SACRAMENTO BEE 04/29/25
BY Michael Shank and Maxine Bedat

For too long, the apparel industry has gotten a pass when it comes to sustainability efforts. Until now, sustainability efforts in this industry have all been voluntary, not mandatory. Consequently, greenwashing is rampant, leading consumers to believe something good is being done with all that produced and discarded clothing.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. And similar to the plastics industry, which has production plans to triple by 2050, the fastest growing part of the clothing industry is not just fast fashion, but trash fashion — clothing that is meant to be worn only a couple times and then discarded. It’s why textiles are the fastest-growing component of U.S. landfills.

The apparel industry, meanwhile, is responsible for 8% of total global emissions.

The world cannot afford this growing burden of waste, pollution and emissions. Thankfully, legislators in California and New York are stepping up to put policies in place that hold the industry accountable for how it mistreats our health and our ecosystem.

In California, the Fashion Environmental Accountability Act of 2025 (Assembly Bill 405), known as the CA Fashion Act was introduced this session. The legislation, authored by Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-San Luis Obispo, calls for basic transparency and responsibility for any apparel or footwear company doing business in California that has an annual global revenue of $100 million or more.

AB 405 reaches fashion companies that sell into the state, regardless of where they are based. It requires that fashion brands that have access to California’s economy be required to reduce their carbon emission in line with the Paris Agreement. This is currently the voluntary standard that the industry uses, and AB 405 codifies it.

Addis’ bill could be viewed as the fashion version of California’s fuel efficiency standards.

The legislation prioritizes emissions reduction and safety controls on key toxic chemicals — that means transparency in what’s happening along the supply chain and responsibility for drawing down negative environmental impacts. That’s not too much to ask of a $2.5 trillion apparel industry that can undoubtedly afford better business practices.

Without immediate change, our waterways will see more plastics and more chemicals, and our skies will see more pollutants and emissions. Our global system is lawless, and it’s past time to change that and raise the floor for the industry.

So what’s needed to get this legislation across the finish line in Sacramento? The environmental community — and its funders — must get on board with AB 405 and similar legislation in New York. Remarkably, they’ve been largely absent from the apparel and textile conversation and from broader talks about policy as a solution that can drive sectoral progress. That needs to change.

Until single-use industries are held accountable, we’ll keep seeing the status quo prevail in the apparel industry. It’ll continue to be business as usual unless they’re compelled to do better by policy. A strong mix of people power on the ground will convince funders to finally focus on the most effective way to address this industry’s footprint.

Maxine Bédat is the executive director at the New Standard Institute and author of “Unraveled: The Life and Death of a Garment.” Dr. Michael Shank is adjunct faculty at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and a visiting scholar at George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.