For climate and equity-focused funders, rebuilding Minnesota’s textile capacity through hemp represents a systems-level strategy:

• Climate mitigation: Reduced transportation emissions and support for regenerative cropping systems.

• Rural revitalization: Reestablishing value-added processing in agricultural regions.

• Equitable ownership models: Cooperative and Tribal-led enterprises that retain wealth locally.

• Supply chain resilience: Regionalizing fiber inputs for North American textile markets.

Rather than recreating a twentieth-century industrial model, Minnesota has the opportunity to build a climate-aligned textile economy that links regenerative farming, domestic milling, and community-based manufacturing. In this context, hemp textiles are not simply an agricultural commodity—they are a pathway to restoring regional industrial capacity while advancing carbon-conscious, locally rooted economic development.

Fast Fashion

With the rise of fast fashion — driven by constantly changing collections and inexpensive offerings from big retailers — the fashion industry has become a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. Fast fashion’s rapid production and disposal cycle fuels enormous waste and environmental degradation. Textile production alone emits about 1.2 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent annually, exceeding the emissions from all international flights and maritime shipping combined (Textile Recycling Association, 2025; Rawshot, 2025). The fashion sector is responsible for roughly 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, placing it among the world’s most polluting industries (ZipDo Education Reports, 2026).

The impacts vary by material. Synthetic fibers such as polyester — now the most widely used textile fiber — generate significantly higher emissions than natural fibers. A polyester shirt typically has a carbon footprint of 5.5 kg CO₂e, compared with 2.1 kg CO₂e for a cotton shirt (Gitnux, 2026). Cotton production is resource-intensive, requiring large amounts of land, water, and chemical inputs, which contribute to pollution and habitat loss (Scientific American, 2025).

Recycling and reuse remain extremely limited: less than 1% of textiles are recycled back into new garments, and large volumes are discarded shortly after production or purchase, adding to landfill and incineration burdens (ZipDo Education Reports, 2026; Textile Recycling Association, 2025). Meanwhile, microfibers shed from synthetic textiles during washing are increasingly detected in waterways and marine environments, posing emerging risks to ecosystems and food systems (Worldmetrics.org, 2026).

These intersecting environmental harms — from carbon emissions and chemical pollution to waste and microplastic contamination — underscore the urgent need to rethink the fast-fashion model and shift to more sustainable, circular textile systems.

Emissions from manufacturing depend in part on the material produced. Synthetic fibers have seen rapid production growth since their introduction in the second half of the twentieth century. Polyester is now the most commonly used fabric in clothing, having overtaken cotton early in the twenty-first century. For polyester and other synthetic materials, the emissions for production are much higher as they are produced from fossil fuels such as crude oil. In 2015, production of polyester for textiles use results in more than 706 billion kg of CO2e (ref. 4). The authors of ref. 4 estimate a single polyester t-shirt has emissions of 5.5 kg CO2e, compared with 2.1 kg CO2e for one made from cotton. However cotton is a thirsty crop and its production has greater impacts on land and water. 

With limited recycling options to recover reusable fibers, almost 60% of all clothing produced is disposed of within a year of production (ending in landfill or incineration)5. To put that into context, that is one rubbish truck per second to landfill2. It has been estimated that less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled within the clothing industry. That means about 13% is recycled for use elsewhere.   , with around 13% recycled for use in other areas2.

New studies indicate that the fibers in our clothes could be poisoning our waterways and food chain on a massive scale. Microfibers – tiny threads shed from fabric – have been found in abundance on shorelines where wastewater is released.

Hemp over Cotton

Cotton, long the backbone of global textiles, is not a sustainable solution for the future. It accounts for roughly half of the world’s clothing fiber production — about 20 million tons annually — and is notoriously water‑intensive. It can take more than 5,280 gallons of water to produce the cotton needed for a single T‑shirt and pair of jeans, placing immense strain on freshwater resources (Evergreen Hemp, 2025; Hemp vs. Cotton – The Boonroom, 2025). Much of the global cotton harvest depends on irrigated land, and conventional cotton cultivation relies heavily on agrochemicals: despite occupying only a small fraction of crop land, cotton production uses a disproportionate share of global pesticides and insecticides (Loom & Fiber, 2025; Evergreen Hemp, 2025). This reliance on synthetic inputs contributes to soil degradation, water pollution, and ecosystem harm.

By contrast, hemp offers a dramatically more sustainable alternative. Hemp requires far less water to grow — sometimes as little as 80 gallons per equivalent fiber yield compared with cotton — and most of its water needs can be met through natural rainfall rather than irrigation (Hemp Textiles – Pennsylvania Hemp Industry Council, 2026; Evergreen Hemp, 2025). Hemp is naturally resistant to pests and typically needs minimal or no pesticides or herbicides, which reduces chemical runoff and supports healthier soils (Hemp Textiles – Pennsylvania Hemp Industry Council, 2026; Cannabistrades.org, 2026).

Hemp also yields more fiber per acre. On average, one acre of hemp can produce as much fiber as two to three acres of cotton, providing a more efficient use of agricultural land (Hemp vs. Everything – HempwickBeeline.com, 2026; Cannabistrades.org, 2026). Its fibers are strong, durable, and long‑lasting, making hemp well‑suited for robust, high‑performance textiles (HempGenTech, 2024). Whereas cotton farming often depletes soil nutrients, hemp’s deep root structure can improve soil quality and carbon sequestration during growth.

These differences — lower water use, reduced chemical dependence, higher yields, and soil benefits — make hemp a compelling alternative to cotton for sustainable textiles and a key material in building a regenerative, low‑impact fiber industry.

Reshoring and North American Textiles

Reshoring Textiles in Minnesota Through Regenerative Agriculture

Minnesota once supported a meaningful fiber-processing economy, including hemp milling operations that supplied rope, twine, and industrial textiles before federal prohibition in the mid-twentieth century (University of Minnesota Extension, 2019; Cherney & Small, 2016). Like much of the United States, Minnesota’s broader textile and light manufacturing base declined during the late twentieth century as production shifted overseas in response to lower labor costs and globalized supply chains (Autor, Dorn, & Hanson, 2016; Scott, 2015). The offshoring of textile production contributed to long-term industrial contraction across the Midwest. Between 1994 and 2005, the United States lost more than 900,000 textile and apparel jobs, with ripple effects felt across regional supply chains, agricultural markets, and rural communities (Scott, 2015). For Minnesota, this meant the erosion of value-added processing capacity and the loss of vertically integrated agricultural manufacturing systems. Since passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, industrial hemp cultivation has been reauthorized nationwide, allowing Minnesota producers to rebuild fiber production and processing infrastructure (U.S. Congress, 2018). The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has since administered state hemp programs, reestablishing the regulatory pathway for commercial cultivation and processing (Minnesota Department of Agriculture, 2023). Reshoring textiles in Minnesota now presents an opportunity to integrate regenerative agriculture with advanced regional manufacturing. Industrial hemp can support diversified crop rotations and reduced input systems while contributing to soil health and carbon sequestration potential (Cherney & Small, 2016; Small & Marcus, 2002). When paired with in-state decortication, spinning, and textile production, hemp enables a vertically integrated fiber system rooted in Minnesota soil rather than overseas supply chains.

Indeed, we used to make fabric in this country, we had a textile and garment industry.  In the push for globalization and protection of corporate profits,  the  American textile industry was offshored during the later part of the 20th century to Asia. To be specific,   From 1994 to 2005, the United States lost more than 900,000 textile and apparel jobs to offshoring. Since the 1960s, low wages and new industrial production capacity in countries such as China, India, and Brazil made textile production in the United States a losing proposition.

That’s how it’s done.  “ Most U.S. textile companies either shutdown or moved abroad, and it seemed as though the U.S. textile industry would never make a comeback. This hit the U.S. Southeast particularly hard. As the Great Recession loomed, the only evidence of the once thriving industry were the old derelict factories — tall smokestacks, short ceiling heights, and creeping kudzu vines swallowing what was left of the buildings.  Those were some major job percent increase in exports from 2009–2015.  losses. However, that’s  changing, and textiles are returning. 

The U.S. textile industry saw $2 billion in capital investments in 2015. In addition to new greenfield investment, existing textile companies that weathered the downturn are retooling their businesses and automating the work process. The United States is currently the world’s third-largest exporter of textiles, Now we just need to rebuild the industry so that the materials are organic and grown here, that’s hemp.  That’s the new green revolution. In short, hemp textiles were and are a huge potential for rebuilding an industry from the soil up, and that industry can be the New Green Revolution.  Below David at Tuscarora Mills and his hemp thread.