Jeans Footprint Calculator
See the carbon and water behind the jeans you buy each year, and how much organic cotton, pre-loved or upcycled pairs and simple care habits can save. Figures come from published life-cycle studies, listed at the end.
What your choices save
| All new, conventional | Your choices | |
|---|---|---|
| Carbon (kg CO₂e) | ||
| Water (litres) |
Why it matters: what the global reports say
How this works. One new pair of conventional jeans is counted at 33.4 kg CO₂e and 3,781 litres of water over its whole life, from growing the cotton to washing and disposal, based on the Levi Strauss & Co. life-cycle assessment of a 501 jean (2015). Organic cotton changes only the cotton-growing stage, using the Textile Exchange organic cotton LCA (2014): 46% less carbon and 91% less blue water per kilo of fibre. A pre-loved or upcycled pair skips fibre, fabric, sewing, trims and transport, so its saving is shown as an upper estimate. Washing half as often halves the washing and drying stage. Wearing clothes 9 months longer is applied as a 20% cut, the low end of WRAP's 20 to 30% estimate. Electricity equivalents use India's average grid emission factor of 0.727 kg CO₂ per unit (kWh) for 2023-24, from the Central Electricity Authority's CO₂ Baseline Database. Buckets are counted at 10 litres and glasses at 250 ml.
These are estimates for a typical pair, not a measurement of any product. Real figures vary by brand, factory, country and how you care for your clothes, and the studies used different water measures.
Sources: Levi Strauss & Co., The Life Cycle of a Jean (2015) · Textile Exchange, Life Cycle Assessment of Organic Cotton Fiber (2014) · WRAP clothing durability research, via FashionUnited (2015)
Jeans Footprint Calculator
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Last Updated: 2026-11-06