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Brendan Giang

The climate label

I proposed a nutrition-style climate label for clothing in Threads of Change, a documentary that won 1st Prize at C‑SPAN StudentCam and aired nationally on C‑SPAN.

Then I cold-emailed congressional offices and contributed input to a bipartisan bill that would create a voluntary label.

Apparel sustainability label

Greenhouse gas emissions

Over its whole life, from fiber to disposal

TotalFilled in for each garment

Maker's commitment

Filled in for each garment

Scan for the full breakdown

Verified under EPA requirements

What the bill puts on the label

Nothing else is allowed on it, and EPA would set the final design and the numbers.

  • A logo marks the label as part of EPA's program. Sec. 2(b)(5)(E)
  • One number for the garment's greenhouse gas emissions over its whole life, from growing the fiber to disposing of it. The label can't call a garment good or bad. Sec. 2(b)(5)(B) and (6)(A)
  • If the maker asks, the number splits in two: what the maker reports for growing, making, packing, and shipping, and what EPA estimates for storing, selling, washing, and disposing of it. Sec. 2(b)(8) and (9)
  • A summary of the maker's voluntary pledge to cut those emissions. Sec. 2(b)(6)(B)
  • A QR code to the full breakdown, the pledge, and EPA's public database. This one opens the bill. Sec. 2(b)(6)(C)
  • A line saying the numbers were verified under EPA's rules. Sec. 2(b)(5)(D)
  • If the manufacturer, not the store, entered the program, the label has to say so. Sec. 2(b)(7)

Who was left out

When you buy clothing, nothing tells you what it cost the climate to make it.

It started as a sophomore assignment asking which issue matters most for America over the next 20 years.

What I made

After climate advocacy with the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition, Emily Tang, Max Reiter, and I made a documentary on fast fashion. It proposed a label shaped like a nutrition label that lists a garment’s carbon footprint, water use, and durability.

What happened

Threads of Change won 1st Prize at C‑SPAN StudentCam, and C‑SPAN aired it nationally on April 20, 2024. I cold-emailed congressional offices, worked with Rep. Sean Casten’s office, and contributed input to the Voluntary Sustainable Apparel Labeling Act. Casten introduced it with Rep. María Elvira Salazar in July 2024 as H.R. 8978. The bill’s label is more detailed than mine, with its own rules and exceptions. It didn’t advance that session. A new version was introduced in February 2025 as H.R. 1239, which I wasn’t involved in, and neither has passed.

Awards and selections

  • 1st Prize, West Division, C‑SPAN StudentCam, 2024, $3,000 from Comcast