Carbon footprint - a measure of the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by a person, organization, event or product, is a consumer oriented concept that has received much discussion over the last several years. China is said to be the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitter, followed by the U.S.
The products and services we use and consume every day - say coffee, cosmetics, laundry detergents, cars, email, shoes, clothing, to name a few, add to our carbon footprint.
A team of researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who conducted a lifecycle assessment to determine the carbon footprint of shoes has found that a typical pair of running shoes generates 30 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to keeping a 100-watt light bulb on for one week.
As part of the research, the shoes' lifecycle was divided into five major stages namely, materials, manufacturing, usage, transportation and end-of-life.
The researchers found that more than two-thirds of a shoe's carbon footprint comes from the manufacturing processes while the last three stages namely, usage, transportation and end-of-life, contributed very little to the product's carbon footprint.
According to the researchers, 65 discrete parts go into making a typical pair of running shoes, and more than 360 processing steps are involved in assembling the parts, from sewing and cutting to injection molding, foaming and heating, all of which are energy-intensive - and therefore, carbon-intensive.
Moreover, a majority of the world's shoe manufacturers are located in China, where coal is the largest source of electricity.
Randolph Kirchain, principal research scientist in MIT's Materials Systems Laboratory said, "The results will help shoe designers identify ways to improve designs and reduce shoes' carbon footprint. In general, we found that if you have a product that has a relatively high number of parts and process steps, and that is relatively light [weight], then you want to make sure you don't overlook manufacturing."
The findings are published in the Journal of Cleaner Production.
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