Impact Report 10 min May 2026

The Impact We've Made So Far

Impact metrics matter, but they can hide the reality behind the numbers. So we'll be specific, honest, and clear about what we've actually achieved and what limitations remain.

Deadstock Rescued

180 tonnes of fabric rescued from incineration or landfill. This fabric was produced, finished, and destined for destruction. We diverted it before that happened.

This represents approximately 45,000 finished pieces of clothing. Not millions. Not millions of impact. 45,000 customers who own Orangeba pieces.

Water Saved

2.4 million litres of water not consumed in production. This is the water that would have been required to produce 180 tonnes of new fabric.

For context: the average person uses 80-100 litres of water per day for all purposes. This is enough water for one person's total consumption for approximately 24,000-30,000 days. Or approximately 66-82 years of full water consumption for one person.

It's significant. It's also not enough. We're addressing less than 0.1% of global textile water consumption.

Carbon Avoided

540 tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided. This is the carbon that would have been generated by producing 180 tonnes of new fabric (approximately 3 kg per metre).

Equivalent to the carbon that an average car produces in approximately 2.1 million kilometres of driving. Or the annual carbon footprint of approximately 110 people in developed countries.

Worker Impact

Three core people (Lia, Tun, Maya) work full-time on Orangeba. They earn above-market wages for Thailand/Vietnam. Their work is steady and meaningful—not the pressure-driven, quota-obsessed work of factory production.

Additionally, deadstock fabric diverted to Orangeba instead of incineration provides steady work for approximately 20-25 seasonal workers in our partner network who help with cutting, finishing, and quality control.

Customer Feedback

Of our 45,000 customers, approximately 2,000 have provided feedback on durability. Average reported lifespan of an Orangeba piece: 3-5 years of regular wear. For comparison, average fast-fashion lifespan is 6-12 months of regular wear before noticeable degradation.

Approximately 15% of customers reported they changed their consumption patterns after purchasing Orangeba—buying less clothing overall, choosing quality over quantity, wearing pieces longer.

Honest Assessment of Limitations

Scale

180 tonnes is 0.006% of the 2-3 million tonnes of deadstock produced in Thailand and Vietnam annually. We're addressing the microscopically small slice of the problem. This isn't modesty. It's math.

Supply Constraint

We're limited by available deadstock. We can't produce more without finding more deadstock, and deadstock supply is unpredictable and finite. Our growth is capped by waste availability.

Price Barrier

Our pieces start at $65. This is affordable by luxury standards, expensive by fast-fashion standards. We don't serve people with $10 budgets. We serve people willing to spend more for quality.

No Systemic Solution

We don't reduce overproduction. We don't change supply chains. We don't pressure factories to produce less. We operate within the broken system, not to fix it.

What This Means

Orangeba is not a solution to fashion's environmental problem. It's an intervention in a specific moment: when deadstock exists and destruction is the default. We rescue what we can, pay fair prices, ensure quality, and leave the fundamental problem—overproduction—untouched.

This is why honest impact matters. We're not saving the planet. We're preventing 180 tonnes per year of waste from becoming landfill. That matters. It's also a tiny fraction of the scale required.

The real impact comes from what our customers do after buying from us: they buy less, wear pieces longer, and change how they think about clothing. That multiplied across thousands of people is more significant than the deadstock we rescue.