According to the BBC, around 85% of all textiles that are thrown away in the United States are either dumped into a landfill or burned. Globally, it is estimated that 92 million tons of textile waste is created each year.
“…The equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes ends up on landfill sites every second,” Abigail Beall, a science journalist from the BBC, said.
Most clothing items that end up in landfills come from fast fashion brands. Fast fashion has many negative environmental impacts.
The fashion system uses large amounts of nonrenewable sources such as “petroleum, extracted to produce clothes that are often used only for a short period of time, after which the materials are largely lost to landfill or incineration,” Chetna Prajapati, who studies ways of making sustainable textiles at Loughborough University in the U.K., said.
“…The equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes ends up on landfill sites every second.”
The system uses valuable resources such as water, pollutes the environment and destroys ecosystems along with creating societal impacts across the world. According to Princeton University, it takes about 3,000 liters (about 792.52 gal) of water to make one t-shirt.
Certain materials that clothes are made of aren’t very sustainable, as well. For example, according to Prajapati, shirts that state that they’re made of 100% cotton are often made of other components such as labels and sewing threads. These are typically made from other materials like polyester, which- along with other synthetic materials- uses an estimated 342 million barrels of oil every year, according to the BBC.
Similarly, jeans can be made from cotton yarn, which is typically mixed with elastane and other things such as zippers, buttons and polyester thread. They are then dyed using a variety of dyes, which require toxic chemicals that ultimately end up in the water bodies. These materials make it more difficult to separate from clothes that can be recycled due to high labor intensity.
Recycling clothing items is a much more beneficial option than disposing of older clothing, as these items often end up in landfills, harming the environment. However, only a small percentage of clothing is actually recycled. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, only 15% of all used clothing gets recycled.
Some fast fashion brands also have unethical working conditions. For example, children are often exploited for work in the industry, only being paid around $4.25 an hour, according to Borgen Magazine. In addition, they typically must work in hazardous conditions and are exposed to harsh chemicals such as those from fiber dust and dyes.
A better alternative to throwing out or buying new clothes is donating them and buying them from thrift stores and other secondhand shops that distribute used clothing.
“Donating clothes increases their lifespan,” Gunn Wilson, a manager at Storm Cellar, a local store in Moscow, said.
Making clothing donations allows other people to buy and wear the clothes and opens the possibility of donating an item again if the person decides they don’t like it. They can even sell clothes or give them to a secondhand store.
It is also important to know the difference between a thrift store and a secondhand store. A thrift store accepts donations as is and donates proceeds to a local charity or nonprofit organization; a secondhand store decides what items to take and sells them on behalf of the original owner, and the original owner gains a portion of the sale when someone buys what they donated while the store keeps the other portion of the profits.
Another benefit of buying secondhand is giving a new use to clothing.
“It’s a good way to repurpose items,” Steve Otto, one of the managers at the Hope Center, another business in Moscow, said.
Individuals can restyle clothes, make new clothes out of older pieces, or make accessories out of clothes. One can also be creative and make a pillowcase, patches or a quilt out of older fabrics. These are just some of the efficient ways to reuse old clothes while also reducing waste in landfills. Similarly, shopping secondhand reduces the amount of resource consumption and reduces chemical pollution from items being discarded.
As well, buying clothes from thrift stores and other secondhand stores is more affordable than buying completely new clothes. Secondhand shopping is also unique because, chances are, you won’t find the same item twice. The chances of finding two of the same items at secondhand stores are slim because they’re likely not being widely produced anymore—especially vintage clothes.
Throwing away clothes has many negative effects on the environment- next time you clean out your closet, consider donating any unused clothes instead.