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Did you know that the denim bag many are seeing (and carrying!) around the GRI Conference in Amsterdam starting May 26, 2010, is carbon neutral?  The recycled denim bag was developed by Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) in partnership with its Turkish suppliers ISKO (fabric) and Dinateks A.Ş. CO2logic, an organization specializing in carbon calculation and offsetting strategies, worked with LS&Co. sustainability experts to gather energy and logistics data in order to calculate the “carbon footprint” of the bag.
The result? Well, first we’d like to tell you how we got to it…
The emissions related to the production of the LS&Co. denim bag have been estimated through a detailed analysis of the carbon emissions from the supply chain: cleaning and spinning the cotton waste, weaving the denim fabric, cutting, sewing, packaging and delivering the bag. Emissions from recommended care of the denim bag were also calculated using standardised data based on a use similar to what it was designed for and the following care scenario: cold wash cycle (30ºC) in a full washing machine (Energy Rating B), and line dry once per year over five (5) years. LS&Co. emissions related to the use of electricity in production were calculated using publicly available data on the Turkish energy grid carbon intensity. Emissions factors used to calculate the climate impact of air transport and the printing process were taken from the Ecoinvent Life Cycle Assessment database. The care and disposal scenarios developed used the average electricity emission factor for the European Union. And the result of this ‘exploration’ resulted in a recycled denim bag that has a “carbon footprint” of 5.94kg of carbon dioxide equivalents. That means the manufacture, transport, use, care and disposal of the bag releases that amount of carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases) up into the atmosphere. This is comparable to the amount of carbon dioxide released by driving the average European car 32 km (20 miles) or working 30 hours on a desktop computer using the average electricity emission factor in the European Union. Interestingly, the denim used in the bag consists of 100% conventional cotton fiber sourced from post-industrial cotton recovery operations in Bursa (Turkey). Reprocessing, spinning and weaving are logically the most energy intense processes and account together for 55% of the overall result. Seventeen percent (17%) of the footprint comes from road and air transport. Packaging was kept minimal and only 16 carton boxes were needed to ship the 650 bags to Amsterdam - no plastic was used. Consequently, packaging is only responsible for 1% of the overall carbon footprint. When following LS&Co. recommendations, the product care over five (5) years is responsible for 26% of the total footprint. Levi Strauss & Co. recommends passing the bag on to another user if no longer needed, or keeping it as a collectors’ item, and in cases where it is due to be discarded, deposit at a recycling point for used clothing. 
LS&Co. is committed to reducing the energy consumption in its business and discloses its green house gas inventory publicly. Read about the LS&Co. sustainability program at http://www.levistrauss.com/sustainability.
Having calculated and analysed the options to reduce its carbon footprint, LS&Co. collaborated with CO2logic to offset the emissions related to the production of this bag. In practice, a project in Rajasthan, India (UNFCCC Certification Code: 0347), which utilises local farmers’ agricultural waste to produce green electricity was supported and the related carbon credits were cancelled in order to offset the emissions generated by the bag (http://www.co2logic.com/home.aspx/en/projects/project+2). Through this voluntary action, LS&Co. and CO2logic contribute towards the protection of our climate. Sources for CO2logic carbon footprint study: 1. BSI (2008), PAS 2050: Specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services
2. BSI (2010), PAS 2060: Specification for the demonstration of carbon neutrality
3. Ecoinvent 2.0
4. ADEME (2008), Bilan Carbone, guide des facteurs d’émissions V5
5. Energy measurements by Levi’s (2010)
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