Ecological backpack

Fact sheet

What is ecological backpack?

One did it uses the ecological backpack

method to illustrate the volume of natural
resources we consume. Ecological back-
pack calculations are based on the MIPS-
method developed in the early 1990’s in
the Wuppertal Institute, Germany. MIPS
stands for Material Input Per Service Unit.
The method can be used to estimate the
environmental burden caused by a prod-
uct, service, or even a lifestyle. The entire
life cycle from cradle to grave (extrac-
tion, production, use, waste/recycling) is
considered.

A One did it ecological backpack consists of the weight of the product itself as well as all the natural resources
and energy used along the life cycle. Ecological backpacks do not directly measure environmental impacts
such as amount of waste and pollution generated. Reducing the material input will also reduce unwanted out-
puts like waste and pollution because all material extracted from the environment will become waste at some
point. Input, the weight of the ecological backpack of a product and its’ use, can be decreased by producing
the item with fewer resources, making the product long-lasting, decreasing the energy consumption in the use
phase, and increasing the life span and number of persons sharing a single product.

Ecological backpacks can be calculated in several natural resource categories. To keep it simple, One did it
backpacks include consumption of non-renewable and renewable resources and air which is linked to carbon
dioxide emissions. Ecological backpack calculations give an idea of the relative resource requirements of
the wide range of products and services we use. The heavier the backpack, the more trouble it causes to the
environment.

One did it Ltd. Arabiankatu 12, FI-00560 Helsinki, Finland www.onedidit.com

 The T-shirt story

Calculations of the Wuppertal Institute show that

cotton production in the Western USA consumes
more than 10 kg of non-renewable and renewable
resources per one kilogram of cotton.

A case study by the Wuppertal Institute shows that

electricity consumption of T-shirt manufacturing in
the example case was 2,83 kWh per T-shirt. The
non-renewable resource use of manufacturing
would be approximately 4 kg per T-shirt if a T-shirt
would be produced with an average energy mix
of electricity in OECD countries. Depending on
the local fuel mix, the value can be many times
higher.

The transport chain for goods like T-shirts is of-

ten long in the global economy. However, the most
consuming phase of transportation might be when
we take our car out for shopping. It has been cal-
culated that driving a passenger car for one kilo-
metre consumes 2 kg of non-renewable natural
resources, but transporting one kilogram of freight
for the same distance consumes less than 5 grams
of non-renewable resources. This means that it
consumes roughly the same amount of abiotic re-
sources to drive ten kilometres with a passenger
car as it consumes by a truck that transports one
kilogram of freight for 4 400 kilometres.*

Washing a T-shirt once in a fully loaded machine

in 40 C consumes around 30 grams of non-renew-
able natural resources per washing cycle. If the
wash is repeated 100 times during the life-cycle
of the product, it will use 3 kg of abiotic resources
during the entire lifespan of the shirt. However, if
we always wash only half loads, the consumption
will double. It will also double if we wash in higher
temperatures like 60 C. Tumble drying is a story of
its own. Drying the T-shirt once in a tumble dryer
will consume almost 60 grams of non-renewable
resources.

Do you already have a reusable shopping bag?

At some point, the t-shirt will reach the end of its’
lifespan. Maybe you could make a shopping bag
out of it if you can’t take it to recycling?

*
Reference: TransportMIPS by Lähteenoja et al., 2006. http://www.environment.fi/download.asp?contentid=79958&lan=en. Concerning
passenger and goods transport in Finland. Comparison concerns passenger car and a lorry with semi-trailer.

One did it Ltd. Arabiankatu 12, FI-00560 Helsinki, Finland www.onedidit.com

 Information on data and method

One did it works in cooperation with research organisations, NGOs, and experts in the field of sustainable
consumption to keep its database up-to-date. However, since the MIPS method has been developed recently,
variations can be found in, for example, system boundaries and the geographical focus of the data used in the
calculator. Ongoing research is carried out to provide the best possible information. Calculations provided by
One did it should be treated as general data. Details such as local energy mix, apartment construction details,
and properties of vehicles may vary significantly from case to case; this is why One did it calculations should be
considered as estimations. The target is to give a directional magnitude of the relevance of different acts.

The ecological backpack and MIPS method can be used to the measure overall environmental pressure of
products, services, actions, and lifestyles, but MIPS and the ecological backpack do not measure specific en-
vironmental impacts. Several other environmental indicators concentrate on these important issues. The very
core idea of the ecological backpack method is that the volume of environmental pressure, including problems
not yet known at the time, is related to the volume of natural resources extracted from the surrounding environ-
ment and used in the human economy. In other words, when less material is extracted from the environment
into the human economy, environmental pressure decreases. This overall scope is the strength of the method
but it sets constraints on its use. For instance, important issues like habitat loss and damage caused by pollu-
tion cannot be measured with the ecological backpack method.

One did it Ltd. Arabiankatu 12, FI-00560 Helsinki, Finland www.onedidit.com

 What is the difference between ecological back-
pack and footprint?

The ecological footprint and backpack both measure the volume of natural
resources used by the human community. However, the two methods have a
different way of measuring resource use. The footprint takes into account the
biologically productive land and sea area required by the human community
to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste produced.
The unit of measurement is the global hectare. The ecological backpack is
used to measure resources used or transferred in the ecosystem in kilo-
grams or tones. The ecological backpack takes into account non-renewable
resources in addition to renewable resources.

Sustainable level of consumption?

To reach a sustainable level in global natural resource use, several factor

targets have been proposed. One of them is Factor Four, which suggests that
eco-efficiency should be increased by factor of four during the next decades.
This means that in the future, we should use one-fourth of the resources we
now use while maintaining the same quality of life. The factor target does
not propose that we should change our entire lifestyle overnight. Instead, we
should move toward the target every year. Our ecological backpacks need
to lighten five percent each year to reach a Factor Four lifestyle by the year
2035.

One did it Ltd. Arabiankatu 12, FI-00560 Helsinki, Finland www.onedidit.com