Sustainable Textiles

Choose sustainable textiles, choose the best quality available

Organic cotton production ensures the highest quality cotton for your garments. Organically grown cotton is of a superior quality to that of conventional cotton and includes crop varieties such as Gossypium hirsutum. The long fibres provide for a softer, longer wearing, high quality product (all of our customers are surprised at just how incredibly soft the garments are).

As you will see from our product catalogue, we can supply clothing in a range of colours, not only in natural white! All dyes used are AZO and heavy metal free in compliance with Skal International Standards for Sustainable Textile Production which governs organic standards in production and manufacture of textiles. Indeed, unlike conventional textile production with its high dependency on chemicals, every process step of sustainable textile production must meet certain criteria and for every step (spinning, weaving, washing, dyeing etc) processing aids are limited to those which provide as much environmental gain as possible.

Sustainable textile products are ideal for people who care about the environment and social sustainability. Farmers and producers are paid a premium which is in reality the true cost of production, thereby allowing them to invest in infrastructure and pay living wages, so creating a virtuous circle of social and economic development without requiring aid or damaging the environment.

The cotton used in our garments is grown in Uganda, Turkey and India. Manufacture of the garments takes place in India and Turkey in ILO standard, sweatshop-free factories which do not allow the use of child labour and where workers rights and welfare are guaranteed.

Organic agriculture is based on agrodiversity and crop rotation, this means that land is used both for food production as well as cotton production ensuring environmental and social sustainability.

The use of water in a dry world

In consideration of environmental and social impact, the use of water in growing and processing cotton is of major concern. Conventional cotton requires on average 3000 cubic litres more water per acre than organic cotton to grow due to the repeated application of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilisers. Careful use of water through the utilisation of efficient irrigation schemes and, where possible, rain fed crops helps to make organic cotton a sustainable agriculture.

Sustainable textile production relies on minimising social and environmental exposure to harmful chemicals so that only a very limited and highly regulated number of chemicals (such as caustic soda) are used. Thus water usage is minimised with correct procedures for recycling/cleaning waste water. Farm and factory workers are not exposed to hazardous chemicals, and local communities do not end up with a sick environment and ill population.

Sustainable textile products means fair trade for a fair world.