polyester vs cotton vs regenerative: the lifecycle of a T-shirt

Clothes. We all love clothes and we all love having lots of different types of clothes. But have you ever stopped to think about the true cost of this obsession?

 

Since you’re here reading a blog from our sustainable hanger brand — clearly you have.


We all know that there is a significant environmental impact to the sheer variety and quantity of clothing that consumers demand, not just in the U.S. but worldwide. 


But how and where does it all start? What is the true impact of our clothing? Take a simple T-shirt for example. Breaking down how T-shirts are made from start to finish, we can better understand their impact.


Americans purchase billions (yes, billions with a “B”) of T-shirts every single year fueling an industry expected to generate around $330 billion in 2025. 


But with that scale comes impact. Where does all that cotton come from? 


What does it take to make these shirts?


And what happens when we’re done with them?


We’re breaking down the lifecycle of three different T-shirts: a polyester T-shirt, a conventional cotton T-shirt, and a regenerative cotton T-shirt to look at each one's lifecycle and effects.


the true cost of a t-shirt: cotton vs. regenerative cotton vs. polyester

A Woman Wrapping a Plastic Shawl Around Her Shoulders To Symbolize Plastic Clothing
Photo by MART  PRODUCTION 

 

#1: the polyester t-shirt

You might be wondering — is 100% polyester good for clothing? 


It can be the softest thing you’ve ever touched.


It can be amazingly stretchy.


It can be perfectly tight.


It can feel like you’re barely wearing anything at all. 


Polyester vs cotton shirts is an ongoing debate in the fashion industry, with polyester often winning in terms of durability but losing when it comes to sustainability.


While it is cheap and durable, polyester comes with some serious environmental trade-offs.


A polyester T-shirt is born in a vast pit of petroleum rather than on a farm or field. As a synthetic fabric, its production is not so kind to our lovely planet, often requiring energy-intensive and wasteful processes such as: 

  • emitting large amounts of CO2 (282 million metric tons per year, to be exact)

  • polluting air and waterways

  • melting down large amounts of plastic

  • using lots of chemicals to create a thread-like material 

  • creating lots of microplastics

That’s just to create the polyester. 

Our T-shirt still has to come to life. 

Polyester T-shirts are often mass-produced in fast-fashion factories, where poor labor conditions and low wages are common. The cheap production process allows for ultra-low prices, a point in polyester’s favor with the fashion industry.

The fashion industry employs approximately 75 million factory workers worldwide, yet less than 2% earn a living wage.

Once this T-shirt leaves the factory and is in the hands of consumers, its harm to the environment is far from over. 

You’ll find hundreds of these T-shirts for dirt cheap at stores like Marshalls or Forever21. It’s likely your go-to choice for a workout or athletic activity because it’s:

  • lightweight

  • moisture-wicking

  • and durable

However…

  • they trap heat and odors

  • require lots and lots of washing

  • shed microplastics into our water systems 

  • and are often poorly constructed, tying back to fast production and poor working conditions.

Since this tee is made of plastic, every time it gets washed, tiny little fibers are released into the waterways, where we run into a little problem called microplastics. 

Impossible to see, nearly impossible to filter out, and believed to be oh-so harmful. 

And as if that wasn’t enough, our polyester T-shirt has yet further damage to cause once it is at the end of its lifecycle. Why? Because polyester doesn’t biodegrade. 

A discarded polyester T-shirt can take hundreds of years to break down, contributing to overflowing landfills, ocean plastic pollution, and fast fashion wastelands like those in Ghana and Chile. 

#2: the cotton t-shirt

close up of cotton buds growing on a plant
Photo by Mark Stebnicki

Cotton and clothes have been linked for centuries, but how modern cotton is grown looks very different from the days past. Today, large-scale production relies on heavy pesticide use, synthetic fertilizers, and a staggering amount of water.


Our next T-shirt, made from 100% cotton, starts its life in a huge conventional cotton field, most likely in China, Brazil, India, or the U.S., where resource-intensive farming practices are the norm. 


In fact, it takes about 2,700 liters of water to produce the cotton needed for just one single T-shirt — enough drinking water for one person for 2.5 years! For one shirt!! Now multiply that by several billion and well… that’s a lot of water. 

These massive cotton farms also rely heavily on pesticide usage, which are known to cause a slew of issues:

  • soil degradation

  • pest resistance

  • health issues for farmers

  • harm to pollinators & other wildlife

Despite these issues, pesticides are still widely used on conventional farms, including cotton farms, and are increasing in usage. Oh, and 99% of pesticides are made from fossil fuels.

Once harvested, the cotton moves to a big manufacturer where it is spun into yarn, woven into fabric, and dyed — often with synthetic dyes that can be harmful to both workers and the environment. 

And here is born the simple cotton tee.

But although cotton is a natural fiber, grown right from the land, the system to turn it into an item of clothing is built on exploitation. 

Much like the factories we discussed for polyester T-shirts, workers often face low wages, long hours, and unsafe working conditions — just to oversupply the Global North with cheap, disposable merch. 

Then comes the end of life.

A cotton T-shirt still sheds microfibers, but they’re not nearly as harmful as polyester because cotton is a natural, biodegradable material. 

Technically, it should be compostable or degrade into the land, but the problem is it’s not going into the ground; it’s going into the landfill, and those synthetic dyes and chemicals can affect how biodegradable and recyclable it is. 

Ideally, at the end of a T-shirt's life, it ends up as a cleaning rag (yay!) or finds its forever second home.

But the most likely end-of-life route is another country’s backyard or, of course, a giant, polluting, putrid landfill. (Every year, millions of tons of clothing end up here.)

So all that water, all of those farm and factory workers, all of the energy and time that went into making a single T-shirt, just for it to end up in a landfill? There has to be another way!

#3: the regenerative cotton t-shirt

Traditional Kente Weaving Process Close-up
Photo by Timothy Yiadom 


A regenerative cotton T-shirt starts on a farm that practices regenerative agriculture. 


What is regenerative cotton, and how is it different from conventional cotton, you ask? 


The key lies in farming practices that restore soil health, increase biodiversity, and require significantly less water. Regenerative farming focuses on:

  • restoring soil health

  • capturing carbon from the atmosphere

  • using significantly less water

  • eliminating synthetic chemicals/pesticides

Farmers benefit too! 

  • they work in healthier environments

  • often receive better wages through fair trade practices

  • and face less health issues over their lifetime 

Regenerative farming really is the clear winner. Not to mention it can literally help solve climate change!

How?

Well, we know that improved soil health = increased organic matter = increased soil carbon sequestration capacity. In other words, the more dead plant life there is in the soil, the more carbon it sucks in from the air.

As a result, regenerative agriculture could potentially contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions while growing new things!

Talk about farm to factory! The regenerative cotton is processed much like conventional cotton, but with a few key differences, like… 

  • more eco-friendly dyes

  • increased water recycling

  • ethical labor practices, ensuring fair wages and safe working conditions.

This paints a very different picture of this stage of the lifecycle from our other T-shirts. 

By investing in human talent with ethical pay and even *gasp* skilled workers, sustainable brands often focus on durability, meaning this T-shirt costs more but is designed to last far longer than the average fast-fashion T-shirt. 

With sustainably-minded care, it could further reduce its environmental impact! 

  • washing less frequently

  • washing with cold water

  • skipping the dryer and letting air and sun do all the work

When the regenerative cotton tee reaches the end of its life, it’s more likely to be compostable (if completely made from 100% natural fibers) or recyclable. 

Brands using regenerative cotton often support take-back programs, giving old T-shirts a second life as new clothing or repurposed materials.

Even if this T-shirt does die in a landfill, it will break down much quicker than T-shirt #1 or #2.

So now that you’re sold on regenerative cotton and all its amazing benefits, here are a few brands to help you get your search started! 

regenerative clothing brands to check out

Screen grab of womens size-inclusive dresses from Christy Dawns regenerative collection

from cotton seed to waste: how t-shirts are made & why it matters

Assortment of Mixed Waste Including Clothes Sitting In A Landfill
Photo by Victor  Moragriega 

Let’s be very clear about something. Regenerative and sustainable fashion brands cost more. Because their entire supply chain costs more. It’s not always feasible to replace every piece in your closet, and that’s okay. 

There is an immense amount of guilt placed on us consumers. Those of us who want to do the right thing and help make a difference find ourselves stumbling across ways to “repurpose” or “upcycle” things. 

This is exhausting. 

As are aggressive pictures of trash.

At the end of the day, not very many of us want to take the time to turn a bunch of old shirts into patchwork quilts or something (if you do, that’s amazing and you’re amazing; we love you for it). 

That’s why for many of us, it can be more helpful to think about the life-cycle of the things we buy, before we buy them. That includes considering things like:

When we think about how cotton is made into clothes, we realize that it’s not just about the fabric itself — it’s about the entire system that supports it, from farm to factory to landfill.

By supporting brands that are doing amazing work, you’re making a difference! You’re putting your money behind a brand that needs it and can continue to progress in the industry. You’re also learning to invest in your own wardrobe, changing the way you think about and buy clothes. 

So the next time you see the word regenerative on something, you know what it means and what went into creating it! 

As always, check out our adult & kid-sized recycled plastic hangers to bring some sustainability and organization to your closet! 

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