Now scientists say wearing JEANS is bad for the environment: Study reveals wearing a pair just once is the equivalent to driving a car for 6.4 miles

They may be an essential piece of clothing for everyday use, but scientists now say that even a simple pair of jeans can be bad for the environment.

Wearing fast fashion jeans just once produces 2.5 kg of CO2, the equivalent of driving a petrol car 10 km.

Scientists from Guangdong University of Technology analyzed the life cycle of a pair of Levi’s jeans from growing the cotton to finally throwing it away.

They found that some jeans were worn just seven times – earning them the ‘fast fashion’ classification – and produced eleven times more CO2 than jeans that were worn more often.

Dr. Ya Zhou, lead author of the study, said: ‘The simple item of clothing – a pair of jeans – has a significant impact on the environment.’

To see how fast fashion affects the environment, the researchers analyzed the life cycle of a pair of Levi’s 501 jeans, from raw cotton to when they were destroyed by combustion.

Over the life of the product, the researchers found that fast fashion jeans had a carbon footprint that was 95-99 percent greater than traditional fashion jeans, which are worn an average of 120 times.

The biggest difference between the two consumption styles is that clothing sold for fast fashion is transported more quickly and worn less often before being thrown away.

Dr. Zhou told MailOnline: ‘Changing fashion trends make people buy clothes regularly and use them for short periods of time to keep up with the latest trends.

‘Such overconsumption has led to a significant increase in raw material and energy consumption in the apparel industry by accelerating the entire apparel supply chain, including the production, logistics, consumption and disposal processes, thereby exacerbating the apparel industry’s impact on climate change. ‘

The researchers estimate that a pair of jeans produced for the traditional fashion market emits 0.22 kg of CO2.

This is higher than previous estimates because the researchers believe that jeans are worn less often and washed more often than previously thought.

However, 48 percent of that total ecological footprint is caused by washing, drying and ironing jeans after purchase.

Researchers have analyzed the CO2 emissions over the lifespan of one pair of Levi’s 501 Original Fit women’s jeans. They found that wearing it once was equivalent to the emissions of driving 6.4 miles

Meanwhile, researchers estimate that jeans sold in fast fashion produce eleven times more emissions.

Because they are worn only seven times on average, these jeans produce 2.5 kg of CO2e per use, despite requiring very little energy to wash and dry over their entire lifespan.

Unlike traditional fashion, the vast majority of fast fashion emissions come from the production of jeans and fibers, accounting for 70 percent of total emissions.

The remaining emissions are largely caused by the transportation of the jeans from factories to consumers, accounting for 21 percent of total emissions.

Dr. Zhou explains, “To achieve rapid response (to fashion trends) from the global supply chain, the fast fashion model prefers transportation modes with shorter logistics times, such as cross-border transportation by air instead of sea.”

Because the transport of fast fashion is much more energy intensive, their transport produced no less than 59 times more CO2.

Most of the CO2 emissions associated with making jeans come from cotton production and clothing production in textile factories (file photo)

Globally, the fast fashion industry was worth around $64.5 billion (£51.25 billion) in 2020 and is expected to grow to $95 billion (£75.4) by 2030.

According to the researchers, fast fashion brands release new collections 25 times faster than traditional fashion brands, leading to shorter fashion cycles and hyperconsumption.

This leads to the creation of enormous amounts of waste and enormous levels of pollution.

The fashion industry is believed to produce 10 percent of all global emissions and approximately 92 million tons of waste every year.

Much of that waste is shipped to countries like Guatemala, Chile and Ghana, where huge landfills are now creating an “ecological and social emergency.”

Fortunately, researchers say there are several ways to significantly reduce the industry’s carbon footprint.

Much of the waste from fast fashion is shipped to countries like Chile, where it ends up in huge landfills visible from space (pictured)

The study found that buying clothes from offline second-hand stores reduced the CO2 emissions of a pair of jeans by 90 percent.

Dr. Zhou says, “Through second-hand trading, people can sell unusual or unused clothing and make a profit.

‘In China, the growing focus on environmental protection and sustainability among Chinese millennials and Generation Z is fueling the growth of the second-hand retail industry.’

Based on data from the American clothing retailer Buffalo Exchange, the researchers found that jeans that ended up in second-hand stores were worn 127 times during their lifetime.

The researchers also suggested that recycling jeans or using a clothing rental service such as Rent the Runway can reduce the carbon footprint per wear by 85 and 89 percent, respectively.