Climate footprint: Sustainable compared to a fast fashion T-shirt

European consumption of textiles has the fourth largest impact on the environment and climate change, after food, housing and mobility. Textile consumption is also in the top three factors that place the most pressure on water and land use and in the top five for raw material use and greenhouse gas emissions. The way we produce and use our clothing can therefore contribute to the reduction of global CO₂ emissions.

For example, a sustainably produced T-shirt has a much smaller climate footprint than a fast fashion T-shirt. Additional (circular) measures such as washing the T-shirt less often and extending its lifespan can further reduce the climate footprint of the T-shirt. It is important to not only look at the territorial emissions (caused in Belgium/Flanders), but at the global emissions. This is illustrated here by calculating the climate impact of an environmentally intensive product, namely a T-shirt.