For these Ralph Lauren pants, the climate change impact represented 23% of total impact. For the 6 apparel products considered in this study, carbon emissions only account for 17-27% of the overall environmental footprint. Reinforcing the results of the comprehensive report, it was found with this study that particulate matter, fossil resource use, water use, and ocean acidification also contribute significantly to the impact of the products evaluated. This means if a brand is trying to be sustainable but is only considering carbon footprint, they risk missing about 75% of their overall environmental footprint. Even worse, measures taken by these brands to reduce their carbon footprint could unknowingly be futile due to increased impact in other categories.
For these Ralph Lauren pants, the climate change impact represented 23% of total impact. For the 6 apparel products considered in this study, carbon emissions only account for 17-27% of the overall environmental footprint. Reinforcing the results of the comprehensive report, it was found with this study that particulate matter, fossil resource use, water use, and ocean acidification also contribute significantly to the impact of the products evaluated. This means if a brand is trying to be sustainable but is only considering carbon footprint, they risk missing about 75% of their overall environmental footprint. Even worse, measures taken by these brands to reduce their carbon footprint could unknowingly be futile due to increased impact in other categories.