ASKET's impact receipts print carbon, water, and energy used to make clothes

ASKET now gives impact receipts to its customers

Starting November 5th, 2023, Swedish apparel brand ASKET prints customer receipts that break down how much carbon emissions, water, and energy were used to produce every piece of clothing the client buys. The upfront information is printed on a separate receipt, so every AKSET customer can see the environmental cost and impact of their purchase. In a sample receipt the brand has shown on its social media platform, the receipt details the kilograms of carbon emissions, the amount of water used to manufacture the clothing, and the required kilowatts per hour throughout the process.

images by ASKET

Breakdown of carbon emissions, water, and energy used

When a customer buys something from ASKET, they receive the traditional transactional receipt plus the impact receipt. The latter also includes the environmental impact associated with the packaging and shipping choices, and ASKET says that the data is also available on each individual garment’s product page as part of its transparency module. The brand also provides full supply chain traceability and cost breakdown, so the customer is aware of what happens pre-, during, and post-production.

ASKET can trace the carbon emissions, water use, and energy consumption in every garment it produces, as it teamed up with Vaayu Tech to process and calculate the lifecycle impact assessments. The collaboration brings data on garment traceability, with all facilities and processes that go into creating a garment taken into consideration, from farming to yarn spinning, fabric weaving, dyeing, and construction, as well as all the transports in between. ASKET breaks these down into four categories, namely raw materials, milling, manufacturing, transports, and trims.

ASKET’s Impact Receipt details the carbon emissions, water, and energy used to make the clothes the client buys

Monumental impact receipt installation at ASKET store

Customers visiting ASKET’s physical store in Norrmalmstorg 1, Stockholm, can also see a monumental printout of the receipt wrapped around the interior. The lengthy printed receipt vividly shows the footprint of the clothes too, and the artistic move reminds customers of the environmental impacts of their purchasing decisions as they roam around the store and think of the pieces of clothing they want to buy.

‘Because we’ve only ever been told the price consumers pay for a garment, the industry has created a disconnect between our shopping habits and its impact,’ shares August Bard Bringéus, co-founder at ASKET. ‘As a result we’ve amassed an irrevocable environmental debt. And until we put a price on our planet’s resources and understand what our choices actually cost, we’ll never make concessions to the consumption we think we’re entitled to.’

sample breakdown of the environmental impacts