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

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

Add the fill and the cover per pillow with supplier figures: polyester fibre, foam or cotton fill, and the cover fabric. Then add carding, filling, stitching and packing energy, divided by pillows packed.

## Materials

- Polyester fibre, microfibre, foam or cotton fill by weight.
- Cover fabric and piping.
- Poly bags and cartons.

## Process

- Fibre opening and carding.
- Filling machines and stitching.
- Vacuum or roll packing.

## Per piece

Report per pillow with fill weight and type. Recycled polyester fill carries a different figure from virgin fibre.

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

- Electricity: 10,000 kWh x 0.710 = 7,100 kg CO2
- Pillows packed: 50,000
- Plant total: 7,100 / 50,000 = 0.142 kg CO2 per piece
- Add fill and cover fabric 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)
- [Foam mattress footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/foam-mattress-carbon-footprint-per-unit)
- [Recycled polyester yarn footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/recycled-polyester-yarn-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Cushion cover footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/cushion-cover-carbon-footprint-per-piece)
- [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.