10%
of global CO₂ emissions from fashion
87%
of textiles end up landfilled
3,000L
water per cotton shirt produced
$0.003
environmental damage per $ spent
Underlying Data
Brand Environmental Impact Index
Environmental damage score per dollar spent, calculated across carbon emissions, water use, textile waste, and chemical pollution for 12 major clothing brands.
| # | Brand | Segment | CO₂ (kg/item) | Water Use (L/item) | Waste Score | Chemical Score | Env. Damage / $ Spent | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shein | Ultra Fast Fashion | 25.4 | 4,200 | 9.1 | 9.4 | $0.0091 | Very High |
| 2 | Temu (Fashion) | Ultra Fast Fashion | 22.8 | 3,900 | 8.7 | 9.0 | $0.0086 | Very High |
| 3 | Zara | Fast Fashion | 18.3 | 3,500 | 7.8 | 7.2 | $0.0063 | High |
| 4 | H&M | Fast Fashion | 17.1 | 3,300 | 7.5 | 6.9 | $0.0058 | High |
| 5 | Forever 21 | Fast Fashion | 16.9 | 3,150 | 7.2 | 7.0 | $0.0055 | High |
| 6 | Gap | Mid-Market | 12.4 | 2,800 | 5.6 | 5.1 | $0.0038 | Medium |
| 7 | Levi's | Mid-Market | 11.8 | 3,781 | 5.1 | 4.4 | $0.0033 | Medium |
| 8 | Nike | Mid-Market | 10.6 | 2,100 | 4.8 | 5.2 | $0.0029 | Medium |
| 9 | Patagonia | Sustainable | 6.2 | 1,400 | 2.3 | 2.1 | $0.0012 | Low |
| 10 | Eileen Fisher | Sustainable | 5.8 | 1,200 | 2.0 | 1.9 | $0.0010 | Low |
| 11 | Allbirds | Sustainable | 5.1 | 980 | 1.8 | 1.7 | $0.0008 | Low |
| 12 | Prana | Sustainable | 4.9 | 950 | 1.6 | 1.5 | $0.0007 | Low |
Data Visualizations
Two Views of the Data
Visualization 1 ranks brands by environmental damage per dollar as a horizontal bar chart. Visualization 2 is a bubble chart mapping each brand across two dimensions — CO₂ and water use — with bubble size encoding overall damage per dollar spent.
Environmental Damage per Dollar Spent
Viz 1 — Horizontal bar chart by brand, sorted worst to best
Carbon vs. Water Use — Brand Footprint Map
Viz 2 — Bubble chart: axes = CO₂ & water use per item; bubble size = damage per $ spent