The huge amount of waste alone is cause for concern. But throwing away brand new clothes means the resource-intensive process required to make new clothes must then be repeated over and over again as brands update their stock for the next fashion cycle. Producing just one cotton t-shirt emits the same amount of greenhouse gas as driving a car for about 10 miles and requires more than 700 gallons of water. Synthetic clothes are also a major contributor to ocean plastic pollution. Clothing production and use could spew 22 million metric tons of microplastics to the ocean between 2015 and 2050.

All of this merchandise pollutes the environment long after it winds up trashed. Clothing dumped in landfills releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Incinerating garments creates harmful air pollution. Neither option is acceptable.

The solution is simple: Clothing manufacturers and retailers need to stop producing more clothing than we can wear. When retailers have overstock, there are many better alternatives than trashing it. Brand new clothing can easily be kept on shelves, sold to brand-run outlet stores or secondhand stores, donated, repurposed and reused in other products, or recycled into new garments. State and local governments must take action to ensure that the clothing waste problem does not continue to grow. By preventing the incineration or landfilling of overstock, U.S. states can help put an end to this wasteful practice once and for all.