Qfix
Journal  /  Sustainability

The real carbon cost of a new T-shirt

What actually goes into making clothes new — and why mending is the quiet win.

QT
Qfix team
2 July 2026 · 1 min read

A single new cotton T-shirt carries a surprising amount of hidden cost before it ever reaches your wardrobe.

From field to shelf

Growing the cotton, spinning and dyeing the yarn, cutting, sewing and shipping — each step adds water, energy and emissions. Keeping a garment you already own in rotation skips almost all of it.

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Good to know

The most sustainable garment is nearly always the one you already have. A small repair keeps it going with a fraction of the footprint of anything new.

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QT
Qfix team
Notes and numbers from the people building Qfix.

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