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Consumption

Cotton tote bag (per use, amortized over 150 uses)

Puuvillakassi (per käyttökerta, jaettuna 150 käyttökerralle)

1.1
Truecost score
Data confidence: MEDIUM

Carbon and water well-studied by Danish EPA. Toxicity estimates rough. Per-use impact heavily depends on actual number of uses.

A cotton tote bag produces ~27 kg CO₂e and requires ~10,000 liters of water to make. At 150 uses the per-use impact is small, but it must be used 50+ times to beat a plastic bag.

Did you know? A cotton tote must be used at least 50 times to beat a single-use plastic bag on climate impact. Most people accumulate totes but don't use each one enough to offset production.
Transparent calculation

How was this number determined?

The Truecost score is calculated from absolute physical values. Each row below shows the measured value, how it was normalized, and where it comes from.

Dimension Absolute value Score 100 = Normalized Weight Weighted Confidence
Carbon Emissions 0.18 kg CO₂e 9.5 kg CO₂e 1.89 ×0.35 0.66 HIGH
Water Consumption 67.0 liters 3840 liters 1.74 ×0.2 0.35 HIGH
Land Use 0.07 m²·year 51 m²·year 0.14 ×0.2 0.03 MEDIUM
Waste 0.002 kg 5 kg 0.04 ×0.15 0.01 HIGH
Toxicity 1.3 µDALY 162 µDALY 0.8 ×0.1 0.08 LOW
Truecost score (weighted sum) 1.1

Share of your annual planetary budget

Carbon Emissions 0.02%
Water Consumption 0.02%
Land Use <0.01%
Waste <0.01%
Toxicity <0.01%
Source data by dimension

Where do the absolute values come from?

Carbon Emissions
HIGH
Danish EPA (2018): conventional cotton bag ~598.6 lbs CO₂e ≈ 271 kg CO₂e total lifecycle impact across all environmental categories. However, for climate change alone: ~27 kg CO₂e per bag (Bisinella et al. 2018). 27 / 150 = 0.18 kg CO₂e per use.
  • Bisinella et al. (2018): Life Cycle Assessment of grocery carrier bags — Danish Environmental Protection Agency, MFVM Report No. 2018
  • UNEP (2020): Single-use plastic bags and their alternatives

The often-cited 271 kg figure is total environmental impact across all categories, not just CO₂. Climate-only impact is ~27 kg CO₂e per bag. Organic cotton is ~30% higher due to lower yields.

Water Consumption
HIGH
Cotton water footprint: ~10,000 L/kg (Water Footprint Network). Typical tote bag weighs ~300g (150g cotton fabric + handles, stitching, dye). 0.15 kg cotton × 10,000 L/kg + processing = ~10,000 L total. 10,000 / 150 = 66.7 L per use.
  • Mekonnen & Hoekstra (2011): The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products — Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
  • Water Footprint Network: Cotton water footprint

Cotton is one of the most water-intensive crops. Most is green water (rainfall), but significant blue water use in irrigated regions.

Land Use
MEDIUM
Cotton yields ~700 kg/ha globally (FAO). 150g cotton = 0.00015 / 700 × 10,000 = ~2.1 m²/bag + ginning, spinning, weaving infrastructure. ~10 m²·year total / 150 uses ≈ 0.07 m²·year per use.
  • FAO (2023): World cotton production statistics

Cotton uses ~2.4% of global cropland but consumes 4.7% of pesticides and 10% of insecticides.

Waste
HIGH
Bag weight ~300g. If used 150 times then disposed: 300 / 150 = 2g per use. Cotton is biodegradable but synthetic dyes may not be.

Cotton is biodegradable unlike plastic bags. Main advantage of tote bags at end-of-life.

Toxicity
LOW
Cotton uses 10% of world's insecticides and 4.7% of pesticides (WWF). Pesticide exposure affects farmworkers and ecosystems. Rough estimate: ~200 µDALY per bag total / 150 uses = 1.3 µDALY per use.
  • WWF (2023): Cleaner, Greener Cotton — environmental impacts of cotton production
  • Kooistra & Termorshuizen (2006): The sustainability of cotton — environmental impacts

Pesticide impact varies enormously by growing region and practices. Organic cotton eliminates synthetic pesticides but has lower yields.

Comparisons

Methodology

Based on Danish EPA (2018) comprehensive LCA. Manufacturing emissions divided by 150 uses (reasonable lifetime for a well-maintained tote bag, ~3 uses/week for one year).

Sources