What is the carbon footprint of different cashmere fabrics, and what does that mean in our wardrobes?
The carbon footprint of cashmere
The way that cashmere is made into fabric, whether it is woven or knitted, makes an impact on the overall carbon footprint of the fiber, which is produced from ruminant animals, who emit methane as they breathe, pass gas and belch.
A study comparing the environmental impacts of different cashmere materials found that in the case of knitted cashmere fabric, which is most commonly used for the very popular product category of cashmere knitwear, had a carbon footprint as significant as 16,073.4 kg co2/t.
This is a big and in many ways meaningless number, as our brains can’t comprehend what this means.
If we divide 16,073.4 by 1,000, we find that 16.07kg of CO2e is emitted for every kilogram of knitted cashmere fabric.
It is reasonable to estimate a standard, fairly lightweight cashmere knitted garment would weight 350g.
35% of 1kg (350g) worth of emissions = 5.62kg of CO2
Therefore, one lightweight cashmere knitted garment has an approximate carbon footprint of 5.62kg of CO2.