Measure credible environmental footprints of your products. Zoom into any part of your products, processes, or value chain. And reduce environmental impact where it really matters.
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Our easy product footprint tools are built to deliver strategic sustainable business insights - not academic research. It's footprinting for business.
Your business constantly changes. Don't waste time hiring expensive consultants. Implement every change with our tools - and always access your most recent data.
Our tools follow the credible scientific method Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Understand where your impact comes from - and claim it to the world.
Our team of experienced environmental specialists work with many companies in textile & apparel. They can assist you in implementing our software and answer all your questions.
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) measures the environmental impacts of a product or service. Learn all about LCA in our extensive guide.
Data on your usages & emissions, utilities, transport, materials, etc. Measuring LCA’s of products always starts with data collection. But what data do you need- from who?
Big fashion brands are under fire, receiving fees- or even sued for greenwashing claims. In this commotion, a lot of well-deserved attention goes to the credibility of environmental data. Where does this data come from? How reliable is it? How reliable are the measurement methods? In this article we go through the good, the bad and the potential of Life Cycle Assessments as environmental impact measurement method for the fashion industry.
Struggling to find credible materials that are actually better for the environment? Learn how to best search for & compare environmental impacts of different materials. Watch our free webinar recording on choosing sustainable materials below.
Patagonia, the flagship of the sustainable apparel movement, will no longer add company logos to their clothes. The decision sparked approval and discussions. But was it a good one?
How does design reduce environmental impact? Get started with the fundamentals of Ecodesign and Circular Design.
You barely hear who’s behind the biggest denim brands in the world. But Saitex, the Vietnam-based manufacturer of jeans garments, is taking action to measure and improve their environmental performance.
By now it’s pretty obvious – but the fashion and textile industries are one of the BIGGEST polluters of all. We need transparency and sustainable product improvements to happen and fast. Whether it’s to answer consumer demand or keep up with new legislation (Such as the EU Textile Directive), fashion is in a state of transformation. But change is not always easy. Supply chain data collection, particularly in the fashion & textile industry, can be a bit of a pain.
The textile industry is one of the worlds big polluters. The good news is there are companies out there looking for solutions. As founder & …
Step 1
For any piece of apparel, the first step is to produce the fiber that is used to create the product. This could be synthetic fibers, cellulose, cotton, or other natural fibers. It’s a stage that can take up to 12% of your product’s total footprint.
Cotton is sometimes referred to as the dirtiest fiber in the world – more than 16% of global insecticides are used for its production. Growing cotton for one jeans and one t-shirt takes 10.000 liters of water on average.
Organic cotton and other natural fibers can be a solution, but they account for less than 1% of global cotton industry.
Step 2
Processing the raw fibers to yarn is a process that requires a lot of energy. A lot of different machines are involved to process the unstable, irregular fibers and filament to a durable yarn. Processing yarn can take up to 23 % of your product’s total footprint.
Step 3
The knitting and weaving of yarn into fabric is a step in the production chain that takes a comparably little amount of energy. However, we often see that almost 10% of the impact of the apparel occurs in producing the fabric.
Step 4
Dyeing and finishing accounts for more than 28% of the footprint of the apparel. It is the most energy intensive stage, as dyeing has a high energy demand due to wet processes which require large amounts of heated water. Many chemicals, such as bleach, are used in this step.
Step 5
We see that assembling apparel usually accounts for only 5% of the footprint of the apparel industry. It is labor intensive, but a lot of the labor is still conducted manually, and the energy requirements of the machines are more moderate. However, the social implications of manufacturing clothing are a prominent subject of dispute.
Step 6
The distribution and retail of the clothing we wear usually accounts only for 1% of the total footprint.
Step 7
The consumer use phase is where the product is handled, washed, repaired, and possibly passed on. The magnitude of this phase’s impact involves assumptions about consumer behaviors, which vary widely in the real world. However, many sources- including our own customers; show this can make up to 23% of your product’s total footprint! The main drivers are the energy and water consumption from washing, as well as energy-intensive drying.
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