The carbon footprint of a T-shirt: what our catalogue shows
A T-shirt is one of the most common products asked about, and one of the best documented. Our catalogue holds thousands of them, each footprinted with the same method, which gives a useful picture of what a typical figure looks like and where it comes from.
6 min read · Updated
- Raw materials 16%
- Production 47%
- Packaging 4%
- Distribution 1%
- Use 30%
- End of life 3%
The typical figure
Across 3,223 T-shirts in our catalogue, the median footprint is 5.01 kg CO₂e per T-shirt over its whole life, and the middle half of them fall between 4.51 and 5.36 kg.
These are screening estimates made from product listings: where a listing does not state the weight or the country of manufacture, a typical value is used and recorded. A footprint made from a factory's own data will differ, sometimes a lot. Other published estimates for cotton T-shirts also vary widely, mostly because of weight and boundary.
Where it comes from
Production is the biggest part, about 47%: spinning, knitting, dyeing and sewing, mostly through the electricity and heat they use. The use phase, washing and drying, is about 30%. Raw materials (growing the fibre) are about 16%. Packaging, transport and end of life add the rest.
Without the use phase, the cradle-to-gate footprint a supplier would send under PACT is noticeably lower; see cradle to gate vs cradle to grave.
- Raw materials 16%
- Production 47%
- Packaging 4%
- Distribution 1%
- Use 30%
- End of life 3%
Conventional and organic cotton
Among single-fibre T-shirts in the catalogue, the median is 5.36 kg for conventional cotton (1,213 products) and 4.20 kg for organic cotton (785 products).
The difference comes from the fibre factors used for each, and weights and countries also differ between the two groups, so treat it as a description of the catalogue rather than a rule.
What actually lowers a T-shirt's footprint
- Factory energy: cleaner electricity and efficient dyeing and drying, because production is the largest stage.
- Less waste: cutting and processing losses mean buying fibre that never ends up in the T-shirt.
- Lighter fabric where it does not shorten the garment's life.
- Care: washing cold and line drying cut the use phase, the second-largest stage.
See the products
Browse T-shirts in our catalogue to see each one split by stage with its sources, compare two side by side, or estimate your own T-shirt from its product page.
Questions
How many kg CO₂e is a cotton T-shirt?
In our catalogue the median is about 5 kg CO₂e per T-shirt over its whole life, based on screening estimates. A cradle-to-gate figure is lower.
Which stage of a T-shirt's life emits the most?
Production (spinning, knitting, dyeing and sewing), followed by washing and drying in use.
Is organic cotton lower carbon?
Its fibre factor is lower in the sources we use, but the whole-garment difference depends on weight, energy and country too.