Sustainable Credentials

Each brand has different credentials by which they measure their sustainability and environmental impact. Some of the most widely recognised schemes are outlined below. (Note that RDS and GOTS only apply to relevant product within those brands).

  • FairWear Foundation
  • Bluesign
  • B Corporation
  • Responsible Down Standard
  • Global Organic Textile Certification

FairWear Foundation

To make fair fashion the norm, we need new solutions to old problems. Working directly with our member brands, factories, trade unions, NGOs and governments, we are bringing together stakeholders to create changes that make a lasting impact on working conditions everywhere.

We take a strategic approach, focusing on the issues that make the biggest impact. Things like: establishing a living wage because workers across the garment industry are rarely paid enough to survive on, and gender-based violence, because the majority of garment workers are women who face daily discrimination and harassment. We find ways to address these issues at both the brand level and on the factory floor, because it’s all connected.

Initiatives include:

  • Joining forces with industry influencers
  • Supporting worker empowerment
  • Ending gender-based violence
  • Creating change on the factory floor
  • Remediating worker issues
  • Pushing for living wages
  • Taking action in production countries
  • Supporting our member brands

Brands: deuter, Lowe Alpine, Mountain Equipment, Odlo, Picture, Rab, Salewa, Schoffel

Bluesign

the bluesign® CRITERIA

  • PEOPLE: Highest degree of safety for the consumer
  • ENVIRONMENT: Manufacturing with lowest possible impact on people and the environment
  • RESOURCES: Responsible use of resources

Brands: adidas, Arc’Teryx, Berghaus, CamelBak, Columbia, Craghoppers, deuter, Helly Hansen, Osprey, Patagonia, Salewa, Salomon, Schoffel, The North Face

B Corporation

About B Corps

Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

Society’s most challenging problems cannot be solved by government and non-profits alone. The B Corp community works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high-quality jobs with dignity and purpose. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps use profits and growth as a means to a greater end: positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment.

B Corps form a community of leaders and drive a global movement of people using business as a force for good. The values and aspirations of the B Corp community are embedded in the B Corp Declaration of Interdependence.

 

THE B CORP DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE

We envision a global economy that uses business as a force for good.

This economy is comprised of a new type of corporation - the B Corporation - which is purpose-driven and creates benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

As B Corporations and leaders of this emerging economy, we believe:

  • That we must be the change we seek in the world.
  • That all business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered.
  • That, through their products, practices, and profits, businesses should aspire to do no harm and benefit all.
  • To do so requires that we act with the understanding that we are each dependent upon another and thus responsible for each other and future generations.

B Corp Certification

B Corp Certification doesn’t just evaluate a product or service; it assesses the overall positive impact of the company that stands behind it. And increasingly that’s what people care most about.

Certified B Corporations achieve a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment—a rigorous assessment of a company’s impact on its workers, customers, community, and environment—and make their B Impact Report transparent on bcorporation.net. Certified B Corporations also amend their legal governing documents to require their board of directors to balance profit and purpose.

The combination of third-party validation, public transparency, and legal accountability help Certified B Corps build trust and value. B Corp Certification is administered by the non-profit B Lab.

Brands: Patagonia, Picture, TenTree, United by Blue, Veja

Responsible Down Standard

What is the RDS?

The Responsible Down Standard (RDS) aims to ensure that down and feathers come from animals that have not been subjected to any unnecessary harm. It is our hope that the standard can be used to reward and influence the down and feather industry to incentivize practices that respect the humane treatment of ducks and geese. We believe that education – through the RDS – is a meaningful way to drive demand for strong animal welfare practices. The standard also provides companies and consumers with a tool to know what is in their products, and to make accurate claims.

Objectives of the RDS

  • Ensure to the highest possible extent that down and feathers do not come from animals in a supply chain that have been subjected to any unnecessary harm.
  • Reward and influence the down and feather industry for practices that respect the humane treatment of ducks and geese.
  • Provide companies with a tool to know what is in their products, and to make accurate claims.
  • Ensure strong chain of custody for certified materials as they move through the supply chain.

Brands: Arc’Teryx, Berghaus, Columbia, Rab, Sorel, The North Face 

Global Organic Textile Standard

Sustainable fashion, ethical clothing, fair production have many meanings. The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) has a clearly defined set of criteria and is transparent.

GOTS is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres, including ecological and social criteria, backed up by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain. GOTS certified final products may include fibre products, yarns, fabrics, clothes, home textiles, mattresses, personal hygiene products, as well as food contact textiles and more.

Having one common standard means textile processors and manufacturers can export their fabrics and garments with one organic certification that is accepted in all major markets. This transparency also gives consumers the power to choose truly organic products sourced from green supply chains.

 

How to Identify GOTS Goods

Reference and labelling to GOTS are protected to ensure credibility and verification. Therefore, the GOTS organisation developed material and tools, that help you to find out if a product shows correct and complete labelling of GOTS Goods.

Anyone who intends to sell, label or represent any textile product with the trademark-registered GOTS logo, with GOTS labelling and/or any other reference to GOTS (certification) must first ensure that they meet the respective criteria and licensing conditions of the Global Organic Textile Standard Programme.

 

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