In Australia, 6,000kg of clothing is dumped in landfill every 10 minutes. This is the life cycle of a polyester T-shirt
www.abc.net.au
Many of us are now dressed head to toe in plastic thanks to the invention of cheap and durable textiles like polyester. But the extent of the environmental impact from these garments might surprise you — we've tracked the life cycle of a polyester top from an oil field, through to when you chuck it in the bin.

Many of us are now dressed head to toe in plastic.

A textile derived from the same non-renewable source as takeaway containers, has grown to make up more than half of the clothes bought in Australia.

Polyester is durable, cheap, and dries quickly. It’s also easy to print patterns on.

It’s commonly used by itself or as a blend with other textiles. It’s used for gym clothes and sports uniforms, party dresses, work attire, and many cheap fast fashion items.

And every purchase is taking an environmental toll.

One Australian study by RMIT found a single 100 per cent polyester T-shirt has a carbon footprint — from creation through to when you dump it in the bin — equivalent to 20.56 kilograms of CO2 emissions (CO2e).

That’s equivalent to driving 140 kilometres. Buy just six tops, and that gets you all the way from Melbourne to Sydney.

So, what’s involved in getting a T-shirt from a fossil fuel, to the one you might be wearing right now? Here’s its journey along the supply chain.

    • veroxii
      4•1 year ago

      Also those shirts are so shit that after a few dozen times of wearing the neck is all stretched and curly and look like crap that you essentially have to throw it out (or repurpose as a rag)

    • @theragu40
      1•1 year ago

      American here…is Kmart still a thing in Australia? That’s kinda crazy to me. It all but died out many years ago here in the US. I’m not sure if there are any left.

      • ZagorathEnglish
        3•1 year ago

        It may or may not be the same company you’re familiar with.

        We’ve got a company called Target. Even has the same logo as your Target. But the two are actually entirely unrelated, apart from the fact that they seem to share the same name and logo. I wonder if Kmart might be a similar situation.

        But yes, Kmart is very much still a thing. They’re by a pretty wide margin our largest department store, I believe.

        • @theragu40
          2•1 year ago

          Oh wow. I suppose it’s probably what you say - they share a logo and name but are completely separate otherwise.

          Here they became synonymous with a worse version of things. Like saying that you bought the “Kmart version” would be a derogatory comment on an item’s quality or imply it is a knockoff. That hastened their death spiral.

      • Oliver Lowe
        2•1 year ago

        Absolutely - and there’s way more of them now than 10 years ago! Shit quality, disposable, cheap stuff. Popular for clothes, homewares, small furniture, bits and pieces for around the house.