Textiles - spare a thought for trashed textiles.

The bargain t-shirt you wore once.

Your kid's teddy, slumped in the corner,
forgotten since Christmas.

That towel that isn't "plush" enough anymore.



Trashed. Forgotten.

Have you ever really thought
about the impact of textile waste?

Trashy Textiles

the surprising story of trashing your t-shirt, your teddy, and your towel.

Every year, Lethbridgians throw away the equivalent of 65 t-shirts per person.1

That's like you throwing away more than one t-shirt every week for a year.

According to the City of Lethbridge, 1000 tonnes of textiles are trashed2 by households in Lethbridge each year.

That is the equivalent of 111 dump trucks just for textiles!3

Plus, that is only residential, so it doesn't include commercial and retail! It's possibly only the tip of the iceberg.

How much post-consumer textile waste could be reused or recycled, but goes in our landfills instead?4

We have lots of room for improvement.

Why It Matters

The textile industry has a huge environmental and social impact.

When we trash an unloved teddy, we waste the resources and effort that created it and we add to our growing landfill challenges.

Energy, environment & emissions

Textile industry emissions are higher than all international flights and maritime shipping combined, taking up 10% of our annual global carbon budget. 5 Your favourite cotton bath towel likely caused 15 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions.6

← more info

The industry has the second highest ecological footprint, hot on the heels of oil and gas.7

But, despite the high energy use in production, transport, and retail, the biggest impact in the textile life-cycle is during consumer use where garment care, including washing, drying, and ironing, all use significant energy.8

The increasing popularity of online sales also has some negative impacts. It is estimated that 30-50% of clothing and shoes bought online are returned.9 While there are some logistical efficiencies gained by efficient route and vehicle use, almost a third of people return purchases, creating double the emissions transporting each item.10

Waste

The textile industry is wasteful!
The industry creates waste in all steps of the item life-cycle: in production12, through transport with packaging and pallet use as items are shipped across the world, and at the retail store where packaging, hangers, and tags all increase the waste footprint.11

Consumers have begun to see items as disposable, tossing lightly-used teddys and towels in the garbage and wearing a garment only seven to eight times before throwing it away, creating a huge end-of use footprint.13 Those trashed textiles are filling up landfills and creating leachate and greenhouse gases.

Did you know online shopping returns create huge amounts of waste as the items are often disposed of rather than re-sold?

It might surprise you to know that once those materials are dumped into the landfill they may never break down, particularly synthetic materials. Landfill environments often lack light, water, oxygen and microbes for items to decay, even biodegradable ones, and therefore textiles in the dump probably won’t break down in our lifetimes.14 Continually adding to landfills just fills them up, requiring expensive management and expansion when we need new ones to dump even more stuff.

Water

Remember that cotton tee that went in the trash? It took around 2,650 litres to produce.15 That's over 3.5 years worth of daily drinking water for the average person! In one tee. One. Tee. Not to mention the impacts of chemicals in the water.

The textile industry uses a huge amount of water, but many of the countries where materials are grown or textiles are made are water-stressed. For example, cotton production accounts for 43% of textile weight,16 and uses the most water. China and India are key cotton growing nations but are also highly water-stressed.17

Nitrogen and phosphorus are used heavily for crop production, particularly with conventional cotton, which causes run-off dead zones, deoxygenating our waterways and killing wildlife.

Dyeing materials can take up 150 litres of water per kilogram of fabric. This water is often simply discharged into waterways, unfiltered.18 That cute purple teddy isn’t looking so cute anymore, right?

Nearly 20% of global wastewater is produced for “fashion”.19

Globally, land and water use to produce natural fibres for the textile industry takes up valuable resources that could be used for food production or for the protection of natural ecosystems.20

Human Rights

Many textile industry workers are in developing countries where they work in conditions we would never accept here in Canada.

Although the textile industry provides much needed employment, workers are often paid less than minimum wage, generally much lower than a living wage, and women are the most underpaid.21 In China, one of the world’s largest textile producers, workers may be paid as little as 33 dollars per hour.22

Working environments can be horrendous in textile “sweatshops”. You may remember the now infamous fire and building collapse incidents that killed hundreds of textile workers in 2012 bringing light to the terrible health and safety conditions in the industry. Employers cut costs in order to provide the cheapest items and win contracts, sometimes accepting contracts at a loss in the hope of securing future contracts, while workers suffer. Employees are forced to work long hours in poor conditions, exposed to toxic chemicals, and are often restricted from union organising to attempt to better their workplaces.23

The myth of sustainable fibres

It might surprise you, but there isn’t a perfect option to allow you to feel good about your retail therapy. If textiles had a social media relationship status, it would say ‘It’s complicated’.

Cow leather, conventional silk, cotton, bast fibre (rayon), and wool have the top 5 biggest environmental impacts per kilogram of raw material.24 This is driven by the greenhouse gas emissions, use of natural resources, chemicals and water, and nutrient runoff into waterways due to farming practices in their production. However, natural fabrics like cotton are considered renewable and could be composted at the end of life in a closed loop.25 Cotton, linen, wool and other natural fibres can decompose anywhere from 2 weeks to five years if left outside. More environmentally friendly options also exist in some cases, like organic.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that synthetic is better. Synthetic fibres such as nylon, polyester and acrylic may have less environmental impact in their production compared to natural fibres but they have more embodied energy.26 Of the virgin plastic supplied to the world, 60% goes to manufacturing fibres, only 30% to the notorious plastic bottle.27 Plus, many synthetic fibres won’t break down in our lifetimes, potentially taking up to 200 years to decompose.28 Not only are we diminishing a finite resource and filling up landfills, polluting plastic microfibers are released when washing synthetic textiles. Each year the average household in Canada releases 533 million microfibers (135 grams) into the wastewater treatment system with some passing through into the environment. 29 Annually in North America 878 tonnes of plastic microfibers from household laundry enters rivers and oceans causing damage to aquatic life. 30 On the flip side, synthetic fabrics often dry faster, use less water, and require lower washing temperatures which each use less energy, and have higher recyclability than many natural fibres.31

Unfortunately, the ever-increasing variety of mixed fibre textiles are also a barrier to increased recycling of materials because it becomes more difficult to shred and separate the fibres.32

Sure, there are arguably more sustainable options like hemp, which uses less water, chemicals, and land to produce more fibre per acre than cotton, or linen from flax plants which store carbon in the soil.33 But, finding the best type of textile is complicated as production and manufacturing practices vary across the world, and continuing to buy items, even sustainable ones, has implications worldwide.

Clearly, we can’t continue to simply trash textiles.

What Can We Do?

Your actions can help to reduce textile waste locally and globally.

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

Reduce, because less is truly more.

Care for your clothes

Looking after your items will make them last longer, reducing your need to replace anything. Fortunately there are loads of things you can do to increase the lifespan of your textile items, particularly clothing.

  • Wash items less frequently, especially your outwear - the smell test is a thing! This includes dry cleaning - don’t dry clean more than absolutely necessary as it uses lots of harsh chemicals and degrades your clothes.34
  • By following care instructions for your garments, accessories, or household items you can make them last longer, maximising their use and reducing their relative environmental impact. Follow instructions and symbols like ironing temperatures, whether to cold wash, tumble dry, dry clean, bleach, using delicates bags, etc. Also, wash like with like, for example, whites together, really dirty items together, and wash items like jeans and t-shirts inside out to reduce fading and damage to prints.
  • When you do wash, choose colder wash cycles, high spin cycles, do full washing loads, and line-dry your clothing rather than machine dry where you can.35 75-95% of a garment’s total environmental impact happens through consumer use - that’s you!36 For example, you can reduce the use-phase impact of your items by 60% just by air drying.37 If air drying takes too long, start drying your clothes in the machine then remove items 15 minutes early and air dry to finish to reduce damage and shrinkage, and your utility bills!
  • Use concentrated, bio-friendly detergents to minimise the impact of your detergent choice.38 Choose to use colour safe detergents or bleaches to ensure that your whites AND your colours stay bright.
  • Did you know that hairspray causes clothes to fade? Do your hair and makeup before you get changed to save your favourite Friday frock from fading.39
  • Basic clothing repairs like repairing loose buttons, zippers, adjusting hems, snags, and tears, or dying faded items are not as hard as you may think. Using simple sewing items and techniques you can give items a new lease on life. YouTube has how-to videos galore, even for absolute beginners. Or, if you aren’t into DIY try these local repair businesses.
  • Ever grabbed a top from your wardrobe only to find it stretched out of shape? Fold heavy items rather than hang them and ensure that you use good quality hangers to avoid stretching clothes. Store your items in dry, cool, dark environments like a dry wardrobe to help protect them from damage due to pests, sunlight, or mould.
  • Wear the right clothes for the right occasion: don’t lounge in your [Ralph] Lauren, or garden in your Gucci. Make good choices, use appropriate older clothes for chores, casual items for casual occasions, and keep your Sunday best for that Sunday sesh.

Further information:

Take a fast from fashion.

Society has made an unfortunate shift towards cheap, low quality products intentionally designed to be worn only a handful of times, and that have little post-consumer value. Avoid buying new items to reduce your impact.

  • Did you know 73% of women update at least a quarter of their wardrobe every three months, and spend an average of $571 per year on clothing?40 Plus, more than half of fast fashion items are thrown away within a year.41
  • Following fashion is so last season. Buying lots of things, whether fast fashion or high fashion, is just not sustainable, period.
  • Overconsumption of “stuff” is killing our planet and costing us a small fortune, and textiles are a major contributor. Reduce your consumption of textiles to save the environment and your hip pocket.
  • The most sustainable item is the one you didn’t buy. Buying from sustainable brands does not absolve of your over-shopping guilt.
  • Don’t be drawn into fashion and fads, it’s a waste of money and adds to our local and global waste and environmental issues.
  • Start by challenging yourself not to buy any new textiles for a period of time. If you need structure for your inspiration try Project 333 on for size - then keep at it!

Choose Quali-tee

So, you’ve exhausted your options in the buyerarchy of needs and you really need to buy something. Choose wisely so you get lots of use from it, reducing your need to buy again..

  • Be like Cayleigh: “If there was ever any piece of advice I could give ... to help with the diversion of textiles to landfills or overseas it would be shop quality, which you can do new or easily second hand, and take care of your garments. If you take care of them, you have either the option of longevity in your closet, or better re-sale if you like to switch up your wardrobe.” - Cayleigh, House of Hamm, Lethbridge.
  • Choose items that are well made, the best you can afford within your budget, and that you will use regularly. Look for good quality long lasting materials, good stitching, multifunctional and multi seasonal, able to be altered or mended, and are suitable for various outfits.42
  • Make choices based on manufacturer transparency and sustainability. Choose to buy from companies that:
    • Offer post-consumer returns for recycling and reuse like Patagonia Worn Wear;
    • Use recycled content and sustainable materials backed by sustainability certifications or programs like the Better Cotton Initiative;
    • Are focussed on actions like reducing their energy, water and chemical footprint;
    • Pay and treat workers fairly, for example, seek out Fair Trade certified companies;
    • Inform you about the life-cycle impact of your clothing;
    • Or contribute to local communities or projects like Ten Tree.
    • Buyer beware: be mindful of greenwashing! See this article for tips on identifying when a company is greenwashing rather than truly trying to be sustainable, and this article for why sometimes return for recycling programs like H&M’s deserve questioning.
  • Say no to “swag” items, like that growing pile of branded free tee’s, ball caps or tote bags you end up with after going to events, workshops, or fairs. Suggest to event managers they make items free choice rather than automatic handouts to minimise the waste impact, or if you are involved in an annual event, order shirts and caps for staff or volunteers that can be returned and laundered for use in subsequent years.

Reuse, it can be fun and rewarding

Trade/Borrow/Sell

See to it that your valuable items find a new home.

  • Host a regular clothes swap with friends.
  • Borrow items from friends or family for special events before you buy, especially if it’s just a one-off or rare event like a wedding.
  • Find or start an innovative clothes rental company.
  • Sell or give away your stuff on a trading platform like Marketplace or Kijiji or through a garage sale or flea market.
  • Sell your items through a consignment store - they’re like an extended personal closet!

Repurpose

Keeping an item in use for its intended purpose is best, but you can get crafty to give items some creative longevity. Get creative and make something from items that are damaged or soiled.

Donate

Lethbridge has many organizations that accept clean clothing to be gifted to those in need or sold at a discounted rate.

Donate your items directly to a local refugee, transitional housing, emergency accommodation, homelessness or other similar community support organization where they will be given to people in need. These organizations often do public calls for seasonal items like mittens and jackets, or specialty items like clothing for job interviews to help people to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. Environment Lethbridge has a list of organizations that take donations.

Donate to your local thrift store. Thrift stores like Value Village and the Salvation Army state they aim to reduce the amount of textiles going to landfill and maximise reuse and recycling. Arguably our continent’s most well-known thrift store, Value Village, say they send only 5% of what they receive to landfill in North America, with 60% being reworn and 35% upcycled or downcycled into other products.43 However, thrift stores cannot resell all of the ever-increasing volume of textiles that are donated due to our high consumption.44

Although we may get warm and fuzzy thinking that we’ve done a good deed by donating our clothes, they are often sold to suppliers in developing countries, not given away to those in need. The international market for these items has negative impacts for the local clothing industry and economies, out-competing locals; if the items are even sold and not just dumped into another country’s landfill, that is.45 According to the Salvation Army Canada, only 20-25% of textiles are actually sold domestically for reuse46 meaning a huge amount of our items are likely entering these markets.

Recycle: the term can be misleading

Most often, recycling = rags

Reduce and reuse are higher priorities than recycling. Why? Unfortunately, less than 1% of garments are recycled back into actual clothing as it isn’t considered economic at scale.47

The process of true recycling to make a new textile like-for-like often involves shredding textiles into smaller pieces, creating smaller, less durable fibres.48 Instead, most “recycled” textiles are downcycled into low value materials like rags, insulation, or carpet underlay.49

For example, the Salvation Army takes any unsoiled and dry textiles, and what may not be able to be sold or given away for charity they can sell for rags and generate 20 cents per pound for the charity.50

While not as environmentally friendly as true recycling, it brings value to the organisation and is better than those items ending up in landfill, but we should try to find more beneficial uses first.

Sometimes recycling = recycling

Any recycling has a preferable environmental impact, in general, than incineration or landfilling.

*note: please don't put your teddies in your curbside blue bin!

Recycling cotton may save 20,000 litres of water per kilogram of fabric.51 So, although true recycling rates are poor, we need to try to recycle products where possible and buy items with recycled content to encourage the industry.

Your local thrift store likely sends textiles to distributors whose buyers include recyclers, so donate items rather than trash them.

For larger amounts, find a textile recycling company and recycle bulk clothes at http://www.wipingrag.net/cdn/.

Our top tips if you’re tired of trashing textiles

Focus on reduce - it’s not really that surprising!

Avoid buying new things
The most sustainable option is the one you didn’t buy.

Take good care
Make items last longer to save money and the environment.

Make quality choices
If you do need to buy, choose items you will wear or use often and that will last a long time.

Trashy Textiles

the surprising story of trashing your t-shirt, your teddy, and your towel.

References

  1. There is approximately 1000 tonnes of textile waste sent to Lethbridge landfill each year (2020 Lethbridge audit) and the Lethbridge population is 101,482 (2019 municipal census).

    Given one t-shirt is 150 grams: 1,000,000 kg/y / 101,482 people / 0.150 g/t-shirt = 65 t-shirts/year [return]
  2. Unpublished waste audit results for 2019 and 2020: City of Lethbridge Waste and Recycling, personal communications. Textiles include not only your clothes, but footwear, soft toys, accessories like bags and belts, and household items like towels, bedding, and more. [return]
  3. Residential truck volume is 20 m3. The packed density is approximately 450 kg/m3 for a truck load of 9000 kg. 1000 tonnes of textile waste / 9 tonnes per truck = 111 trucks. [return]
  4. A Tipping Point: The Canadian Textile Waste Diversion Industry, 2019. () Page 6. [return]
  5. Ellen Macarthur Foundation. A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning fashion’s future, 2017. (ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/a-new-textiles-economy). [return]
  6. McKinsey & Company. Style that’s sustainable: a new fast fashion formula, 2016. (www.mckinsey.com/) Page 4.

    23 kg GHG/kg fabric x 0.68 kg/average bath towel = 15 kg GHG emissions. [return]
  7. A Tipping Point: The Canadian Textile Waste Diversion Industry, 2019. (). [return]
  8. Pulse of Fashion Industry, 2017. (www.commonobjective.co/article/pulse-of-the-fashion-industry-2017). [return]
  9. Study: Half of online clothing purchased get returned. (www.consumeraffairs.com). [return]
  10. Research and Markets. 2020 Report on the Environmental Impact of E-Commerce, 2020. (globenewswire.com) [return]
  11. Global Fashion Agenda. Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2018. (www.globalfashionagenda.com/publications-and-policy/pulse-of-the-industry/). [return]
  12. Timo Rissanen. “From 15% to 0: Investigating the creation of fashion without the creation of fabric waste”. 2005. (academia.edu) [return]
  13. McKinsey & Company. Style that’s sustainable: a new fast fashion formula, 2016. (www.mckinsey.com) [return]
  14. Science Learning Hub. Measuring Biodegradability. Published 2008, updated 2021. (sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1543-measuring-biodegradability). [return]
  15. Recycling Council of Ontario. Textiles Waste: The facts. (=wrwcanada.com). [return]
  16. IMPRO Textiles. Environmental Improvement Potential of Textiles, 2014. (https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu) [return]
  17. Global Fashion Agenda. Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2018. (www.globalfashionagenda.com/publications-and-policy/pulse-of-the-industry/). [return]
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  19. UNECE. "UN Alliance aims to put fashion on path to sustainability", 2018. (unece.org/forestry/press/un-alliance-aims-put-fashion-path-sustainability). [return]
  20. Global Fashion Agenda. Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2017. (www.globalfashionagenda.com/publications-and-policy/pulse-of-the-industry/). [return]
  21. Global Fashion Agenda. Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2018. (www.globalfashionagenda.com/publications-and-policy/pulse-of-the-industry/). [return]
  22. Clean Clothes Campaign. “The Low Wages of Garment Workers”, 2019. (https://www.statista.com/chart/17903/monthly-minimum-wage-in-the-global-garment-industry/). [return]
  23. Martin Russel. “Textile workers in developing countries and the European fashion industry. Towards sustainability?”, 2020. (europarl.europa.eu (PDF)). [return]
  24. Global Fashion Agenda. Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2018. (www.globalfashionagenda.com/publications-and-policy/pulse-of-the-industry/). [return]
  25. L. Li, M. Frey, K.J. Browning. “Biodegradability study on cotton and polyester fabrics”, Journal of Engineered Fibres and Fabrics, Vol. 5, Iss. 4. 2010. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/155892501000500406). [return]
  26. Nishant Chhabra."Carbon Footprints in Textile", 2014. (www.slideshare.net/nics0503/carbon-footprints-in-textile). [return]
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  28. Close the Loop. "End of Life". (www.close-the-loop.be/en/phase/3/end-of-life). [return]
  29. Ocean Wise. Me, My Clothes and the Ocean: The role of textiles in microfibre pollution, 2019. (https://ocean.org/blog/canadian-and-us-laundry-releases-trillions-of-plastic-microfibers-into-the-ocean/ (PDF)). [return]
  30. Environmental Protection Agency. “What You Should Know about Microfiber Pollution”, 2020. (https://www.epa.gov/trash-free-waters/what-you-should-know-about-microfiber-pollution). [return]
  31. European Parliamentary Research Service. Environmental impact of the textile and clothing industry: What consumers need to know, 2019. (www.europarl.europa.eu (PDF)). [return]
  32. Sustainable textiles: Life-cycle and environmental impact, Chapter 1. and Hawley, J.M., Textile Recycling: A system perspective, 2006. (www.academia.edu/7062805/TEXTILE_RECYLING_A_SYSTEM_PERSPECTIVE) [return]
  33. Our Fiber Eco-Review. (https://www.sustainyourstyle.org/en/fiber-ecoreview). [return]
  34. Good on You. “The Ultimate Guide To Making Your Clothes Last Longer”, 2018. (https://goodonyou.eco/the-ultimate-guide-to-making-your-clothes-last-longer/). [return]
  35. European Parliamentary Research Service. Environmental impact of the textile and clothing industry: What consumers need to know, 2019. (www.europarl.europa.eu (PDF)). [return]
  36. Sustainable textiles: Life-cycle and environmental impact. R.S.Blackburn (ed.), The Textile Institute & Woodhead Publishing Limited. 2009 (https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Ik6kAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Sustainable+textiles:+Life-cycle+and+environmental+impact.+R.S.Blackburn&ots=3FnDHGnWQ_&sig=yjgagVngxwp972ihTiSVDabG6iI#v=onepage&q=Sustainable%20textiles%3A%20Life-cycle%20and%20environmental%20impact.%20R.S.Blackburn&f=false). [return]
  37. Muthu, S.S., Handbook of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Textiles and Clothing, 2015. (https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=v8LlBwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Handbook+of+Life+Cycle+Assessment+(LCA)+of+Textiles+and+Clothing&ots=8vnyypji2x&sig=dxE_SEisFsRhoEGOUURhcSZNRng#v=onepage&q=Handbook%20of%20Life%20Cycle%20Assessment%20(LCA)%20of%20Textiles%20and%20Clothing&f=false). [return]
  38. BIO Intelligence Service. Reducing the environmental impact of clothes cleaning, 2009. (http://randd.defra.gov.uk (PDF)). [return]
  39. Amy Livingston. “9 Simple Ways to Save Money on Laundry Costs”, 2021. (www.moneycrashers.com/save-money-laundry-costs/). [return]
  40. "Average Cost of Clothing Per Month Will Surprise You", 2020. (https://www.creditdonkey.com/average-cost-clothing-per-month.html). [return]
  41. Ellen Macarthur Foundation. A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning fashion’s future, 2017. (ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/a-new-textiles-economy). [return]
  42. Anja Claire Crabb, “The future shape of design: fashion and longevity”, 2014. (http://gfc-conference.eu (PDF)). [return]
  43. Value Village. The State of Thrift, 2020. (https://www.valuevillage.ca/thrift-proud/impact). [return]
  44. Luz Claudio. “Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry”, 2007. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1964887/). [return]
  45. Nell Durfee. "The troubled second life of donated clothes", 2018. (https://scienceline.org)
    and "Here’s where your donated clothing really ends up", 2018. (www.cbc.ca/news/). [return]
  46. A Tipping Point: The Canadian Textile Waste Diversion Industry, 2019. (). [return]
  47. A Tipping Point: The Canadian Textile Waste Diversion Industry, 2019, (). Page 17. [return]
  48. European Parliamentary Research Service. Environmental impact of the textile and clothing industry: What consumers need to know, 2019. (www.europarl.europa.eu (PDF)). [return]
  49. Schmidt et al. Gaining benefits from discarded textiles, 2016. (http://norden.diva-portal.org). [return]
  50. “National Thrift Shop Day puts attention on recycled clothing”, 2016. (https://www.cbc.ca/news/). [return]
  51. Luz Claudio. “Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry”, 2007. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1964887/). [return]
Reduce Reuse Recycle

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