How do I calculate the carbon footprint of an umbrella?
Add the steel or fibreglass frame, shaft, canopy fabric and handle per umbrella with supplier figures. Add cutting, stitching, assembly and packing energy, then divide the unit's energy by umbrellas packed.
Materials
- Steel or fibreglass ribs and shaft.
- Polyester or nylon canopy fabric.
- Plastic or wooden handle, runner and tips.
Process
- Canopy cutting and stitching.
- Frame assembly and riveting.
- Covers, labels and cartons.
Per piece
Report per umbrella by type, folding or straight, since the folding frame has more parts.
Worked example: umbrella unit per piece (one month)
- Electricity: 5,000 kWh x 0.710 = 3,550 kg CO2
- Umbrellas packed: 40,000
- Plant total: 3,550 / 40,000 = 0.0887 kg CO2 per piece
- Add frame, fabric and handle for the full figure
Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.
Sources: GHG Protocol Product Standard, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults), CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0
Last reviewed 2026-10-20.