Ninety per cent of a garment’s environmental impact happens before it is ever sewn together, according to a study by Glimpact, the first platform to use its Global Impact Score tool to evaluate the complete environmental impact of goods and organisations.
Glimpact evaluated the actual ecological impact of clothing from a number of well-known brands, such as Patagonia, Reformation, H&M, Ralph Lauren, and Alo Yoga, using a methodology that the European Union adopted. The company discovered that carbon emissions made up only 23 per cent of the environmental footprint of an average clothing product.
According to the study, 75 per cent of a clothes product’s environmental impact comes from sources other than carbon emissions, challenging a number of widely held beliefs about sustainability and clothing production. Additionally, it was shown that up to 90 per cent of the environmental impact of the garment was caused by the choice of raw materials and certain production procedures rather than by packing, distribution, or assembly.
Glimpact used the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) approach, a scientific methodology recognised by the European Union under the ESPR regulation as the norm for quantifying environmental impact, to evaluate more than 100 clothing items across all life cycle stages, from cradle to grave. The 16 environmental effect categories that were examined in Glimpact’s review went beyond carbon emissions to include water use, fine particulate matter, and the use of fossil fuels.
Among the study’s most intriguing product-level conclusions was that Reformation’s Tessa Hoodie, which is composed entirely of organic cotton, had the greatest environmental impact of all the items studied. The Tessa Hoodie from the Los Angeles-based company, which is well-known for its dedication to sustainable designs and responsible manufacturing, had a larger environmental impact than the Fitz Roy Icon Uprisal Hoody from Patagonia, which is made entirely of recycled materials, and the Accolade Hoodie from Alo Yoga, which does not advertise sustainability claims.
Furthermore, even though ESG methods are frequently emphasised, the study discovered that packing and distribution account for less than 7 per cent of the overall environmental effect of a garment. Raw materials and manufacturing processes, on the other hand, make up more than 90 per cent, making them the most strategically important sectors for sustainability initiatives.
