Underscoring how fashion is made at the expense of the environment, Swedish men’s wear brand Asket recently introduced The Impact Receipt, a consumer-facing calculation that breaks down and shares the true eco impact of their garments.
The receipt plays a key role in how the startup intends to share the results of its two-year Life Cycle Assessment with the Research Institute of Sweden to calculate the impact of garments in its permanent collection Through the printed receipt, Asket shares data about how much water and energy is consumed in the production of the garment as well as how much carbon dioxide is emitted.
To begin, The Impact Receipt is available for Asket’s top-selling T-shirt, oxford shirt, chino pant and merino knitwear. The brand intends to have information on its entire collection, including denim, complete and available by mid-2021.
Stockholm-based Asket has been on a mission to end overconsumption and restore value in the apparel industry. Designing durable, season-less collections with a transparent supply chain has been part of the brand’s DNA since launching in 2015. The brand also phased out traditional “made in” tags in garments. In 2018, Asket introduced itemized labels that share the full journey of a garment—from where the fibers were sourced, dyed, woven and finished, to the origin of its trims.
With The Impact Receipt, however, Asket is now asking customers to acknowledge the impact of their purchasing decisions—and even dissuade them from adding more to their closet.
“By launching The Impact Receipt, we want to show the true cost of a garment’s production and encourage not only ourselves but also our customers, and the industry as a whole, to think about the environmental debt we’re creating,” said Asket co-founder August Bard-Bringéus. “We need to understand that we can’t shop our way out of the problem, no matter how enticing a brand’s messaging is—we must acknowledge our impact, shop less and wear our garments longer.”
In a time of greenwashing and vague sustainability goals, Bard Bringéus said the receipt is a way to communicate the hard truth about fashion’s environmental impact and bring real change to consumer behavior. Education, he added, is fundamental in being able to appreciate the impact of our choices. “Without reducing consumption, no amount of sustainable initiatives will make a dent,” he said.