The environmental effects of the fashion industry are alarming. According to a 2018 report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the fashion industry is responsible for more than one-fifth of global wastewater and one-tenth of global carbon emissions, with these numbers projected to nearly double by 2030. Just as concerning is the fact that these garments are perceived as disposable, with more than 92 million tons of textile waste ending up in landfills every year, according to Earth.org.
The PA Flax Project wants to be part of the solution. In 2024 the organization has made steady progress toward their goal of jump-starting the local production of flax for high-quality linen, and they’re learning a lot along the way. Meanwhile, their efforts to educate the public about how flax is grown and processed offer a hopeful approach to changing people’s understanding of the garment industry.
Part 1: The plant
On a cool, cloudy day in June, I tagged along with Janell Wysock to visit the flax she’d planted around the city of Philadelphia… [read more]
Part 2: The process
If the low environmental impact of growing long-fiber flax isn’t compelling enough, processing the harvested flax plant into spinnable fiber … [read more]
Part 3: The product
Linen accounts for less than 1% of the global textile market, but it has a bit of a cult following… [read more]
Learn more about flax and linen:
- PA Flax Project
- Climate Fixers: The PA Flax Project wants to use a ‘climate-positive’ plant to transform the fashion industry (WHYY.org)
- Rebuilding North America’s Flax-to-Fiber Supply Chain (Ambrook Research)
- Fiber Briefing: Linen (Common Objective)
- Linen Market Size, Share, Growth… (Business Research Insights)
Learn more about the environmental impact of the garment industry:
- The fabrics with the worst environmental impact revealed… (The Independent)
- Handle with Care: Understanding the hidden environmental costs of cotton (World Wildlife Fund)
- Sustainability 101: Water Overuse (Fibre2Fashion)
- The Environmental Crisis Caused by Textile Waste (Roadrunner)
- UN Alliance aims to put fashion on path to sustainability (UNECE)
- Is Polyester Really *That* Bad? (The Sustainable Fashion Forum)
- Viscose Fibres Sustainability (Water Footprint Network)
- The impact of textile production and waste on the environment (infographics) (Topics: European Parliament)
- Fast fashion goes to die in the world’s largest fog desert. The scale is breathtaking. (National Geographic)
- The Aftermath of Fast Fashion (Boston University School of Public Health)
- Fashion is an environmental and social emergency… (UNECE)
- 10 Concerning Fast Fashion Waste Statistics (Earth.org)
This series of articles comprised my applied research project for the Digital Journalism and Design master’s program at the University of South Florida, completed in December 2024.