GOLD COTTON is our benchmark standard for the most thoroughly sustainable, comfortable cotton on the planet - made with renewable energy and recycled water, grown at regenerative eco friendly farms and using only the safest environmental dyes and processes along the way.
It is organic and Fairtrade certified as well as an overall Cradle to Cradle Gold rating and a Platinum on material health - the highest possible ranking.
Why does this matter?
Despite the proliferance of messaging from brands on sustainability, there is still so little being fully addressed. Our planet and it's people need more than vague claims on sustainability, they need real, thorough action.
The problems global manufacturing has go far above and beyond just addressing what the raw material is, it's the whole supply chain, how something is made and what happens to it at it's end of life that matters. This is a holistic approach to manufacturing that takes all aspects of the product into account.
Below are some of the challenges the global apparel and manufacturing industry is facing with sustainability:
1. Inequitable and unfair treatment of workers
2. Greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel energy consumption
3. Water exploitation and pollution (including microplastics and toxic hazardous chemicals)
4. Drainage of natural resources, non-renewable resources and biodiversity loss
5. Product waste sitting in landfills
When a company only addresses the material composition, they are usually only addressing one of the problems rather than looking at the full impact their products and manufacturing have on the planet.
Our GOLD COTTON is different.
People: All factories we work with abide by the International Labour Organization's Core Standards and pay at least a minimum wage (we are working towards living wages with all workers). We actively seek out factories that have programs in place to help advance those who have historically been treated unfairly or been disadvantaged within their communities due to gender inequality, class systems, race, religion, age and other factors.
Climate Change: Our products are made with 60% renewable energy, working towards 100%. Some factories we work with actually operate at 100%+ renewable energy meaning they are producing more than they are using and can feed this energy back into their local ecosystem grid.
Water Conservation & Protection: We use zero toxic hazardous chemicals in our supply chain. We only use materials that do not contain or shed microplastics. All water effluents are neutralised before re-entering water systems i.e. neutral Ph and temperature to the surrounding ecosystem. We use 90%+ recycled water at our dyeing mill (where most of the water in our supply chain is used) to conserve local water resources.
Regenerative Farming: Our organic cotton is grown at a regenerative, co-operative, Fairtrade farm in India which uses it's Fairtrade premium to reinvest in the eco-system health of their farmland and advancing the overall sustainability of their operation and community.
Biodegradable: Our GOLD COTTON is 100% safely biodegradable, leaving zero toxic residues. The fabric is so healthy, it can biodegrade faster than an orange peel and regrow back into a new plant.