Ecological footprint to evaluate environmental sustainability of apparel sector built environments: the Sri Lankan perspective

Abstract

Accelerated human pressure on earth has necessitated adopting environmental footprints to evaluate environmental sustainability. Ecological Footprint (EF), Carbon Footprint (CF) and Water Footprint (WF) are common environmental footprints used to evaluate environmental sustainability globally. Although there is a growing interest for calculating CF and WF, there is a lack of application of EF for environmental sustainability evaluation in Sri Lankan apparel sector. Therefore, this research investigates the applicability of EF to evaluate environmental sustainability in apparel sector built environments in Sri Lanka. Research scope was limited to evaluate environmental impacts of energy consumption, water utilisation and waste generation in apparel sector built environments. A qualitative research approach was followed to pursue the research aim. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to review the concept of EF and the relationship of EF with CF and WF. Subsequently, three apparel sector factories were investigated in detail to identify the nature of EF application in Sri Lanka and collected data was subjected to content analysis. Findings revealed that, even though EF is not currently fully calculated, it is partially evaluated through quantification of CF and Grey WF. It was also revealed that EF can be practiced to evaluate environmental sustainability in apparel sector built environments in Sri Lanka. Difficulty to understand the underlying assumptions of EF of water utilisation and EF of waste generation was identified as the main barrier. Providing training and awareness on the application of EF, raising awareness on calculating EF of water utilisation and EF of waste generation are some of the strategies to overcome barriers.