Drive 20 miles North of Las Vegas, and you'll find a 2,200-acre area designated for waste, the Apex Regional landfill. It holds the Guinness World Record for the largest landfill site, containing an estimated 50 million tons of stuff.
The growing waste production crisis has many contributors, among them fast fashion clothing. Its reliance on rapidly changing trends and overproduction has made the industry a significant contributor to landfills.
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that Americans generate 17 million tons of textile waste yearly. That makes up roughly 6% of municipal waste. For the Apex Regional Landfill, this would translate to 3 million tons of textiles.
“We're not really addressing the problem by saying, ‘Hey, this is really wasteful. Hey, why are there so many micro trends a year … and where is the waste going at the end of the day?’” says Beth Lauck, a Ph.D. student at UNLV studying fashion history. She says the demand for fast fashion trends highlights the reality of the market’s ecological footprint.
One cotton t-shirt requires 2,700 liters of water to produce, and 85% of all textile fabrics end up in dumps every year. That makes the fashion industry’s environmental impact concerning.
Lauck upcycled and sold vintage pieces for roughly 10 years in the Bay Area before partnering with a boutique in the Las Vegas Arts District. Now, she has taken over as the owner of that shop, For The Love.
“It was a way of giving people access to more affordable, beautiful, high-quality things, and knowing that I was maybe helping to keep some things out of the landfill,” Lauck says.
The Arts District has become a secondhand-market hub. It’s home to more than 20 independent stores for pre-owned items. Whether antique, vintage, or just lightly used, sellers offer unique clothing, art, furniture and more.
For some vintage vendors in the area, ecological concerns are a priority. Coincidentally, the secondhand side of the fashion industry is rapidly growing.
According to a recent report from ThredUp, an online reselling and thrift platform, the global secondhand apparel market is expected to reach $393 billion by 2030. That rate of growth is more than twice as fast as the regular market.
Vintage outfit inspirations and thrift hauls may pop up all over your social media feeds. And while the commercial growth of the industry is clear, some say the motivation behind the interest in vintage items is more than a trend. That includes local business owner Shelley White.
“I think it's accountability. I think it's knowledge. I think it's becoming an informed consumer. You know, the climate has changed, the world's gotten smaller. We're seeing where our trash goes. We're seeing these islands filled with things,” she says.
White opened her store, Neon Desert Vintage, in the Arts District in October 2025. She and Saasil Caballero, a curator at the shop, source vintage one-of-a-kind items, from paintings to jewelry.
Caballero was always interested in fashion. Now, she recognizes the environmental impact she has made, and takes steps to minimize it through secondhand retail.
“It's not only landfills in the United States, but you have entire textile islands in Ghana" Caballero says with frustration. "Just thinking about that, like honestly, makes me freak out a little bit because I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, I've contributed to this too.’”
Caballero says the market is not only affordable. It’s also sustainable, ethical, and — for her — a creative outlet.
“For somebody who's super into fashion or wants to experiment with styles, a lot of the time it's easier to find something unique at the thrift store than it is at the mall,” she says.
The Arts District does offer an environmentally friendly alternative to mass-produced items that end up as waste, Lauck says. But she emphasizes that it is not an end-all solution.
“Fashion has become less necessity-based and more driven by the desire to look unique and to never wear the same thing. It definitely has those pitfalls of enabling the same patterns,” Lauck explains.
Global waste production is growing at an unprecedented rate. Without intervention, by 2050, the World Bank predicts it could increase by 50% from the 2022 baseline of 2.6 billion tons a year.
But amid the expanding crisis, Neon Desert owner Shelly White emphasizes that when it comes to secondhand retail, shopping environmentally conscious is a first step in the right direction.
