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Clothes

One reason for this is that although the textiles industry spawned the industrial revolution there is still no good way to automate the final phase of assembling good quality clothes. As a result the industry is still dependent upon cheap labour, often in places like China and Bangladesh.

But surprisingly, despite the huge transportation involved in the long supply chain (growing cotton in one part of the world, made into clothes in another and then shipped to yet another to be sold), the growing of the cotton and then knitting and stitching the material actually burns more energy than transporting it. And the real killer is at our end of the supply chain – laundry. This can account for as much as 80 per cent of a garment’s carbon footprint alone.

Washing clothes at a cooler 30 degrees can make a difference, reducing emissions by as much as 40 per cent. Avoid tumble-drying too since these use twice as much energy as it takes to wash clothing. So in short, try to make your clothes last, wash them at low temperatures and buy a washing line.