# What are the most environmentally-friendly fibers used for clothing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675 "2015-05-10T03:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.Pu-du-he-pa-as)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/1 "2015-05-10T03:07:59Z")
I was just reading a discussion of cloth versus disposable diapers which claimed that disposable diapers were actually more environmentally-friendly than cloth diapers because of the sheer amount of water and pesticides required to grow the cotton. So, that got me thinking-- what are the most environmentally-friendly fibers used for clothing? How well do the most common ones-- cotton, linen, silk, wool, polyester, and rayon-- rate? Also, mods, feel free to kick this into IMHO if it turns out it doesn’t have an easy factual answer. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/2 "2015-05-11T15:01:13Z")
Polyester fabrics can contain a high percentage of recycled PET, which seems pretty enviromentally-friendly to me. You’d think Rayon would be also done that way, using wood waste, but my understanding is a lot of it comes from purpose-grown trees - that’s not so great. Also, it’s the least biodegradeable cellulose textile ([From Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayon#Disposal_and_biodegradability): “rayon contributed to 56.9% of the total microplastic fibers found in deep ocean areas”) and the chemicals used in the process are just nasty. Wool can be quite OK, it comes from free-range sheep like in South Africa and Australia. Not on your list - hemp and bamboo - hemp is touted quite a bit but I’ve never checked into the claims. A lot of “bamboo” textiles are purposefully mislabelled glorified rayon , which I’ve covered above. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/3 "2015-05-11T15:15:30Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > …A lot of “bamboo” textiles are purposefully mislabelled glorified rayon , which I’ve covered above. Are there bamboo clothes that aren’t a form of rayon? Also, OP left out Nylon, which is certainly a common fiber for clothes. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/4 "2015-05-11T16:57:38Z")
I would say synthetics-growing cotton uses a lot of water and diesel fuel. wool involves raising sheep-who emit lots of CO2 and methane gas. Sheep raising is also implicated in desertification and topsoil degradation, in arid areas. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/5 "2015-05-11T17:07:15Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Not on your list - hemp and bamboo - hemp is touted quite a bit but I’ve never checked into the claims. A lot of “bamboo” textiles are purposefully mislabelled glorified rayon , which I’ve covered above. Hemp is not a miracle plant, but it can be grown with no pesticides and less fertilizers than most crops. It’s not a great fiber for clothing in it’s traditional form, as it tends to be a heavy and coarse fabric when spun like flax. (it does have many other uses, of course) However, with some modern techniques, it can be blended, woven and even knitted to produce some very wearable clothes. In my experience, they outlast cotton garments by about 50 to 100%, so that’s another environmental advantage. Hemp production, world wide, is still so small that I doubt there is any significant environmental impact yet. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/6 "2015-05-11T17:57:01Z")
> **[More sustainable fabrics](https://www.greenchoices.org/green-living/clothes/more-sustainable-fabrics)** > > While there are serious environmental impacts associated with many fabrics there are some whose impact is much less. Organic cotton: Wear Organic is a project a campaign run by the Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK). It aims to reduce the... > **[CBD-Fiber-Selection-FS.pdf](https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/CBD-Fiber-Selection-FS.pdf)** > > 321.46 KB > **[Estimating the carbon footprint of a fabric](https://oecotextiles.blog/2011/01/19/estimating-the-carbon-footprint-of-a-fabric/)** > > We published this blog almost two years ago, but the concepts haven’t changed and we think it’s very important.   So here it is again: Although most of the current focus on lightening o… There are some interesting stats in the links. The last one (from 2011) has charts that show the energy use and emissions created to produced each of the major fibers used in clothing. Cotton still comes out very well, organic cotton even better. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/7 "2015-05-11T18:16:20Z")
The second two links are much meatier than the first one. Some of the comments on the third one point out that the energy to wash and otherwise care for a fabric add up, too. By that measure, fast-drying, easy-to-clean nylon looks a bit better. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/8 "2015-05-11T18:24:08Z")
If we are talking about diapers, as I remember when we were at that stage, the debate went along these lines: If you live in an area with plenty of water but not a lot of space (e.g. American Northeast), then cloth diapers were more environmentally appropriate, and if you live in an area with plenty of space but not a lot of water (American West/CA) then disposables were a better choice. That argument does not take into account the source of the material, however. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/9 "2015-05-11T18:44:34Z")
Our nighttime diapers are a hemp cotton blend, which is far more absorbent. (Expensive, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/10 "2015-05-11T20:26:14Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > wool involves raising sheep-who emit lots of CO2 and methane gas. This objection to livestock never made sense to me. If you got rid of cattle and sheep and goats, etc. that doesn’t suddenly leave you with animal-free land. The livestock would simply be replaced by wildlife. Evolution doesn’t abandon large fields of yummy yummy grass to wastefully grow uneaten. If there’s energy to be harvested by eating those plants, it’s going to be eaten and farted. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/11 "2015-05-11T21:52:49Z")
Obviously, second-hand clothes would be most environmentally friendly, as you’re getting more use out of the resources that went into them and keeping them out of landfills. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-environmentally-friendly-fibers-used-for-clothing/719675/12 "2015-05-12T08:20:26Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Are there bamboo clothes that aren’t a form of rayon? Yes, you can treat bamboo [as a bast fibre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_textiles#Alternative_manufacturing_processes) too.