Elizabeth Flowers

Environmental Policy
22 March 2016
Environmental Impacts and Policies of the Textile Industry
While business and environmental protection often seem to be at odds with each other,
with the common portrayal of growth and environmental protection being opposites, in fact long
term, they share similar goals. Economics studies the of allocation of resources, and
environmental protection protects these resources. While economics is often complex, the
ultimate raw materials required to produce goods and services are all common pool resources:
water, land/soil, air, and power (solar, fossil fuels etc.). These resources are finite. Short term
exploitation may temporarily promote unsustainable use of these resources. However for long
term economic stability, sustainable use of resources must be accomplished. This long term
economic approach is the common ground that it has with environmental policies. A nation
cannot stay strong without a long term plan for protection of its common pool resources.
We are depleting and degrading our common pool resources at an alarming rate. All
products we consume have some negative environmental impacts, and they almost always affect
these resources. Consumption of textiles in the form of home goods, apparel, and shoes, has
severe consequences that are have been mostly ignored by the media. Textiles require many
resources, including water and energy. To produce one shirt, it requires more than 2000 liters of
water, and one load of washing uses up to 150 liters. Textiles require energy manufacture,
transport and wash. Many types of materials are also needed, such as chemicals and crops
(Yarina).
The environmental impacts of the textile industry are monitored within the United States.
For example, water pollution, water use, and emissions from factories are regulated by the
Environmental Protection Agency. While there are not national cap and trade laws addressing
these issues, the EPA has set maximum daily load requirements for certain pollutants in bodies of
water, and in order for states to comply, about 20 use small-scale water-quality credit trading
programs (Nastu).
While this type of market based incentive helps keep environmental impacts of textiles in
check in the United States, most of the clothing in the United States is imported. While the U.S.
exported $5.8b of clothing in 2014, it imported $80b, with 37.1% coming from China, 10.4%
from Vietnam, and 4-6% coming from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mexico, and India each.

Elizabeth Flowers
Environmental Policy
22 March 2016
(Chalabi). Importing clothing increases the environmental impacts, for two reasons. First, the
packaging and transport of the goods produce greenhouse gases and waste, and second, while the
United States has enforced environmental regulations surrounding the impacts of the textile
industry, many countries do not. Environmental regulations in China are not enforced in many
areas outside of their cities. In Pearl River, China, waste water from the denim dyeing process in
a textile factory is turning the river a dark blue. Treating the huge amount of waste water
produced is difficult, so organic chemicals and heavy metals are dumped into the Pearl River
(france24english). Unfortunately, this is one of many examples. The textile manufacturing
process is characterized by high consumption of resources such as water, fuel and a variety of
chemicals in a long process sequence generating a significant load on the environment (Parisi).
Growing the raw materials for one garment requires 150 square meters of land, 230
grams of fertilizer and 2000 liters of water. The process includes growing crops, spinning yarn,
weaving, sewing it into a garment, dyeing it (usually with toxic chemicals), and soaking it in a
soapy bath and oxygenated water. The growing of the crops is one of the most harmful steps to
human health. The pesticides used on cotton farms are a severe environmental issue.
Unfortunately, this is one of the most significant externalities of the textile industry.
Communities near cotton farms are being negatively impacted by the pesticide spraying. In the
Punjab State in India, one of the biggest cotton producers of the country, farmers use one
pesticide Endosulfan (Parisi). While it has proven to be a relatively effective and cheap nonpatented pesticide, its persistence in the environment poses risks to human health and the
environment (Turgut). This pesticide has been banned in over 60 countries, however India has
not banned it yet due to its importance to many farmers as a cheap pesticide. Unfortunately,
communities living in farming areas, especially the area known as the cotton belt in India, are
bearing the environmental cost of cheap imported clothing for the U.S. 30 million people live in
Punjab, and since the introduction of aerially sprayed endosulfan, there have been multiple areas
which have been suffering from congenital deformities, physical disabilities, mental retardation
and gynecological problems as a result (CSE). Many children in Punjab have gray hair, which
is attributed by locals to pesticide ingestion and inhalation. Yet for economic reasons, the Indian
government does not want to ban endosulfan and similar pesticides, and India remains the
biggest user of endosulfan. While farmers have the option of going organic and fetching a higher

Elizabeth Flowers
Environmental Policy
22 March 2016
price for their cotton, it takes many years to accomplish this risky and expensive transition, and
for most farmers it is not feasible.
In Savar, Bangladesh, a toxic stench coming from textile wastewater causes children to
gag in class. The textile mills and dyeing plants export their goods to Europe and the U.S., and
to keep costs down they dump their toxic wastewater into the canals behind a schoolhouse,
turning the water different colors as demand changes. Recently, the Rana Plaza factory collapsed
killing 1,100 people. In order to become the worlds second largest exporter of clothing (3rd for
the U.S. alone), they had cut corners resulting in the death of 1,100 people. This event exposed
the actions taken to cut prices for consumers at companies like Walmart, J. C. Penney and H &
M (Yarina). There have been multiple water pollution disasters in large industrial cities such as
Dhaka, the capital, leading to death of fish stocks, contamination of rice paddies, and the filling
of previously navigable waterways with garbage (Yarina). While environmental laws in the
United States are important, when there are not similar laws for imports, products are introduced
in other countries where labor, safety, and environmental laws either are not in place or not
enforced.
While the degradation of waterways and ecosystems and subsequent health issues for the
surrounding community are immediate externalities of the textile industry, there are also long
term issues. Greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing, transport, and care of garments
are significant. Garment care by the consumer accounts for about 75% of the greenhouse gas
emissions related to textiles (Dev), with drying of garments producing forty times the emissions
of washing. Greenhouse gases have had a politically complicated past in the United States and
globally. On April 2, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Massachusetts v. EPA that
greenhouse gases could be regulated under the Clean Air Act if they were a danger to human
health. On December 15th, 2009, the EPA published a study of GHG dangers to human health
called the Endangerment Finding, stating that the projected levels of GHGs are a threat to
human welfare and health in current and future generations. In 2010 multiple rules were put into
effect limiting GHG emissions. Most relevant is the Tailoring Rule which limited GHG
emissions of facilities emitting more than 75,000-100,000 tons a year. This rule affected power
plants and other large emitters, creating a need for more efficient and clean power production.
The EPAs decisions were regulatory, and were not market based policies (Collins). Attempts
3

Elizabeth Flowers
Environmental Policy
22 March 2016
have been made at these types of policies, however, such as the implementation of cap and trade
in multiple states. Many believe that cap and trade, an arrangement where GHG emission credits
can be bought and sold, is the best economical and environmental solution to GHGs. To meet
the national EPA standards, some states have implemented their own cap and trade system.
California has set a cap on GHGs and the cap began declining by 3 percent each year in 2013.
This market driven political mechanism has spurred innovations in technology and subsequently
investments in clean energy (CA.GOV).
There are many institutions that shape the publics relationships with textiles and apparel
in the United States. These institutions are defined as either a society or organization founded
on common goals or beliefs or as laws or customs (Institution). For example, one such
institution is the EPA, which enforces the provisions of the Clean Air Act, including many of the
previously mentioned regulations regarding GHGs. Other institutional forces include federal and
state governments, which play a role in national and state wide laws and implementations of
GHG emissions and pollution control under other laws such as the Clean Water Act. As
previously discussed, imports have no environmental requirement from the United States, and
the U.S. allows imports from countries with little to no enforced environmental regulation, with
the worst of the damage being done in remote areas. In India, endosulfan is causing seer health
issues such as cancer, deformation, and blindness, and there are a plethora of documentaries
covering the issue, and yet no action by the United States government has been taken. In places
like Pearl River, China, dyes from textile factories are polluting waters and posing serious health
risks to the surrounding community. While market based mechanisms in the United States,
particularly cap and trade, can be used to create credit trading for water pollution and GHG
emission, the importation of good produced in countries where these types of policies are not in
place needs to be addressed. Externalities in textile manufacturing countries need to be
addressed, as they are severe and extensive.
The second form of institutions are established practices. Customs of wearing clothes,
using clothes as a sign of status, wearing only new clothes (not wearing patched or mended
clothing), throwing out clothes instead of donating or exchanging, and the negative image of
people who wear tired clothing all are society inflicted impositions that cause people to
consume and waste clothing. Changing fashion and social pressure caused by advertising,
4

Elizabeth Flowers
Environmental Policy
22 March 2016
magazines, celebrities, and television causes individuals to purchase much more clothing than
they need, and to get rid of clothing simply because it is out of fashion. While there are
labelling laws set in place by the Department of Commerce under the International Trade
Administration branch, these labels only require the composition of the garment be labelled, the
country of origin be labelled, and the care instructions be permanently attached. The Office of
Textiles and Apparel enforces these laws (OTEXA). The EPA has produced a Design for the
Environment Garment and Textile Care Program Fact Sheet, which summarizes the EPAs
methodology for decreasing the pollution from the textiles/apparel industry in the United States.
The monitoring of dry cleaning chemicals and assistance to companies to guide them through the
production and use environmentally preferable technologies are among the highlights.
Discussions of environmental policies regarding human or ecosystem health often omit
do not use the words public good consumption and degradation, however this is essentially
what the policies address. As the environment is degraded with the pollution and consumption of
the fresh water we drink and bathe in, pollution of the air we breath, change of the climate we
live in and subsequent increased destructive storms and rising sea levels that damage or destroy
the homes and geography we live in, we are losing our common pool resources. These common
pool resources are shared between communities on a small scale and on a global community, and
they are finite. While there is a lot of water on earth, only 2.5% of that water is fresh, with less
than 1000th of that accessible for consumption (USGS). Our air is also a common pool resource,
and like water, the pollution from one body of water or parcel of air contaminates another, as
nature does not recognize city, state, country, or continent divides. When we outsource our
polluting textile industry, that pollution comes back to us in the form of a changing climate
which affects our country's temperatures, weather, agriculture and therefore our food sources,
shelter, health, and biodiversity.

Elizabeth Flowers
Environmental Policy
22 March 2016

Works Cited
CA.GOV. "Cap-and-Trade Program." California Environmental Protection Agency, Air
Resources Board, CA.GOV. N.p., 18 Mar. 1016. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/capandtrade.htm>.
Chalabi, Mona. "Where the U.S. Gets Its Clothing, One Year After the Bangladesh Factory
Collapse." DataLab. FiveThirtyEight, 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
<http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/where-the-u-s-gets-its-clothing-one-year-after-thebangladesh-factory-collapse/>.
Collins, Jennifer. "Fact Sheet: Timeline of EPA Actions on Greenhouse Gases (2014)." EESI:
Environmental and Energy Study Insititute. EESI, 23 Sept. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-timeline-of-epa-actions-on-greenhousegases>.
CSE. "Endosulfan Industry's Dirty War - A Chronology of Events." Centre for Science and
Environment. CSE, Mar. 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. <http://www.cseindia.org/node/1927>.
Dev, Vivek. "Carbon Footprint of Textiles." Domain-b. Domain-b, 3 Apr. 2009. Web. 25 Mar.
2016. <http://www.domain-b.com/environment/20090403_carbon_footprint.html>.
EPA. "Design for the Environment, Garment and Textile Care Program Fact Sheet." Pollution
Prevention and Toxics 7406 (2001): 744-F-98-012. Application Error. EPA, June 2001.
Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/200013CA.TXT?
ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1995%2BThru
%2B1999&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=
&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&IntQFieldOp=0&Ex
tQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5Czyfiles%5CIndex+Data
%5C95thru99%5CTxt
%5C00000011%5C200013CA.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortM
ethod=h%7C&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8%2Fr75g8%2Fx150y15
0g16%2Fi425&Display=p
%7Cf&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results
+page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=1&SeekPage=x&ZyPURL>.
France24english. "FRANCE 24 Environment - The Color of Your Clothes: Dipping into Dyes
and Showing Your Clothes True Colours." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Mar. 2012. Web. 24 Mar.
2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdQDFpVRvCI>.
"Institution." Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2016. <https://www.google.com/webhp?
sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=insitutions>.

Elizabeth Flowers
Environmental Policy
22 March 2016
Nastu, Paul. "Environmental Leader." Environmental Leader RSS. Environmental Leader, 27
Aug. 2007. Web. 24 Mar. 2016. <http://www.environmentalleader.com/2007/08/27/couldcap-and-trade-work-for-water/>.
OTEXA. "U.S. Labeling Requirements for Textile and Apparel Products." U.S. Labeling
Requirements for Textile and Apparel Products. U.S. Department of Commerce, n.d. Web.
24 Mar. 2016.
<http://web.ita.doc.gov/tacgi/eamain.nsf/6e1600e39721316c852570ab0056f719/290cdb03
9f3f3518852576b300675a9e>.
Parisi, Maria Laura, Enrico Fatarella, Daniele Spinelli, Rebecca Pogni, and Riccardo Basosi.
"Environmental Impact Assessment of an Eco-efficient Production for Coloured Textiles."
Journal of Cleaner Production 108 (2015): 514-24. ScienceDirect. Web.
<http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.chapman.edu/eds/detail/detail?sid=8de147d4-f16e40f7-b815-b8b067e0261f
%40sessionmgr114&vid=0&hid=126&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVpZCZzaXRlPW
Vkcy1saXZl#AN=110348358&db=buh>.
"Text of the An Act to Authorize the Establishment of the Petrified Forest National Park in the
State of Arizona, and for Other ..." GovTrack.us. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
<https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/85/hr8250/text>.
"Text of the Petrified Forest National Park Expansion Act of 2004." GovTrack.us. N.p., n.d. Web.
25 Mar. 2016. <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/108/hr1630/text/rh#compare=ih>.
THEYARINA. "The Economics of Fashion: Externalities." Fashionhedge. The Economics of
Fashion, 6 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2016. <http://fashionhedge.com/2014/09/06/theeconomics-of-fashion-externalities/>.
Turgut, C., O. Erdogan, D. Ates, C. Gokbulut, and T. J. Cutright. "Persistence and Behavior of
Pesticides in Cotton Production in Turkish Soils." Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment Environ Monit Assess 162.1-4 (2009): 201-08. Web.
<http://link.springer.com.libproxy.chapman.edu/article/10.1007%2Fs10661-009-0788-x>.
Turgut, C., O. Erdogan, D. Ates, C. Gokbulut, and T.J. Cutright. "Persistence and Behavior of
Pesticides in Cotton Production in Turkish Soils." Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment March 162.1 (2010): 201-08. Springer Link. Environmental Monitoring
Assessment, 26 Feb. 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
<http://link.springer.com.libproxy.chapman.edu/article/10.1007/s10661-009-0788-x>.
United States. National Park Service. "NPS Archeology Program: Antiquities Act
Centennial."National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 24 Mar.
2016. <http://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/antiquities/MonumentsList.htm>.
United States. National Park Service. "NPS Archeology Program: Antiquities Act, Petrified
Forest National Park." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web.
24 Mar. 2016. <http://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/antiquities/profilePetrified.htm>.

Elizabeth Flowers
Environmental Policy
22 March 2016
United States. National Park Service, NPS. "NPS Archeology Program: About the Antiquities
Act." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/antiquities/abolished.htm>.
USGS. "The World's Water." Where Is Earth's Water? USGS Water-Science School. USGS, n.d.
Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwherewater.html>.
Yardley, Jim. "Bangladesh Pollution, Told in Colors and Smells." The New York Times. The New
York Times, 14 July 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/world/asia/bangladesh-pollution-told-in-colors-andsmells.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&>.