A new pair of jeans now features only a price in euros on its label, but the true cost of its production is far more complex. Producing a standard pair of jeans consumes between 7,500 and 10,000 liters of fresh water. Most of this water—about 90%—is used in the field before the cotton becomes fabric. This is because growing cotton requires a vast amount of water. According to the Water Footprint Network, it takes roughly 10,000 liters of water to produce just 1 kilogram of cotton fiber. The exact amount varies by region, with cotton grown in India requiring up to 22,500 liters per kilogram, while that in China needs as little as 6,000 liters. Extending the lifespan of a pair of jeans by half can reduce its overall water footprint by the same amount. The water used in cotton production is not naturally falling rain, but rather water that is pumped from rivers and underground sources, often in regions where water is already scarce. Major cotton-producing countries like India and Pakistan rely heavily on irrigation, which diverts water from sources that could otherwise support local communities. The difference in water use between countries is stark: in India, it takes 22,500 liters to produce 1 kilogram of cotton, while in China, it only takes 6,000 liters. This disparity highlights the environmental and resource challenges of cotton farming in different parts of the world. One of the most dramatic examples of the impact of cotton farming on water resources is the Aral Sea. Once one of the world’s largest lakes, the Aral Sea has lost over 90% of its volume since the 1960s due to massive irrigation projects for cotton production in Central Asia. The Soviet Union redirected the flow of two major rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, to support cotton farming, leading to the near-complete desiccation of the sea. The Karakum Canal, which stretches over 1,350 kilometers, has been capturing most of the river’s flow since 1956. Today, the Aral Sea’s former bed is a vast salt desert, known as the Aralkum, which covers about 60,000 square kilometers. This area is now a source of toxic dust containing salt, fertilizers, and pesticides, which are carried by the wind and spread across the region at a rate of 43 million tons per year. Despite this environmental damage, cotton production in the region continues, with countries like Uzbekistan still exporting millions of tons of cotton annually. Similar patterns of water-intensive cotton farming are evident in Pakistan and northern India, where irrigation for cotton competes directly with the water needs of nearby communities. According to Fluence Corporation, a company specializing in water treatment, 92% of the water used in a pair of jeans comes from the irrigation of cotton plants. The remaining 8% is used in dyeing, washing, and home laundering. With about 2 billion pairs of jeans sold worldwide each year—roughly 60 per second—the cumulative water usage is staggering. Many of these jeans never reach consumers and instead end up in second-hand clothing markets, with some discarded items piling up in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Satellite images reveal a visible mountain of abandoned clothing, totaling around 60,000 tons. The environmental impact of a pair of jeans is largely determined by how often it is worn, rather than how often it is washed. A basic pair of jeans costing around 20 euros, worn 50 times, consumes the equivalent of 7,000 liters of water. If the same jeans are worn 102 times, the water footprint drops to about 3,500 liters. Reducing the number of washes has a minimal effect on the overall footprint, but doubling the lifespan of the garment can cut the total water usage in half. Buying second-hand jeans effectively eliminates any additional water cost, as the garment has already been produced.