We’ve all heard about our carbon footprint, our water footprint and even our paper footprint. Have you ever stopped to wonder about the carbon footprint of the clothes you are wearing?

Ethical and eco-chic manufacturer, Continental Clothing, working with the Carbon Trust, is launching the world’s first Carbon Reduction Label for textile products.

The new label will show the carbon footprint of the entire lifecycle of the clothes, from raw materials and manufacturing, through to consumer use and disposal.

Sustainable clothing

The project is part of Defra’s action plan for sustainable clothing launched at last

The label will be displayed on a range of printed T-shirt and sweatshirts, and will inform the consumer of the total lifecycle footprint as well as their own contribution through washing, tumble-drying and ironing. It will put a number on the reductions that can be achieved by consumers through changing their washing, drying and ironing routines.

Laundry

The footprinting study has shown that as much as ½ of the total footprint of clothing can come from consumers’ home laundry activities, a particular hotspot being the tumble-drying, which produces twice the emissions of automatic washing. Avoiding tumble-drying and ironing could reduce the total footprint by as much as one third overall.

Well that’s good news - when I used an iron at the end of last year, Little Miss Green looked at me and said ‘what’s that?’ - she’s eight! I always knew there was a good reason why I don’t iron!

What about you - is the carbon footprint of your favourite fashion buys something you will take into account when making a new purchase?

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