A Comparison of the Carbon Footprint of Retail Stores Patagonia, H&M, and The Wardrobe

Are you worried about global climate change? Have you ever wondered how you contribute to this problem? What about the impact of the clothes you buy? We have put together estimated information from three different types of stores to help you realize options you have as consumers to be more green. Patagonia is an example of an environmentally conscious and globally active store. The same is true for H&M but it aims to provide affordable, fashionable clothing at the same time. The Wardrobe in Davis, California is an example of a local store, community built and owned.

It is important to consider the environmental impact of the stores you support and the clothes you buy. Local stores have the lowest impact because their transportation needs are less than those of stores part of a chain. However, although larger stores may emit more carbon simply because they are bigger, some are committed to cutting down on their carbon footprint.

CARBON FOOTPRINTS

Patagonia 303.66 tons CO2/yr

H&M 261,376.75 tons CO2/yr

The Wardrobe 54.13 tons CO2/yr

Patagonia

Patagonia's Carbon footprint of 303.66 tons of CO2 per year was calculated from estimating the lights in each store to 40.89 tons of CO2 (13%) from the electricity for 47 energy saver bulbs, and 182.85 tons of CO2 (61%) from electricity for 100 fluorescent tube lights, 71 tons of CO2 (23%) from the fuels burned for shipping to the stores from the distribution center, 8.23 tons of CO2 (3%) from the fuels burned for shipping clothes from the distribution center to the European stores by sea freight, and 1.3 tons of CO2 (<1%) from the recycling of 2600 lbs of clothes. This estimate is far from the real number since the data was limited, and lots of information, such as heating in the buildings to energy used manufactoring the clothes is not considered.

H&M

H&M calculated it emitted 73,593.61 tons of CO2 to power its buildings (28%), 161,273.66 tons of CO2 for transportation of its clothing (62%), 23,517.81 tons of CO2 for business travel (9%), and 2,991.67 tons for fuel for its company cars (1%).

The Wardrobe

The Wardrobes footprint of 54.13 tons of CO2 per year was calculated using the 4.81 tons of CO2 (9%) from electricity for their four desktop computers, 0.99 tons CO2 (2%) from electricity for the 11 show lights kept lit 24 hours a day, everyday, 1.31 tons of CO2 (2%) from electricity for the 47 lights turned on during store hours equalling 52 hours a week, 6.