# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a kurta?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/kurta-carbon-footprint-per-piece

Take the fabric issued per kurta, including cutting waste, and multiply by the mill's per-metre figure. Add embroidery or printing, trims, stitching and pressing electricity and packing, then divide the unit's energy by kurtas passed.

## Fabric and embellishment

- Fabric per kurta from the marker, including waste and shrinkage allowance.
- Hand block, screen or digital printing: dye, steam and dryer energy per metre.
- Chikankari or machine embroidery: thread and machine hours.

## Making and packing

- Sewing machines, overlock machines and steam irons with their boiler.
- Buttons, piping, lining and labels.
- Poly bags, hangers and cartons.

## Per piece

Report per style and size band, since a long A-line kurta uses noticeably more fabric than a short straight one. Give the fabric and its weight in GSM.

## Worked example: kurta unit per piece (one month)

- Electricity: 30,000 kWh x 0.710 = 21,300 kg CO2
- PNG: 3,000 SCM x 2.05 = 6,150 kg CO2
- Kurtas passed: 40,000
- Plant total: 27,450 / 40,000 = 0.686 kg CO2 per kurta
- Add fabric, printing and trims 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.

- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)
- [Woven shirt footprint per piece](https://senseible.earth/answers/woven-shirt-carbon-footprint-per-piece)
- [Handloom fabric footprint per metre](https://senseible.earth/answers/handloom-fabric-carbon-footprint-per-metre)
- [Textile industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/textile)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Product Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/standards), [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org)](https://www.iso.org), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.