Book excerpt: Environmental impact of textiles examines what effects all phases of textile production and use have on the environment, from growing or making fibres to discarding a product after its useful life has ended. It looks at the physical environment affected by these processes, including resource depletion, pollution and energy use; the biological environment, by considering what happens as a result of manufacture, and the social environment as it impinges on our psychological, physical and physiological comfort, as well as our financial well-being.It pulls together a wide range of examples drawn from a diverse collection of sources and integrates them to form a new and coherent set of ideas. This comprehensive approach has not been undertaken before and has never previously been associated with textile production and use.In addition to its analysis of the environmental impact of textile manufacturing activity, the book also considers the degradation suffered by textile materials within the environment whether by air pollution, wind, water and other agents.Environmental impact of textiles provides a complete survey of how developments in the textile industry and consumers of its products have affected the environment in the past. The book also covers recent solutions adopted by the industry in the hope that some alleviation of the problems can be achieved without sacrificing high textile production targets and the ways in which the industry is responding to the environmental challenge. It will be an essential reference for anyone involved and concerned with its future environmental footprint. - Examines the effects textile production and use have on the environment, from growing or making fibres to discarding a product after its useful life has ended - Looks at how the physical environment is affected by textile production processes, including resource depletion, pollution, energy use and the biological environment - Considers the degradation suffered by textile materials within the environment by air pollution, wind, water and other agents