Wearing Jeans Can Be Just As Bad For The Environment As Driving A Car, According To A New Study

Slipping into a pair of trendy, fast-fashion jeans might not seem like a big deal, but according to a recent study, it's almost as bad for our planet as taking your car out for a spin.

Researchers from the Guangdong University of Technology in China dove deep into how our love for quick, cheap fashion, especially jeans, is affecting the environment.

The team, led by Ya Zhou, discovered that our denim choices have a "significant impact on the environment" — and the details are pretty eye-opening.

So, think about it: how often do you find yourself grabbing a new pair of jeans from a fast fashion brand?

They might not be the best quality or last very long, leading to you not wearing them much before they're out of style or fall apart.

Then there’s the whole process of how quickly these jeans are produced and get to you, either in stores or delivered right to your doorstep.

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Or maybe you're the type to go for jeans from a more sustainable brand, ones that are made better and will last you a good while.

This study might just make you pause and reconsider your choices the next time you're about to snag a new pair of jeans online.

The researchers looked at everything from water usage and chemical pollution to CO2 emissions and textile waste.

They used a lifecycle assessment method to track the environmental toll of fast fashion jeans — from raw cotton to the moment they end up in an incinerator.

What they found was shocking: fast fashion jeans have a carbon footprint that's 95-99% higher than their more ethically made counterparts.

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The study reveals, "The carbon footprint of fast fashion consumption was 2.50 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (kgCO2e), 11 times higher than that of traditional fashion consumption."

"It means one wear jeans leads to 2.50 kg CO2e, equivalent to 6.4 miles for an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle (EPA, 2023)."

To put it into perspective, driving 6.4 miles usually takes about six minutes.

"The production of fiber and jeans is the major contributor to fast fashion, contributing 70 percent (1.74 kg) of the carbon footprint (77 percent from jeans)," the study continues.

Now, you might be thinking, 'But who wears jeans just once before tossing them?'

Credit: ScienceDirect

Here's another shocker: the study found that fast fashion jeans are worn an average of only seven times, while more sustainably made jeans are worn around 120 times.

It's hard to believe, especially if you’re someone who lives in the same comfy joggers day in and day out and isn’t all that bothered about catching every new trend.

Dr. Zhou explained to MailOnline, "Changing fashion trends induce people to purchase clothing frequently and use them short-lived to keep following the latest trends."

This trend of buying more and using less is pumping up resource and energy use in the clothing industry, speeding up the production, logistics, consumption, and disposal processes.

This, in turn, is making the industry's impact on climate change even worse.

The study, titled "The carbon footprint of fast fashion consumption and mitigation strategies - a case study of jeans," was published in the Science of the Total Environment and can be found on Science Direct for those looking to dig deeper.