How Sustainable Are Organic Hemp Fabrics? A Life-Cycle Analysis

By
Quynh Nguyen

Read Time:20 Minutes

CLICK TO
SUBSCRIBE

Impactful Ninja is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Learn more .

Affiliate Disclosure

Hey fellow impactful ninja ?

You may have noticed that Impactful Ninja is all about providing helpful information to make a positive impact on the world and society. And that we love to link back to where we found all the information for each of our posts.

Most of these links are informational-based for you to check out their primary sources with one click.
But some of these links are so-called "affiliate links" to products that we recommend.

Why do we add these product links?

First and foremost, because we believe that they add value to you. For example, when we wrote a post about the environmental impact of long showers, we came across an EPA recommendation to use WaterSense showerheads. So we linked to where you can find them. Or, for many of our posts, we also link to our favorite books on that topic so that you can get a much more holistic overview than one single blog post could provide.

And when there is an affiliate program for these products, we sign up for it. For example, as Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases.

What do these affiliate links mean for you?

First, and most importantly, we still only recommend products that we believe add value for you.
When you buy something through one of our affiliate links, we may earn a small commission - but at no additional costs to you.
And when you buy something through a link that is not an affiliate link, we won’t receive any commission but we’ll still be happy to have helped you.

What do these affiliate links mean for us?

When we find products that we believe add value to you and the seller has an affiliate program, we sign up for it.
When you buy something through one of our affiliate links, we may earn a small commission (at no extra costs to you).
And at this point in time, all money is reinvested in sharing the most helpful content with you. This includes all operating costs for running this site and the content creation itself.

What does this mean for me personally?

You may have noticed by the way Impactful Ninja is operated that money is not the driving factor behind it. It is a passion project of mine and I love to share helpful information with you to make a positive impact on the world and society. However, it's a project in that I invest a lot of time and also quite some money.

Eventually, my dream is to one day turn this passion project into my full-time job and provide even more helpful information. But that's still a long time to go.

Stay impactful,

The hemp plant has a bad reputation because of its marijuana association. But the fact remains that industrial hemp contains only a tiny amount of the psychoactive component of cannabis. Growing organic industrial hemp (for fibers, seeds, and oils) has many positive environmental impacts. So, we had to ask: How sustainable are organic hemp fabrics?

Organic hemp is one of the most sustainable fabrics. Organic hemp plants, which provide fibers for organic hemp fabrics, sequester carbon and increase soil health while requiring very little water and no fertilizers or pesticides. Also, industrial hemp is an exceptionally high-yield fiber crop.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the life-cycle of organic hemp fabrics used for clothes and bed covers. Then, we evaluate its sustainability, potential, and shortfalls. And in the end, we’ll show you tips for buying sustainable products made with organic hemp fabrics.

Here’s How We Assessed the Sustainability of Organic Hemp Fabrics

Organic hemp fabrics are among the most sustainable textile materials. They are durable and biodegradable materials are made with natural fibers without chemicals. The hemp crop, which provides raw materials for hemp fabrics, requires little irrigation while typically producing a very high yield (several times more than other fiber crops).

Organic hemp is ranked a class A fabric – the most sustainable category of fibers.

“Sustainable: The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level | Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance”
Oxford Dictionary

To understand the sustainability of organic hemp fabrics, we must assess their life-cycle and each stage’s sustainability. This life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a method to evaluate the environmental impacts of products and materials. Over the years, companies have strategically used LCA to research and create more sustainable products. So, let’s have a look at the LCA of organic hemp fabrics!

In this article, we’ll use the cradle-to-grave perspective of the LCA, examining the five stages of the life-cycle of clothes and bedding made with organic hemp fabrics. When applicable, we also look at cradle-to-gate assessments.

The life-cycle stages of organic hemp fabrics	Each stage’s sustainability
Sourcing of organic hemp fabrics	Sourcing organic hemp fibers (as raw materials for organic hemp fabrics) is generally sustainable. The hemp crops sequester carbon and improve soil nutrition. Little water is needed for hemp cultivation, yet the fiber yields (from hemp stems) are typically high. Planting hemp in organic systems means no synthetic fertilizer and pesticides (and their adverse environmental impacts) are involved. In addition, hemp farmers can also harvest other parts of the plant, including seeds, leaves, roots, and stem wood.
Manufacturing of organic hemp fabrics	Because it is a mechanical process, manufacturing organic hemp fabrics can be sustainable, even labor-intensive. Additionally, organic hemp fabric production doesn’t involve the harmful synthetic chemicals sometimes used to reduce labor, quicken the process, and modify non-organic hemp fabrics.
Transporting of organic hemp fabrics	The transportation of organic hemp fabrics might have a significant carbon footprint because of the distances covered and emissions associated with transporting vehicles. Organic hemp fabrics typically travel from fields (where hemp plants are grown) to factories, then sorting centers, shops, and consumer’s houses before going to recycling centers or landfill.
Usage of organic hemp fabrics	The usage of hemp fabrics, including the organic variety, tends to be less sustainable because of the relatively high energy consumption for washing, drying, and ironing. However, the environmental impacts of the usage stage can be reduced with changes in how organic hemp clothes are laundered. Also, organic hemp fabrics are durable, which means a longer lifespan and lower replacement frequency. replacement frequency.
End-of-life of organic hemp fabrics	The end-of-life stage for organic hemp fabric is generally sustainable because it is reusable, biodegradable, and compostable.

Overall, organic hemp fabrics are among the most sustainable textile materials. However, the actual environmental impact of a particular product, like an organic hemp t-shirt, depends on more specific factors, including the type of energy used in manufacturing factories and consumer homes, as well as, the distance and mode of transportation.

Let’s dive deeper into each life-cycle stage and find out how you can buy organic hemp fabrics more sustainably.

How Sustainable Is the Sourcing of Organic Hemp Fibers for Organic Hemp Fabrics

Sourcing organic hemp fibers (as raw materials for organic hemp fabrics) is generally sustainable. The hemp crops sequester carbon and improve soil nutrition. Little water is needed for hemp cultivation, yet the fiber yields (from hemp stems) are typically high.

Planting hemp in organic systems means no synthetic fertilizer and pesticides (and their adverse environmental impacts) are involved.

In addition, hemp farmers can also harvest other parts of the plant, including seeds, leaves, roots, and stem wood.

What Raw Materials Are Used for Organic Hemp Fabrics

Natural cellulose fibers extracted from the stems of the hemp plants grown organically is the main material used for organic hemp fabrics.

How Do the Raw Materials Sourced for Organic Hemp Fabrics Impact the Environment

The main raw materials for organic hemp fabrics come from hemp plants – a rainfed crop with high carbon sequestration potential. Sourcing fibers from organic hemp plants is sustainable because organic farming uses no harmful synthetic chemicals, which could pollute the air and water and come with negative global warming impacts.

Furthermore, cultivating hemp in organic agriculture has many ecological and economical benefits yet requires very little water and relatively less land.

Carbon Sequestration During Organic Hemp Cultivation Has Positive Global Warming Impact

As hemp plants grow, they absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere while releasing oxygen. They act as a carbon sink, taking greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere and helping to mitigate the climate crisis.

During one growing season, one acre of industrial hemp sequesters and stores almost 8,77 tons of carbon dioxide(or 22 tonnes of CO₂per hectare). Because of the rapid growth rates, it is possible to plant two hemp crops per year and double the amount of carbon sequestered.

In comparison, one acre of flax – the raw material for linen, a fairly similar fabric – absorbs about 1,5 tons per year. That is about 8,5% of the possible carbon sequestered by industrial hemp crops in a year.

Hemp Is a Fast-Growing, Productive Crop

Hemp is a rapidly growing plant that can grow up to 1 foot within a week. The height of industrial hemp cultivated in a temperate climate is typically between 6 to 15 feet as the plant matures.

Consequently, a hemp field can be harvested after around 70-90 days. In comparison, the growing season for flax and cotton – other natural fiber crops – are 100 days and 150 to 180 days, respectively.

Though the hemp fiber yield depends on sowing density, nitrogen level, and harvest time, it is generally very high compared with other fiber crops.

The reasons are:

Hemp plants can be grown in high density.
Hemp plants reach impressive heights, having significant amounts of long fibers along the tall stem.

Hemp has the highest yield per acre of any natural fiber. For example, industrial hemp produces 250% more fiber than cotton and 600% more fiber than flax on the same land. Similarly, it would take four acres of trees to yield the same amount of fiber as one acre of hemp.

Hemp Is a Low Water-Requirement Crop

A hemp crop can be cultivated with very little to zero irrigation water, depending on the growing season and the climate.

For example, hemp grown in the UK requires around 500–700 mm of water per growing season. This amount is most often met entirely by rainfall.

Organic hemp cultivation would need even less water because organic agricultural practices are more efficient at water usage. The two main reasons are:

Organic agriculture has better water absorption and holding capacity due to better soil structure, meaning more green water is available for crops.
No water loss is associated with water degradation caused by the toxicity of agrochemicals (aka harmful fertilizers and pesticides).

In comparison, cotton – the most recognized natural fiber in textiles – is a water-thirsty crop. The global water footprint for a kilogram of harvested cotton is around 10,000 liters.

Land Usage of Hemp Has Multiple Benefits

When hemp is planted as a resting crop, it helps restore soil nutrition because the roots of the hemp plants reach deep and aerate the soil, replenishing vital nutrients, removing toxic, and preventing soil erosion.

A hemp crop produces more than one product. Essentially, every part of the plant has potential market values. Here is a list of hemp product examples from all parts of the plants:

Stem fibers for fabrics, paper, food, bioplastic, insulation material
Stem woods for building material
Seeds for food and oils
Leaves and flowers for oils and mulch
Roots for oil and dietary supplement

Organic Hemp Farming Uses No Fertilizer and Pesticides

Though hemp plants don’t generally require synthetic fertilizers or pesticides to grow, it doesn’t mean such agrochemicals are never used in traditional hemp crops.

On the other hand, organic hemp farmers feed their crops using natural fertilizer and protect the plants against pests with measures such as crop rotation and natural enemies. They don’t use chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides.

Thus, there are no adverse environmental impacts associated with these agrochemicals, which include greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, ecosystem disruption, and health risks for farmers and nearby residents.

In brief, the sourcing stage of organic hemp fabrics is highly sustainable because of the low-water and zero-chemical input of the organic hemp plants and the benefits of using land for hemp cultivation.

Where Are the Raw Materials for Organic Hemp Fabrics Usually Sourced From

Hemp cultivation is believed to have started in Central Asia before spreading worldwide. The plant can grow well (without pesticide and fertilizer) in temperate climatic zones between the 25th and 55th parallel. In comparison, cotton only thrives in much smaller climate zones.

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) is the same species of plant as marijuana but with much less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, industrial hemp cultivation is not legal in many countries because of the association.

Only 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and North and South America currently permit farmers to grow industrial hemp.

In the US, cultivating industrial hemp is on the rise. The 2014 federal farm bill permitted the cultivation of industrial hemp for research purposes on the federal level in the United States. Ever since, more and more states have allowed this crop for commercial purposes.

Here are the top producers of organically and conventional hemp fibers in 2020:

France
China
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Poland
Netherlands
Austria
Italy
Chile
Romania
Lithuania
Bulgaria
Spain
Russian Federation

All top producers of hemp fibers (except for Chile) are located in Europe and Asia. France and China produce more than half of the global hemp fibers (32% and 23%, respectively).

How Sustainable Is the Manufacturing of Organic Hemp Fabrics

Because it is a mechanical process, manufacturing organic hemp fabrics can be sustainable, even labor-intensive. Additionally, organic hemp fabric production doesn’t involve the harmful synthetic chemicals sometimes used to reduce labor, quicken the process, and modify non-organic hemp fabrics.

How Sustainably Are Organic Hemp Fabrics Generally Manufactured

Organic hemp fabrics are made with natural cellulose fibers extracted from organic hemp stems. Hemp, similar to linen, jute, or bamboo, is a bast fiber because it comes from a plant’s stem.

Once separated, hemp fibers can be woven into yarn in a mechanical process.

The mechanical process sets hemp (and other natural cellulose fibers, including cotton and linen) apart from regenerated cellulose fibers, such as rayon, acetate, and cupro, which are made in chemical processes.

The manufacturing process of hemp fabrics, specifically for the organic variety, typically follows these three steps:

Extract cellulose fibers from hemp: After hemp stems are cut, they are retted, broken, scratched, and hackled for the fibers to be extracted.
1. Retting: hemp stems are left to decompose in a retting process. Organic hemp farmers use two natural retting methods:
  - Dew retting: Cut hemp stems are spread out in the field where natural moisture (dew) ferments the stems, breaks down the glue, and frees the fibers from the stem. This process can take 2 to 10 weeks, depending on weather conditions.
  - Water retting (or vat): Submerge hemp stems in water. The water source could be a stagnant pond, a flowing river, a vat, or a tank of (warm) water. Heated water fastens the decomposing process. Water retting is often faster than dew retting, taking approximately 1 to 2 weeks.
2. Breaking: The stems are broken by a breaker or fluted rolls.
3. Scrutching: The broken stems are beaten to remove the soft tissues. This can be done mechanically using steam or biologically-based enzyme technology. (Non-organic hemp manufacturers might use synthetic chemicals here).
4. Hackling: The fibers are combed to remove any remaining woody particles and to align.
Roving and spinning into yarns: These are mechanical processes done by hand and/or machines.
Specialized spinning machinery is required to process the long fibers of hemp that are retted using traditional organic methods.
In contrast, hemp fibers retted chemically have a similar length to cotton (being “cottonized”) and can be processed by similar spinning machines that work cotton or wool.

Finish the yarns with processes such as cleaning, softening, dyeing, washing, drying, and weaving.
Organic finishing methods replace harmful synthetic chemicals with natural and/or low-impact ones (for example, for dyeing) while utilizing elements such as heat, steam, compressed air, and enzymes.

Let’s now deep dive into a few key sustainable issues of this life-cycle stage:

Manufacturing Organic Hemp Fabrics is Labor and Energy Intensive

Harvesting hemp plants for hemp fibers and manufacturing hemp fabrics are labor-intensive. While machinery can replace human labor in various steps (including scutching, hackling, roving, drawing, and wet spinning), energy is required for machine operation.

An ecological footprint and water analysis of cotton, hemp, and polyester calculated that manufacturing hemp fabrics (both organic and traditional) have higher energy requirements than manufacturing cotton (both organic and conventional varieties).

According to the same analysis, organic hemp fabrics typically require more manufacturing energy than traditional hemp fabrics. (Crop cultivation, however, is less energy-intensive in the case of organic hemp fibers).

When energy sources are mainly fossil-based, which is often the case in manufacturing factories based in China or other Asia countries, carbon emissions of this stage increase accordingly.

Manufacturing Organic Hemp Fabrics Has Relatively High Carbon Emissions and Global Warming Impacts

The high energy requirement results in increased carbon emissions, especially in places where fossil fuels are the main energy sources.

An ecological footprint and water analysis of cotton, hemp, and polyester showed that organic hemp has relatively high carbon footprints (cradle-to-factory gate). Depending on the manufacturing methods, the carbon emissions of producing organic hemp fabrics (cultivated in the UK) are around 1.5 to 2 times higher than that of organic cotton (grown in the US).

The Environmental Impacts of Retting Varies Depending on the Methods

Each retting process used in organic hemp manufacturing has pros and cons, and their environmental impacts are varied:

Water retting sometimes uses a high volume of water. The water also needs to be heated, which uses energy.
Dew retting is the most sustainable extracting method. It doesn’t require finding a water source and producing extra energy and chemicals. Also, dew retting allows nutrients to return to the soil through natural decomposition.

Manufacturing Organic Hemp Fabrics Uses No Chemicals

Manufacturers of organic hemp fabrics don’t use harmful chemicals in their production, whether it is during retting, dyeing, or finishing.

Thus, there are no risks of these chemicals leaking into the environment and hindering hemp fabrics’ biodegradability.

Where Are Organic Hemp Fabrics Usually Manufactured

China produces approximately 70% of the world’s hemp fabrics (including the organic variety). France is the next largest producer of this crop, followed by Austria, Chile, and the United Kingdom.

Energy Usage at Linen Manufacturing Locations Varies Based on Each Country

Because manufacturing organic hemp is energy-intensive, using renewable energy (solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass) significantly reduces carbon emissions at this stage.

According to Our World in Data, Austria’s share of renewable energy in primary energy is 18.36% – the highest percentage among all top producers of hemp fabrics, including the organic variety.

Following are the renewable energy share in primary energy in the biggest hemp-producing countries:

China: 14.95% renewable energy
France: 13.67% renewable energy
Austria: 37.48% renewable energy
Chile: 26.52% renewable energy
The UK: 17.95% renewable energy

How Sustainable Is the Transportation of Organic Hemp Fabrics

The transportation of organic hemp fabrics might have a significant carbon footprint because of the distances covered and emissions associated with transporting vehicles. Organic hemp fabrics typically travel from fields (where hemp plants are grown) to factories, then sorting centers, shops, and consumer’s houses before going to recycling centers or landfill.

In the life-cycle of organic hemp clothes, transportation typically occurs as below:

From fields where organic hemp raw materials are grown to the fiber and fabric manufacturing location(s)
From the clothing manufacturing location to sorting centers/physical shops
From sorting centers/physical shops to the consumer’s house
From the consumer’s home to the centers for recycling/ disposing

Traveling Distances of Organic Hemp Fabrics Vary Depending on the Supply Chain

It is not uncommon for natural cellulose fabrics like (organic) hemp to have their supply chain spreading globally, meaning that crop cultivation, fiber production, fabric spinning, and clothes manufacturing might happen in various towns, countries, or even continents.

Here are some scenarios for transporting organic hemp fabrics:

Farmers grow organic hemp in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to be sourced and shipped to a manufacturer in Chile. Final pieces of hemp clothes are then transported to the US to sell to consumers.
Organic hemp fibers are harvested from fields in France and shipped to fabric factories around Europe, including France, Austria, and the UK. Organic hemp clothes are then sold primarily to the European market.
Manufacturers in China source organic hemp fibers grown locally, spin and sew them into organic hemp clothes before selling them to US consumers.

You can reduce the transporting carbon footprint by choosing organic hemp fabrics that travel a shorter distance from the fields and are made closer to your home.

The Carbon Footprint of Transporting Organic Hemp Fabrics Depends Largely on the Vehicle of Transportation

During its life-cycle, a piece of hemp clothing can be transported using various types of vehicles, including:

Large container ships
Planes
Freight trains
Long-distance trucks
Short-distance delivering vans

And these various types of transportation vehicles have different carbon footprint impacts:

Large container ships are generally the most carbon-efficient option for international transportation of goods, while planes are the heaviest carbon emitter.
Large container ships emit, per unit of weight and distance, half as much carbon dioxide as a train and one-fifth and one-fiftieth as much as a truck and a plane (respectively).
Deliveries made by planes – for example, to fulfill fast shipping options for clothing – are the mode of transportation with the highest carbon footprint.

For example, you as a consumer can choose not to pick the fast delivery option when ordering hemp clothes to reduce the carbon footprint of your hemp items.

How Sustainable Is the Usage of Organic Hemp Fabrics

The usage of hemp fabrics, including the organic variety, tends to be less sustainable because of the relatively high energy consumption for washing, drying, and ironing. However, the environmental impacts of the usage stage can be reduced with changes in how organic hemp clothes are laundered. Also, organic hemp fabrics are durable, which means a longer lifespan and lower replacement frequency.

The usage stage is a critical stage in the life-cycle of clothing, in which energy and water are consumed for clothes washing, drying, and ironing.

Hemp is a lightweight and highly breathable fabric. Clothes stay dry and fresh longer as hemp fibers allow moisture from the skin to pass through to the atmosphere. It helps reduce the frequency of washes, lowering the environmental impacts of this stage.

Laundering behavioral changes can further reduce such impacts. These changes include:

Switch to line drying instead of using tumble driers
Do cold washes with appropriate detergents
Use energy-efficient washing machines

Hemp fabrics (both organic and non-organic varieties) are strong and durable materials. Hemp is stronger than cotton: its tensile strength is three times higher than cotton. While a typical cotton t-shirt doesn’t typically last more than 10 years, a hemp t-shirt may last two to three decades.

Long-lasting clothing is generally more sustainable because you don’t need to replace it too frequently (thus, no need for more resources to make the new one).

How Sustainable Is the End-of-Life of Organic Hemp Fabrics

The end-of-life stage for organic hemp fabric is generally sustainable because it is reusable, biodegradable, and compostable.

Organic hemp fabrics are 100% cellulose, making them a biodegradable material. At the end of the fabric’s life, there are generally three available options:

Composting
Incineration
Landfilling

It can take from weeks to months for pure (unblended), organic hemp fabrics to decompose depending on the conditions.

In comparison,

untreated linen takes about two weeks
untreated cotton takes up to five months
rayon fabrics (regenerated cellulose fibers) take from six to eight weeks
plastic-based items could take up space in the landfill for up to 100 years

Organic hemp fabrics can also be recycled and upcycled. It is possible to recycle hemp using similar methods for other natural cellulose fibers like cotton and linen.

How Circular Are Products Made of Organic Hemp Fabrics

In the textile industry, a circular economy is designed to keep products and materials in use for as long as possible, especially through reusing and recycling. It also covers regenerating natural systems that support the industry and reducing polluted waste released into such systems.

“The circular economy is a systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution.”
Ellen MacArthur Foundation

As a whole, the textile industry is almost linear: 97% of the input is new resource.

It is possible to recycle organic hemp fabrics mechanically, physically, and chemically, depending mostly on whether the materials are pure hemp or a blend.

Two challenges in recycling hemp on a large scale are:

It is a common practice to mix hemp fibers with other fibers to increase the desirable properties of the end products. This, however, affects the product’s recyclability.
Organic hemp fabrics are traded in small quantities, making it impractical to have concentrated and dedicated recycling facilities.

How Can You Buy Organic Hemp Fabrics More Sustainably

The key to sustainably buying hemp products is to check on relevant environmental and original certifications.

USDA ORGANIC: This certificate is applied to growing the crop (raw material), ensuring natural agricultural products are produced that can be certified as “organic.”
Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS): A globally-recognized certification system that ensures a certain threshold of organic content has been met. It covers manufacturing, packaging, labeling, transportation, and distribution (but not what happens in the fields where crops are grown).
USDA Certified Biobased Product: The USDA BioPreferred® Certification is a voluntary certification offered by the United States Department of Agriculture. The certificate identifies products made from plants or other renewable materials.
European Confederation of Flax and Hemp (CELC): The only European agro-industrial organization federating all the stages of production and transformation for linen and hemp from fields to factory gates.
STeP by OEKO-TEX®: STeP by OEKO-TEX® is an independent certification system for brands, retailers, and manufacturers from the textile and leather industry. It communicates organizational environmental measures, including reducing carbon footprint and water usage.
Fairtrade International: A Fair Trade certification includes social, economic, and environmental standards that apply to the full supply chain from the farmers and workers to the traders and companies bringing the final product to market.
Fair For Life: Fair for Life certifies every step of production instead of the finished product. It prioritizes transparency in business at all levels.

Some certifications are signaling brands’ efforts toward lowered environmental impacts and a circular economy are:

B Corp Certification: The label B Corp is a certification reserved for for-profit companies. Certified holders are assessed on their social and environmental impacts.
Cradle2Cradle certification: Cradle2Cradle provides a standardized approach to material circularity. It assesses whether products have been suitably designed and made with the circular economy in mind covering five critical categories: material health, material reuse, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship, and social fairness.

Where to Buy Sustainable Organic Hemp Fabrics

We have established throughout the life-cycle assessment that organic hemp fabrics are one of the most sustainable fabrics (Class A). Yet, we compile for you a list of some of the most sustainable brands selling organic hemp fabrics (in alphabetic order):

Why Is It Important to Buy Products Made of More Sustainable Fabrics

It is important to buy products made of more sustainable fabrics because a sustainable textile industry has a lower carbon footprint, helps save natural resources, and is better for forests, animals, and humans.

Buying Sustainable Fabrics Reduces Your Carbon Footprint

The production of clothing and footwear is estimated to contribute 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than all international flights and shipping combined. If the fashion industry were a country, it would be the fourth largest emitter of carbon dioxide.

One way to reduce the carbon footprint of the clothes you buy is to opt for sustainable fabrics. Sustainable fabrics, which are often made with natural or recycled fibers, have relatively low carbon footprints compared to petroleum-based fabrics. For example, organic cotton made in the US has a carbon footprint of 2.35 kg CO₂ (per ton of spun fiber) – a quarter of polyester’s carbon footprint.

Buying Sustainable Fabrics Reduces Demand For Natural Resources and Waste Management

The textile industry uses water and land to grow cotton and other fibers. It is estimated that 79 billion cubic meters of water were used for the sector worldwide in 2015. For example, producing a single cotton t-shirt requires as much water as one person drinks for 2.5 years (2,700 liters of fresh water).

Worse yet, the textile economy is vastly more linear than circular: the largest amount of resources used in clothes ended up in landfill (instead of being recycled to remake clothes). According to a report by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation,

Less than 3% of materials used in the textile economy in 2015 came from recycled sources.
In other words, more than 97% of resources used in making clothes are extracted new.

When clothing items are disposed of within a short period of time – under a year in the case of half of the fast fashion clothes – the natural systems that provide raw materials for fabrics don’t have enough time to recover and regenerate, which could lead to ecological breakdown.

Sustainable fabrics are made with less water and emissions while lasting longer:

Because they are durable, you don’t need to buy new clothes too often.
Thus, you help reduce to pressure to extract more resources for making new items.

Similarly, making and consuming sustainable fabrics made with recycled materials reduces the demand for virgin materials while helping tackle waste management.

Buying Sustainable Fabrics Encourages Sustainable Management of Forests

Sustainable plant-based fabrics are made with raw materials from forests and plantations that are sustainably managed, such as complying with FSC standards.

When you buy sustainable plant-based fabrics, you discourage unsustainable forestry practices like illegal logging. You can help reduce deforestation, biodiversity loss, and the effect of climate change.

Buying Sustainable Fabrics Encourages Fairer Treatment of Animals

The fashion industry is rife with animal mistreatment when it comes to making animal-based fabrics like cashmere or leather. Every year, billions of animals suffer and die for clothing and accessories.

Buying sustainable vegan alternatives can help to reduce the pressure on raising more and more animals to meet the demand for animal-based fabrics while sacrificing their well-being and lives.

Suppose you have to buy fabrics made with, for example, leather or wool; make sure you only choose brands committed to cruelty-free products. In that case, you help advocate better treatments for animals raised within the textile industry.

Using Sustainable Fabrics Encourages Fairer Treatment of Textile Workers

Recent statistics from UNICEF estimated as many as 170 million child laborers worldwide, many of whom were engaged in some form of work in the textile industry. They don’t get paid minimum wages and often work long hours.

When you buy sustainable fabrics from brands transparent about the working conditions at their factories, you discourage the use of child labor and help promote better working conditions for textile workers.

Final Thoughts

Organic hemp fabrics are one of the most sustainable fabrics available. It is made in a mechanical process with chemical-free hemp fibers. Also, hemp crops have several environmental benefits, including capturing a lot of carbon and increasing soil nutrition.

To make it even more sustainable, buy second-hand organic hemp clothes, use organic hemp clothes and household items for as long as possible, upcycle the material to extend its usage, and arrange for it to be recycled appropriately.