also appeared. Ultra-fast fashion is similar to fast fashion, but the production and trend cycles are even quicker. The clothes are made with even lower-quality materials and are meant to be worn only a few times before being thrown away. Companies with large social media followings, such as Shein, Fashion Nova, and PrettyLittleThing, often promote ultra-fast fashion.
Materials and textiles
Most of the environmental harm from fashion comes from the materials used to make clothing. Synthetic materials, like polyester, need about 342 million barrels of oil each year. Polyester was a widely used fabric in 2017, appearing in about 60% of clothing sold in stores. That year, about 21.3 million tons of polyester fiber were produced. From 2000 to 2015, the use of polyester clothing increased by 157%. Washing polyester clothes causes tiny plastic pieces, called microplastics, to be released into water systems, including oceans. It is estimated that 35% of all microplastics in the ocean come from washing synthetic fabrics.
Cotton is the most widely grown non-food crop in the world. It uses 2.5% of the world’s farmland, and half of all textiles made are made from cotton. Cotton requires a lot of water, needing 3,644 cubic meters of water to grow one ton of cotton fiber, or 437 gallons of water for each pound of fiber. Growing cotton uses 25% of all insecticides and 10-16% of all pesticides used worldwide each year. Half of the top pesticides used in U.S. cotton farming are considered likely to cause cancer by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Cotton farming harms soil quality, leading to poor farmland and the need to grow crops in new areas. Expanding into new areas harms local wildlife and affects biodiversity.
Energy use is measured in megajoules needed to produce one kilogram of a textile. Water use is measured in liters of water needed to produce one kilogram of a textile.
Greenhouse gas emissions
In the late 2010s, the fashion industry released 2–4% of the world's total greenhouse gases. This happens because making clothes uses a lot of energy. As of 2025, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe still had a 2018 press release on their website that stated the fashion industry contributed 2% to 8% of greenhouse gases. However, the BBC program "More or Less" criticized this claim because it lacked sources. They mentioned an older study that said 8%, but it was not recent. In 2022, the BBC investigation found that the most reliable study at the time was the 2021 WRI report, which estimated the contribution as 2%. The type of textile fibers used in clothing is an important factor in these calculations because some fibers are also used in other products, like filters and seat belts.
Making polyester releases a large amount of greenhouse gases, followed by cotton, leather, wool, man-made cellulosic fibers, and nylon. Most polyester is produced in China. While the European Union’s Emissions Trading System encourages reducing emissions, China’s national carbon trading scheme has much lower prices for emissions. Experts suggest that companies exporting to the EU should reduce their carbon emissions in case clothing is included in the EU’s future Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Some ways to reduce emissions include using more textile-based materials for polyester production, capturing carbon dioxide from ethylene manufacturing, and creating a certification for low-carbon polyester. Reducing the use of coal-fired power plants and coal in heating processes for clothing manufacturing in countries like China, India, and Pakistan would also help lower emissions.
Water use and pollution
Improperly throwing away clothing can harm the environment, especially through wastewater. Chemicals from decomposing clothing can soak into the air and ground, affecting groundwater and surface water. In addition to plastic pollution, textiles also contribute a lot to marine pollution. Unlike plastic, textile pollution affects marine life during many steps in the supply chain. Pollutants such as pesticides and chemicals from manufacturing can stick to tiny particles that build up in water ecosystems and eventually enter human food chains.
Both plastic and synthetic textiles are made from a chemical structure called a polymer. A polymer is a compound made up of repeating units. For plastic, common polymers include PET, polyethylene (PE), and polypropylene (PP). For textiles, the most common polymer in waste is polyester and nylon.
Textiles release tiny fibers, called microfibers, at every stage of their life, from production to use to disposal. These fibers end up in soil, air, lakes, and oceans. Microfiber pollution has existed as long as the textile industry, but it has only recently been studied more closely. A study by the Ocean Wise Conservation Association found that washing 1 kilogram of polyester clothing releases about 20 to 800 milligrams of microfiber waste. Washing 1 kilogram of nylon releases about 11 to 63 milligrams of microfiber waste. These fibers enter oceans mainly during laundry cycles, when fibers loosen during the washing process. One laundry load can release up to 700,000 microfibers.
The same study found that households in the United States and Canada produce about 135 grams of microfibers per year. This adds up to about 22,000 tons of microfibers released into wastewater annually. Although wastewater treatment plants process this water, around 878 tons of microfibers remain untreated and are released into the ocean.
Textiles are the main source of microfibers in the environment. About 35% of microplastics found in marine areas, such as shorelines, come from synthetic microfibers and nanofibers. Marine animals, like fish, can eat these fibers, which harm them. Microfibers have been found in the digestive systems of fish and shellfish that humans eat. This process, called biomagnification, causes micropollutants to build up in the food chain. Predators that eat affected animals also absorb microfibers. Studies show that shellfish consume about 11,000 pieces of microplastics yearly, and 83% of fish caught in one lake in Brazil had microfibers in their bodies. In another study, crabs that ate food with microplastics ate less, which reduced their energy for growth.
One way to reduce environmental harm from the fashion industry is using a marine algal bioabsorbent, which can help remove dye through chemical reactions on algae surfaces.
The fashion industry uses a lot of water to make fabrics and clothes. Globally, it uses 93 billion cubic meters of water each year, or 20 trillion gallons. This is 4% of all freshwater used worldwide. If current trends continue, this amount could double by 2030. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the fashion industry is responsible for 20% of global wastewater. Making one pair of Levi jeans uses about 3,781 liters of water on average. Producing 1 kilogram of textiles requires about 200 liters of water.
Production and disposal of waste
In 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that 17 million tons of textile waste were created. Of this, 11.3 million tons were thrown away in landfills, 3.2 million tons were burned to produce energy, and 2.5 million tons were recycled. When clothing is placed in landfills, chemicals like dye on the fabric can soak into the ground and harm the environment. Burning unsold clothing can also pollute the air. In 2019, France announced plans to stop companies from burning unsold fashion items. Fashion is made quickly and in large amounts, so more than 40% of clothing is sold at a lower price.
Donating clothes is often seen as a way to reduce waste, but less than 20% of donated clothing reaches thrift stores. Textiles not given to charities, not thrown away, and not recycled are often sent to developing countries in large groups. There, they overwhelm systems that manage waste and pollute local waterways and communities.
The packaging used for clothing also adds to waste from the fashion industry. As online shopping has become common, the total waste from packaging alone reached about 75 million tons in the United States. Many packaging materials cannot be recycled.
Sustainability efforts
The consumer use phase in the life cycle of clothing and other textiles is an important part that is often not given enough attention. There is not much research about using energy-efficient washing machines and dryers to reduce the impact on consumers. However, wearing clothes for 9 months longer could reduce overall waste by 22% and water use by 33%. On the producer side, making clothes in popular colors and designs that people are more likely to buy is a financially and environmentally responsible choice. Designing clothing that is more likely to be purchased can help reduce waste during production. In 2018, the fashion retailer H&M had $4.3 billion worth of unsold merchandise. Other companies, like Patagonia, have worked to create more sustainable clothing by using eco-friendly materials, such as cotton grown without harmful chemicals and polyester made from recycled plastic bottles.
To help clothes last longer and reduce the speed of production and overconsumption, business models like "clothing libraries" have been considered. These businesses collect clothing from local stores and companies and allow customers who pay a monthly fee to borrow clothes for a set period of time. Startups like these have been tested in the Netherlands and Sweden, but there are concerns that clothing libraries may not significantly reduce the problems caused by fast fashion.
Slow fashion is a movement that aims to oppose fast fashion by focusing on the production and sale of clothing made from sustainable, eco-friendly materials. This movement encourages buying clothes from local sources instead of large brands because locally made clothing is often higher quality and lasts longer than factory-made clothing. It also helps reduce pollution from throwing away clothes. The slow fashion movement also addresses the ethical issues of fast fashion, such as paying workers too little and making them work too much, especially in low-income countries.
Deforestation and land use
The fashion industry's need for materials like leather has a big impact on cutting down forests and changing how land is used, especially in tropical areas. Because deforestation harms wildlife and worsens climate change, solving this problem in the fashion supply chain is important. Using sustainable methods and being open about where materials come from can help. This approach focuses on knowing where materials come from, which ensures that resources are obtained responsibly and may reduce harm to people and the environment caused by leather production.
Leather production, especially from cows, is connected to deforestation in places like Brazil, where land is cleared for large farms to raise cows. This is part of a larger problem called "deforestation risk," which involves removing natural plants to make space for production.