04 Nov 2025
Life Cycle Analysis cheat sheet:
- A Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) looks at the total environmental impact of a product.
- It covers everything. From raw materials and manufacturing, to packaging, shipping, use in your home, and disposal.
- LCAs stop brands greenwashing because they back up claims with proper data.
- They show where companies can cut carbon, water use, waste, and pollution.
- smol has carried out LCAs with independent experts at eLoop and the results speak volumes.
So what on earth is an LCA?
We’re so glad you asked.
what is an LCA?
An LCA, or Life Cycle Analysis, examines the environmental toll of a product across all of its life stages. From the sourcing of its raw ingredients, its production and packaging, to its shipping, in-home use, recycling, and eventual disposal.
By mapping out all these stages, brands can pinpoint where there’s room for real improvements in reducing the amount of resources used and waste created.
why LCAs matter.
LCAs highlight the biggest carbon and resource “hotspots” so brands can then hopefully take steps to reduce their impact wherever possible.
They confront greenwashing with really thorough (and importantly, independent) data.
They also enable consumers and brands to compare their impact across products fairly and transparently.
smol + eLoop.
Want to discover how smol stacks up? Thanks to independent sustainability experts eLoop, now you can…
- Laundry liquid: 35% lower carbon emissions than major brands.
- Laundry capsules: 35% lower carbon emissions vs big-brand pods.
- Fabric conditioner: 76% lower emissions vs branded fab con.
- Foaming handwash: 89% lower emissions vs bottled liquid soap.
- Multi-purpose, bathroom, and floor surface sprays: 91% lower emissions vs conventional alternatives.
Interestingly, we discovered during our LCA’s that the user-phase (when a product is actually used by a customer at home) is often the phase that creates the biggest impact.
Take laundry capsules. Around 70% of all its carbon footprint happens when it is used to wash some clothes. Most of the carbon associated with this phase comes from using hot water in the washing machine.
And it’s the same story for fabric conditioner. 89% of its emissions comes from how it is used at home whereas only 0.4% comes from the production of the ingredients for smol’s softener.
power in your hands.
That’s why we’re such big fans of sharing these LCA stats with you. Once you can actually see where the impact lies, it’s easier to cut it down to size.
We design smol products to perform brilliantly even at lower temperatures so you can turn down the dial without sacrificing clean clothes. Our laundry capsules and liquid are tested to work at 30°C and below, which means you save carbon and cash every time you skip the hotter wash.
Dropping from 40°C to 30°C can cut your emissions by up to 35%.¹
Small changes, big impact.
FAQs about LCAs.
do all big brands and eco brands do LCAs?
Not all. Complexity and cost keep them rare, though they’re becoming more and more necessary if you want to make reliable sustainability claims.
what’s the difference between LCA and carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is only concerned about a product’s carbon emissions. A Life Cycle Analysis is a full environmental picture that details out the energy, water, pollution, packaging, disposal, etc involved in a product’s entire life cycle.
does smol do LCAs on everything?
We're working through the line. Current data covers laundry liquid, capsules, fabric conditioner, foaming handwash, and surface sprays.
¹ National Geographic