Water Fact Sheet: Cotton T-Shirt | Everyday Goods Water Facts

713

gallons of water per item, global average

One item: one cotton T-shirt (about 8.8 oz)

The same volume as

About this figure One cotton T-shirt embeds about 700 gallons, almost all of it for growing and processing the cotton. Source: Water Footprint Network (Mekonnen and Hoekstra). Figures are global-average total water footprints (green, blue and grey water) per item. They are not California-specific and are on a different basis from the crop sheets, which show California irrigation water applied per serving.

Sources

Global-average water footprints per item: Water Footprint Network (Mekonnen and Hoekstra) for cotton, leather and paper goods, applied to typical item mass; item-specific life-cycle assessments for the smartphone, silicon wafer, desktop computer, car, disposable diaper and bottled water, as named on each sheet.

Figures as of September 10, 2026.

How to cite

Everyday Goods Water Fact Sheet: Cotton T-Shirt. conciseVerbosity, September 10, 2026. https://api.conciseverbosity.com/water-facts/goods/cotton-t-shirt.html