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Why Thrifting Saves the Planet: The Environmental Impact of Fast Fashion

Written By:

Delara Mirdamadi

 |  

October 2, 2025

Fast fashion may be convenient and trendy, but it’s also one of the most environmentally destructive industries in the world. The constant cycle of cheap, disposable clothing has created a global crisis, one that’s filling landfills, polluting water, and harming garment workers. Thankfully, there's an accessible and impactful way to fight back: thrifting.

Thrifting isn’t just a style choice, it’s a climate solution.

The Hidden Cost of Fast Fashion

Let’s break it down:

  • 92 million tons of textile waste are produced globally each year, and most of it ends up in landfills or is incinerated.

  • It takes 2,700 liters of water to make a single cotton t-shirt—that’s enough water for one person to drink for nearly 2.5 years.

  • The fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.

  • Over 20% of industrial water pollution globally comes from dyeing and treating textiles.

Fast fashion's rapid production model encourages overconsumption and throwaway culture. When clothes are made quickly and cheaply, they're not designed to last, and our planet pays the price.

How Thrifting Helps the Planet

Thrifting reduces the need for new clothing production, which in turn cuts down on:

  • Water usage

  • Energy consumption

  • CO₂ emissions

  • Textile waste

By extending the life cycle of clothing, thrifting interrupts the wasteful cycle of buy-wear-dispose. Just buying secondhand instead of new reduces your carbon footprint by 60–70% per item. If everyone bought just one used item this year instead of new, we could save nearly 6 billion pounds of carbon emissions—the equivalent of taking half a million cars off the road for a year.

Fast fashion may be convenient and trendy, but it’s also one of the most environmentally destructive industries in the world. The constant cycle of cheap, disposable clothing has created a global crisis, one that’s filling landfills, polluting water, and harming garment workers. Thankfully, there's an accessible and impactful way to fight back: thrifting.

Thrifting isn’t just a style choice, it’s a climate solution.

The Hidden Cost of Fast Fashion

Let’s break it down:

  • 92 million tons of textile waste are produced globally each year, and most of it ends up in landfills or is incinerated.

  • It takes 2,700 liters of water to make a single cotton t-shirt—that’s enough water for one person to drink for nearly 2.5 years.

  • The fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.

  • Over 20% of industrial water pollution globally comes from dyeing and treating textiles.

Fast fashion's rapid production model encourages overconsumption and throwaway culture. When clothes are made quickly and cheaply, they're not designed to last, and our planet pays the price.

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