Cotton Tote Bag

Everyday Goods Water Fact Sheet
396
gallons of water per item, global average

One item: one cotton tote bag (about 0.3 lb)

The same volume as

🥛
6,340
Glass of Water (8 oz)
🍶
3,170
Water Bottle (16 oz)
🪣
79.3
5-Gallon Bucket
🛁
11.0
Bathtub (36 gal)
About this figure A cotton tote bag of about 0.3 pounds embeds about 400 gallons. Estimated from the WFN cotton figure of about 1,198 gallons per pound. Source: Water Footprint Network (Mekonnen and Hoekstra), per-item estimate. 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 Tote Bag. conciseVerbosity, September 10, 2026. https://api.conciseverbosity.com/water-facts/goods/cotton-tote-bag.html