Date of Award

May 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Earth System Science & Policy

First Advisor

Rebecca Romsdahl

Abstract

Garment consumption is on the rise. With an increase in resource use, there will beobservable impacts. This study focused on the environmental impacts from garment production, specifically from natural fibers – cotton and hemp. Using the program SimaPro, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted from cradle to consumer. The LCA included fiber cultivation, textile production, and consumer use phase for a t-shirt, one made from cotton and one made from hemp. A survey was distributed among the University of North Dakota’s student and faculty population to gather data on consumer use behaviors, including shopping, laundry, and discard habits. The impacts assessed included global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), and ozone depletion potential (ODP). From the LCA results, it was found that hemp had lower impacts compared to cotton, with the biggest differences occurring during the cultivation phase. The use phase produced the highest emissions throughout the overall life cycle. These results display the need to involve sustainable solutions among multiple sectors of the fashion industry.

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