YOUR WATERFOOTPRINT FABRIC IMPACT
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What is your Waterfootprint?

Are you wondering what your personal wardrobe at home has got to do with growing water challenges in countries that have a strong textile industry? It’s quite simple actually - especially if your wardrobe consists of various cotton items. As cotton is a very thirsty plant, it demands for extraordinarily high irrigation during its cultivation. These amounts of water are then bond to textiles - impacting especially regions that are suffering from water stress or water scarcity. So let’s make it concrete. How much water is hanging in your own wardrobe?

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Even though we speak of the blue planet...

earth

only 2.5% of our blue resources are actually fresh water

Tree

Water is not only needed for our own drinking purposes but moreover for the production of goods and services (industrial and agricultural consumption)

cotton

Cotton is used to produce 40% of the world's textile products while being one of the most water and pesticide intensive crops

t-shirt

Influences on natural processes such as extensive water consumption for the production of textiles harm the sensitive water equilibrium

water drip

Especially in water scarce regions (physically or economically scarce) negative effects on natural resources are tremendous

consumer

So how can consumers influence the development in water scarce regions, directly and indirectly, with their fashion habits?

CALCULATE YOUR IMPACT

An average German household consumes 120 litres per capita and day, and with 1,000 litres or 1 m3 of water, we could shower 20 times, wash our hands 400 times or drink 4,000 glasses of water – each containing 250 ml. Sticking to glasses of water, one cotton sweater with an average footprint of 4,500 litres of water would fill up even more of them – 18,000 to be precise.

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Jeans

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Sweater Icon

Sweater

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Dress Icon

Dress

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T-shirt Icon

T-shirt

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Shirt/Blouse Icon

Shirt/Blouse

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Underwear Icon

Underwear

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Socks

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Your Wardrobe Contains...

0 liters

What to choose?

When thinking of the natural water cycle being challenged by our direct and indirect consumption, we should ask ourselves: What can I do to reduce my own water footprint and help to manage water for both people and nature?
One of the first things that are necessary to be understood is, that we all share freshwater in an open global economy, and that addressing local water scarcity demands for wise water governance in a global dimension.[1]

Average impact for a shirt

0.4m3
0.1m3 70 % saving
85 days drinking water for one person

You might be interested to know:

Linen fabric is produced from flax, a plant fiber that can grow with little attention or fertilizers. Flax is mainly cultivated in regions with sufficient rainfall, e.g. north-west Europe, eliminating the need for irrigation and contributing to a minimal water impact, meaning even standard linen is a lower impact choice.

Look out for these lower-impact material certifications:

Average impact for a dress

0.9m3
0.7m3 23 % saving
6.6 days drinking water for one person

You might be interested to know:

Polyester is made from crude oil and the production is energy intensive. Recycled polyester, made from plastic bottles or discarded polyester textiles, avoids emissions resulting from the oil extraction process contributing to CO2 savings of up to 75%. However, like standard polyester, it can shed plastic microfibers during use, contributing to marine pollution. We recommend using a GUPPYFRIEND® washing bag or similar to help capture microfibers.

Look out for these lower-impact material certifications:

Average impact for a pair of trousers

0.16m3
0.15m3 3 % saving
1.6 days drinking water for one person

You might be interested to know:

Econyl has pioneered closed loop regeneration processes, transforming marine debris into recycled nylon with the quality of standard nylon and requires 50% less energy in production. Like standard nylon, it can shed plastic microfibers during use, contributing to marine pollution. We recommend using a GUPPYFRIEND® washing bag or similar to help capture the microfibers.

Look out for these lower-impact material certifications:

Average impact for a t-shirt

Organic cotton
Recycled cotton
0.4m3
0.1m3 80 % saving
99 days drinking water for one person

You might be interested to know:

Cotton uses a disproportionate amount of pesticides. It is grown on just 2.5% of agricultural land worldwide, but accounts for 16% of all insecticides sold globally. Lower-impact cotton production uses crop rotation and biological means to control pests, which reduces soil, air and water contamination, and carbon emissions from the production of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Look out for these lower-impact material certifications:

Average impact for a dress

LENZING™ Viscose
TENCEL™ Lyocell
0.3m3
0.3m3 20 % saving
21 days drinking water for one person

You might be interested to know:

Viscose is a manufactured cellulosic fiber, primarily made from wood. Several initiatives, including CanopyStyle, ensure the raw materials used are sourced from responsibly managed forests, protecting ancient and endangered forests and rainforests. Examples of preferred viscose include LENZING™ Viscose and TENCEL™ Lyocell whose processing is done in a closed-loop system recycling the water and chemicals.

Look out for these lower-impact material certifications:

Average impact for a jumper

0.3m3
0.1m3 63 % saving
61 days drinking water for one person

You might be interested to know:

While wool's share of the total textile fiber supply is only around 1.3%, it accounts for up to 5% of the recycled fibers market. The Responsible Wool Standard ensures animal welfare (e.g. no mulesing) and best practices in the management, protection and regeneration of the sheep grazing land.

Look out for these lower-impact material certifications:

Average impact for a blouse

Vegan silk (Cupro)
Recycled silk
17.4m3
0.2m3 99 % saving
5358 days drinking water for one person

You might be interested to know:

China and India produce around 97% of silk worldwide and silk farming provides income for 700,000 households in India. Organic wild or peace silk is often the more sustainable option as silkworms are not harmed in the harvesting process. Cupro, recognized for its silk-like properties, is a man-made cellulosic fiber produced from cotton linter bio-utility waste converted through a traceable closed loop process, where chemicals and water can be recycled.

Look out for these lower-impact material certifications:

Average impact for a bag

0.4m3
0.4m3 0 % saving
0 days drinking water for one person

You might be interested to know:

The process of tanning leather can be toxic due to the chemicals used. The Leather Working Group provides environmental audits of tanneries and gives ratings to high-performing facilities, which use low-chrome or non chrome tanning and have water treatment processes in place, reducing the amount of chemicals that are released into local waterways.
There are also vegan alternatives that can replicate the aesthetic and mechanical properties of real leather and have the potential for recyclability and biodegradability e.g. vegan leather made from food waste, cork or mycelium.

Look out for these lower-impact material certifications:

The Natural Water Circle

Natural waters can come in various shapes: Oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and glaciers, underground, atmospheric and biologically combined waters. Yet, they have one thing in common: they are all interrelated and move from one phase to another as the hydrologic or water cycle progresses. [1] This means, waters are in constant, usually cyclic motion and only 2.5% are actually fresh water.

Water (H₂O), which is only a bond of the elements oxygen and hydrogen, is the most important and most frequent chemical compound on the blue planet – with a total volume between 1.4 and 1.6 billion km³, which corresponds to an earth surface water coverage of around 71%. However, this high quantity is by no means equal to the actual amount of drinking water - as only 2.5% of our blue resources are actually fresh water with 1.3 % of surface water, 30.1% groundwater and another 68.6% are stored in glaciers and ice. Of the many processes involved in this cycle, the most important are:[2][3]

  • Evaporation → If water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor, leaving the Earth’s surface to its atmosphere, we speak of evaporation.
  • Transpiration → If water is evaporating from the leaves of plants - e.g. through pores - it is classified as transpiration.

Evaporation and transpiration summed up, will result in Total Evaporation. Main drivers for evaporation are temperature, humidity, wind speed, as well as solar radiation.

  • Condensation → Evaporated water rises up in the atmosphere and cools down the higher it gets. If this vapor is returning to a more liquid stage, we speak of condensation; Clouds are built.
  • Precipitation → By condensation, and if clouds can not hold back the amount of moisture anymore, water is returning to the Earth in the shape of rain, snow or ice-pellets.
  • Runoff → Precipitation that hits the Earth's surface can (1) be returned back to the atmosphere as part of the evaporation process, (2) be absorbed by vegetation, (3) infiltrate into the soil and nourish aquifers or can be (4) united in streams, lakes and the sea.

Based on the concept of the natural cycle, water cannot be lost in a sense that total water resources decrease – as we are talking of a cycle. However, overexploitation, water pollution and unsustainable consumption are responsible for a shift of available resources. For example, if groundwater resources are used for industrial purposes and are not released properly treated back to the environment (in order to recharge ground- or surface water resources), one might consider this water as ’lost’ for other purposes – e.g. drinking water for households. Without proper management and governance of water resources, virtual water is bond to products as for example fancy fashion and travels the world – leaving the regions of their origin with increasing water stress related problems.

Water Footprint

Everything we use, wear, buy, sell and eat demands for water: The coffee we drink, the sandwich we eat, the chair we sit on and the nice tight pair of jeans we wear while sitting on that chair. In general, the water footprint measures the amount of water that is needed for each product – starting from the full production cycle to the end-user. This virtual water is in most cases hidden like an iceberg and difficult to see directly.

If we consider that an average German household consumes around 120 litres per capita and day, and even though it seems that Germans tend to consume less and less water ‘directly’, they are one of the largest consumers of so called virtual water due to their consumption and living habits. If that amount is added to the 120 litres, we have a much higher per capita consumption that is much closer linked to the water users Agriculture and Industry, than we might have thought. Even though we might not see our indirect water consumption in daily life easily, a substantial volume of water relates to our commodities consumed e.g. a bunch of flowers bought in Berlin may have been grown in and imported from Kenya, a Sweater bought in Portugal may have been manufactured in India with cotton imported from Bangladesh or India. In this second case, we do not only have to think of the water that is used for irrigation purposes and might increase overexploitation of groundwater and surface waters, but also, that from industrial procedures like dyeing, local streams are polluted. These externalities are often not reflected in the price of the commodities, and consumers are not aware of their global water footprint.[1]

The interest in the water footprint is rooted in the recognition that human impacts on freshwater systems can ultimately be linked to human consumption, and that issues like water shortages and pollution can be better understood and addressed by considering production and supply chains as a whole, […]
Professor Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Creator of the water footprint concept.

Considering this, ecological footprints of different goods and services are the result of global trade, individual consumption habits and the import of water-intensive goods from elsewhere. In general we can differentiate between:[2]

  • Blue Water Footprint
    Consumption of blue water resources - surface and groundwater - along the supply chain of a product
  • Green Water Footprint
    Consumption of green water resources - rainwater insofar as it does not become runoff.
  • Grey Water Footprint
    Refers to pollution and is defined as the volume of freshwater that is required to assimilate the load of pollutants given natural background concentrations and existing ambient water quality standards

The externalization of a country's water footprint puts increasing pressure on natural resources especially in regions already facing water stress or scarcity. If exporting regions are furthermore lacking wise water governance they face increasing challenges in balancing their natural resources. So, how to satisfy international trade and consumers’ demands while securing a sustainable water sector development?

Water & Cotton

Cotton is used to produce 40% of the world’s textile products while being one of the most water- and pesticide-intensive crops. The production of a kilogram of cotton drinks between 7.000 and 29.000 litres before hanging in your closet as a simple T-Shirt.[1]

Based on the water footprint concept (check Step #2), our products undertake quite a journey until they are part of our daily lives. These journeys are getting longer and collect even more water if they start far away from regional markets and if they are made up of raw materials that are water-intensive like cotton for example.

From the cotton production at field level (agricultural stage) to the processing of seed cotton into final cotton products (industrial stage), different types of ‘water-impacts’ on the elements of the natural water cycle exist: (1) evaporation of infiltrated rainwater for cotton growth, (2) withdrawal of ground- or surface water for irrigation, and (3) water pollution due to the leaching of fertilisers and pesticides.[2]

As cotton is grown in warm climate and often irrigated, especially the second impact carries a high risk for overexploitation of water resources due to water abstractions for cotton fields – on average, one third of the water footprint of cotton can be considered as blue water (again, check Step #2). However, the three impacts can vary depending on the region where cotton is grown (e.g. China, India or Bangladesh), where it is further processed in the textile industry (e.g. Malaysia) and where the final cotton clothes are exported to (e.g to the European market). Thus, and in order to break down the impacts (1-3) of consuming cotton products on global water resources, the origins of the product need to be tracked. As a result, the water footprint of cotton fabrics varies from place to place and from the specific life cycle.

According to Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011 and 2013), the global average water footprint of cotton fibres is approximately 10,000 litres per kg. Resulting in 2,500 litres needed for the production of a single cotton T-Shirt. If we remember the 120 litres per capita and day in a German household, this would cover our daily water demand for more than 20 days. As comparison, the footprint of e.g. hemp fibres has a global average water footprint of approximately 2,700 litres per kg, which is substantially smaller than that of cotton.[3][4]

Out of balance...

Freshwater is increasingly becoming a global resource that is driven by international trade. The three main consumers - agriculture, industry and private households - wrench on the natural water cycles balance.

In general, we can speak of three main water users: (1) agricultural (2) industrial and (3) domestic users, whereas agricultural is the largest consumer with around 70%. Domestic represent the smallest consumer group with only 10%, leading to the question if our direct household consumption (e.g. for taking a shower or washing our clothes) actually has the biggest impact on improper use of water. Every year human influences grow and cause more and more changes to natural processes, including the hydrological cycle. These changes bring about alterations to the water balance and to water resources and their availability – especially in certain regions. The rapid growth of population, the development of industrial production and the rise of agriculture have resulted in the increased use of water.[1]

Due to its increasing scarcity and uneven distribution across the globe, water is gradually becoming a geopolitical resource, influencing the power of nations. At the same time, it becomes also clearer that water is an economic good, as already stated in the so-called Dublin principles at the International Conference on Water and the Environment (ICWE) in 1992: “Principle No. 4: Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good”. [2] This should not only be seen as a threat to the natural resource, but also from the perspective that only if the refinancing of water services – this includes all costs that are necessary in order to produce, treat and distribute (drinking) water – is secured, under an equal consideration of social, environmental and economic aspects, the right to water can be implemented sustainably. However, as the (economic) value of water differs between the three main users - domestic, agricultural and industrial - water resources are exposed to increasing pressure and are constantly evaluated: Supply to urban households or irrigation for agricultural and industrial purposes? Answering this question is especially difficult in regions suffering from inefficient water management or unsustainable water governance practices and water scarcity at the same time.

“For industrial and agricultural use, the value is […] at least as large as the marginal value of product.” [3]

In many cases, wrong priorities and existing (political and economical) international dependencies lead to a shift from benefitting urban households to benefitting industrial and agricultural users. As a result, our never ending natural water cycle has to constantly cope with new challenges and changes and certain regions cannot solely rely on a natural and sufficient recharge of their water resources anymore.

Water Scarcity

Due to a natural water scarcity or a scarcity that is resulting from mismanagement, more and more regions are challenged to manage their (remaining) water resources efficiently and in a sustainable way.

Since July 2010, the human right to water and sanitation is included in the Declaration of Human Rights by resolution 64/292: "[...] the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights [...]" (UN, 2010). However, more than 40% of the global population are negatively affected by a natural water scarcity and a scarcity that is resulting from mismanagement and lacking governance in regional water sectors.[1] As this trend is projected to rise - by 2050, at least one in four people is likely to live in a country affected by chronic or recurring shortages of fresh water (UN) - it is not exaggerated to support a statement given by the former World Bank Vice President Ismail Serageldin more than 25 years ago:

The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water
Ismail Serageldin

In general we can differentiated between:[2]

  • Physical Scarcity
    We speak of a physical scarcity if water resources (like groundwater or surface water in lakes or rivers) development is approaching / exceeding sustainable limits. > 75 % of river flows are withdrawn for agriculture, industry and domestic purposes e.g. in the MENA region, Central Asia or India (regionally)
  • Approaching Physical Scarcity
    If, in the near future, water resources are not able to be recharged naturally, a region is approaching physical scarcity. > 60 % of river flows are withdrawn for agriculture, industry and domestic purposes e.g. in South Africa, Central America (Mexico), Central Asia or India (regionally)
  • Economic Scarcity
    Human, institutional and financial capital limit access to water even though natural water resources are available locally to meet human demands. < 25 % of water from rivers is withdrawn e.g. in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia, Bangladesh or India (regionally)

Consumer Decisions

Consumers need to realise the power that they have not only in their role as direct water users in their homes, but also in their role as indirect water users – for every product they consume – as more water is saved in water scarce regions if you refrain from buying fast fashion than if you repair your dripping tap.

When thinking of the natural water cycle being challenged by our direct and indirect consumption, we should ask ourselves: What can I do to reduce my own water footprint and help to manage water for both people and nature?

One of the first things that are necessary to be understood is, that we all share freshwater in an open global economy, and that addressing local water scarcity demands for wise water governance in a global dimension.[1]

As stated in the Dublin principles, users, planners and policy-makers should be involved in decisions regarding water management. This further includes the task of ‘raising awareness of the importance of water among policy makers and the general public’. [2]

In general, participation is assumed to produce more effective and efficient, sustainable and equitable resource management. [3] In cases where the institutional sector cannot provide a proper framework for participation (e.g. in the case of economic water scarcity), national and international users are even more asked to adjust their behaviour in order to use our natural resources in a more sustainable way. This also includes that we open our minds and think of the indirect effects of our consumption and decisions in our daily life. Starting with decreasing our amount of fast fashion purchases, which is negatively affecting whole regions, and taking back the responsibility to our own regions and neighbourhoods while accepting to pay for our garments’ externalities.

The Calculation

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jeans Jeans
800g Cotton 8000l Water
sweater Sweater
450g Cotton 4500l Water
dress Dress
300g Cotton 3000l Water
tshirt T-shirt
250g Cotton 2500l Water
shirt Shirt/Blouse
150g Cotton 1500l Water
underwear Underwear
40g Cotton 400l Water
socks Socks
30g Cotton 300l Water

The Magic Calculation

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  • jeans 0 Jeans á 8000 Liter 0 L
  • sweater 0 Sweater á 4500 Liter 0 L
  • dress 0 Dress á 3000 Liter 0 L
  • tshirt 0 T-shirt á 2500 Liter 0 L
  • shirt 0 Shirt/Blouse á 1500 Liter 0 L
  • underwear 0 Underwear á 400 Liter 0 L
  • socks 0 Socks á 300 Liter 0 L
Total 0 L