I have been interested in printing adult and child t.shirts and baby clothes for a while but have been looking for the right manufacturer that meets the strict environmental and ethical codes I wish to maintain at Anna Prints.
I found the EarthPositive® line and felt they were a product line I wished to support.
I believe very strongly in supporting businesses that are making moves towards improved social and environmental responsibility. The fashion and textiles industry as a whole has a lot of work to do but flagship lines such as EarthPositive® are doing a good job in proving to the rest of the industry that it is entirely possible and above all logical to take responsibility for environmental impacts, to provide workers with a fair wage and safe working conditions, and to support developing economies in sustainable, healthy, socially minded development.
I found the EarthPositive® line and felt they were a product line I wished to support.
I believe very strongly in supporting businesses that are making moves towards improved social and environmental responsibility. The fashion and textiles industry as a whole has a lot of work to do but flagship lines such as EarthPositive® are doing a good job in proving to the rest of the industry that it is entirely possible and above all logical to take responsibility for environmental impacts, to provide workers with a fair wage and safe working conditions, and to support developing economies in sustainable, healthy, socially minded development.
Below is a break down of how The Carbon Trust worked with Continental Clothing to develop the EarthPositive® range.
At Anna Prints we have chosen to use EarthPositive® t shirts and tote bags. Each item is made from 100% organic cotton, is ethically made and is manufactured solely using sustainable energy generated from wind and solar power.
Below is a more detailed outline of how EarthPositive® has worked with The Carbon Trust to provide a sustainable business model demonstrating practical and immediate solutions for business and fashion in tackling climate change. The development project for EarthPositive® will provide the fashion industry with a blueprint in ethical and sustainable production. The Carbon Trust has asked for EarthPositive® to be used as a Case Study, so that the clothing industry will benefit from it's research and development.
ORGANIC PRODUCT
EarthPositive® is a 100% organic product, produced under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and certified by The Control Union and The Soil Association. Of course EarthPositive® is entirely GM free.
LOW IMPACT FARMING
EarthPositive® works in regions where organic cotton is planted and harvested by hand, without mechanization, and because organic farming does not use petroleum based chemical fertilizer, pesticide or herbicide, it is less reliant on fossil fuels.
CARBON NEUTRAL
EarthPositive® apparel is made in carbon neutral manufacturing facilities in India, from ‘low impact’ organic cotton, and is distributed through carbon neutral warehouses and offices in London that use only renewable green electricity.
FAIR TRADE PRACTICES
Under the organic standard, farmers and agricultural workers are protected by stringent social criteria, total traceability across the entire supply chain, but also by the ban on the use of poisonous pesticides and defoliants which can severely damage the health of farmers and families. These standards also free poor farmers tied into third world debt to chemical companies on the ‘pesticide treadmill'. To help tackle the social injustice often seen in manufacturing, commonly known as sweatshop labour, EarthPositive® make transparent their manufacturing supply chain, through an independent audit by the Fair Wear Foundation. The FWF exists to promote fair labour conditions in the clothing industry.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
EarthPositive® apparel is certified by the Oeko-Tex 100 Standard, Class I. The Oeko-Tex 100 Standard is a guarantee of the safety of textiles and dyestuffs to human health. It also means we take more care in adopting environmentally friendly production methods throughout the manufacturing of EarthPositive® apparel.
WIND POWERED
The primary energy source for EarthPositive® apparel is thirty massive wind turbines that generate a continuous source of renewable electricity.
CLIMATE NEUTRAL®
Climate Neutral means industrial greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced to pre-industrial levels through low-impact (low emission) organic agriculture and carbon neutral industrial manufacturing, achieved through substituting energy use from fossil fuel powered power stations with clean renewable energy from wind turbines and solar power.
NO CARBON OFFSETS
Carbon neutral is a term most often used to describe a state where CO2e emissions have been negated entirely by the purchase of intangible ‘carbon offsets’. This represents the ‘lowest quality’ means of achieving carbon neutral status and is discarded by EarthPositive® as a credible method. The only course of action is to change business-as-usual practices and genuinely reduce any emissions that contribute to global warming. This can only be achieved by the reduction of on-site energy consumption, and a switch from fossil fuel to renewable energy.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
EarthPositive® guarantee that they do not use cotton from Uzbekistan while the use of forced child labour is endemic. This follows the recommendations of the Environmental Justice Foundation ‘Clean Cotton Campaign’. The complete traceability of certified organic cotton allows us to make this guarantee.
LOW WATER FOOTPRINT
It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton, equivalent to a single T-shirt and pair of jeans. EarthPositive® work in a region that receives up to 95% of its water from the monsoon rain. This was an important consideration, as the monsoon rain reduces the need for large-scale irrigation projects normally associated with conventional cotton farming, which often deprive local villages of scarce water resources by draining lakes and rivers.
SAFE WATER
The processing of the dye effluent takes place in a controlled closed-loop purification system that uses treatment ponds, sand filtration and reverse osmosis to convert the wastewater into clean water.
BIODEGRADABLE PACKAGING
EarthPositive® apparel is packaged in biodegradable PVC-free packaging, and in 100% recycled cardboard boxes.
TRANSPORTATION
EarthPositive® has a ‘No Airfreight’ policy. Using instead containerised ocean shipping. International shipping and freight is a complex and difficult subject to unpick. At Anna Print's we like to feel we are doing the best we can to understand the issues and make the right choices. In this matter The Carbon Trust has made the call based on CO2 emissions that Air freight is to be avoided. But at Anna Print's we appreciate ocean shipping has massive environmental impacts on the seas and is not a 'clean' solution.
TRANSPARENCY AND LABELLING
EarthPositive® apparel has reduced the carbon footprint of a T-shirt by up to 90%. However, consumers require an independent verification process and a label over the claims of individual companies. The Carbon Trust is trialling such a carbon reduction label. This carbon reduction label acts as both the verification and communication of the CO2 of EarthPositive® apparel. The Carbon Trust product carbon footprinting method is to become the single standard for a product’s carbon footprint in the UK.
SAVE THE CLIMATE. WASH COOL & LINE DRY
EarthPositive® apparel and Anna Prints products can be washed at 30°C; however, we ask customers to consider the effects of domestic machine washing and tumble drying which
may contribute up to 80% of the energy used by a conventional cotton garment in its lifetime. We label our garments SAVE THE CLIMATE – WASH COOL – LINE DRY in addition to standard wash care instructions. We also recommend eco-friendly detergents, which have minimal aquatic toxicity and will biodegrade quickly and completely.
Information from
http://www.continentalclothing.com/page/lily_cole_in_india
At Anna Prints we use Ecover.
http://uk.ecover.com/en/why-ecover/
At Anna Prints we have chosen to use EarthPositive® t shirts and tote bags. Each item is made from 100% organic cotton, is ethically made and is manufactured solely using sustainable energy generated from wind and solar power.
Below is a more detailed outline of how EarthPositive® has worked with The Carbon Trust to provide a sustainable business model demonstrating practical and immediate solutions for business and fashion in tackling climate change. The development project for EarthPositive® will provide the fashion industry with a blueprint in ethical and sustainable production. The Carbon Trust has asked for EarthPositive® to be used as a Case Study, so that the clothing industry will benefit from it's research and development.
ORGANIC PRODUCT
EarthPositive® is a 100% organic product, produced under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and certified by The Control Union and The Soil Association. Of course EarthPositive® is entirely GM free.
LOW IMPACT FARMING
EarthPositive® works in regions where organic cotton is planted and harvested by hand, without mechanization, and because organic farming does not use petroleum based chemical fertilizer, pesticide or herbicide, it is less reliant on fossil fuels.
CARBON NEUTRAL
EarthPositive® apparel is made in carbon neutral manufacturing facilities in India, from ‘low impact’ organic cotton, and is distributed through carbon neutral warehouses and offices in London that use only renewable green electricity.
FAIR TRADE PRACTICES
Under the organic standard, farmers and agricultural workers are protected by stringent social criteria, total traceability across the entire supply chain, but also by the ban on the use of poisonous pesticides and defoliants which can severely damage the health of farmers and families. These standards also free poor farmers tied into third world debt to chemical companies on the ‘pesticide treadmill'. To help tackle the social injustice often seen in manufacturing, commonly known as sweatshop labour, EarthPositive® make transparent their manufacturing supply chain, through an independent audit by the Fair Wear Foundation. The FWF exists to promote fair labour conditions in the clothing industry.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
EarthPositive® apparel is certified by the Oeko-Tex 100 Standard, Class I. The Oeko-Tex 100 Standard is a guarantee of the safety of textiles and dyestuffs to human health. It also means we take more care in adopting environmentally friendly production methods throughout the manufacturing of EarthPositive® apparel.
WIND POWERED
The primary energy source for EarthPositive® apparel is thirty massive wind turbines that generate a continuous source of renewable electricity.
CLIMATE NEUTRAL®
Climate Neutral means industrial greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced to pre-industrial levels through low-impact (low emission) organic agriculture and carbon neutral industrial manufacturing, achieved through substituting energy use from fossil fuel powered power stations with clean renewable energy from wind turbines and solar power.
NO CARBON OFFSETS
Carbon neutral is a term most often used to describe a state where CO2e emissions have been negated entirely by the purchase of intangible ‘carbon offsets’. This represents the ‘lowest quality’ means of achieving carbon neutral status and is discarded by EarthPositive® as a credible method. The only course of action is to change business-as-usual practices and genuinely reduce any emissions that contribute to global warming. This can only be achieved by the reduction of on-site energy consumption, and a switch from fossil fuel to renewable energy.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
EarthPositive® guarantee that they do not use cotton from Uzbekistan while the use of forced child labour is endemic. This follows the recommendations of the Environmental Justice Foundation ‘Clean Cotton Campaign’. The complete traceability of certified organic cotton allows us to make this guarantee.
LOW WATER FOOTPRINT
It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton, equivalent to a single T-shirt and pair of jeans. EarthPositive® work in a region that receives up to 95% of its water from the monsoon rain. This was an important consideration, as the monsoon rain reduces the need for large-scale irrigation projects normally associated with conventional cotton farming, which often deprive local villages of scarce water resources by draining lakes and rivers.
SAFE WATER
The processing of the dye effluent takes place in a controlled closed-loop purification system that uses treatment ponds, sand filtration and reverse osmosis to convert the wastewater into clean water.
BIODEGRADABLE PACKAGING
EarthPositive® apparel is packaged in biodegradable PVC-free packaging, and in 100% recycled cardboard boxes.
TRANSPORTATION
EarthPositive® has a ‘No Airfreight’ policy. Using instead containerised ocean shipping. International shipping and freight is a complex and difficult subject to unpick. At Anna Print's we like to feel we are doing the best we can to understand the issues and make the right choices. In this matter The Carbon Trust has made the call based on CO2 emissions that Air freight is to be avoided. But at Anna Print's we appreciate ocean shipping has massive environmental impacts on the seas and is not a 'clean' solution.
TRANSPARENCY AND LABELLING
EarthPositive® apparel has reduced the carbon footprint of a T-shirt by up to 90%. However, consumers require an independent verification process and a label over the claims of individual companies. The Carbon Trust is trialling such a carbon reduction label. This carbon reduction label acts as both the verification and communication of the CO2 of EarthPositive® apparel. The Carbon Trust product carbon footprinting method is to become the single standard for a product’s carbon footprint in the UK.
SAVE THE CLIMATE. WASH COOL & LINE DRY
EarthPositive® apparel and Anna Prints products can be washed at 30°C; however, we ask customers to consider the effects of domestic machine washing and tumble drying which
may contribute up to 80% of the energy used by a conventional cotton garment in its lifetime. We label our garments SAVE THE CLIMATE – WASH COOL – LINE DRY in addition to standard wash care instructions. We also recommend eco-friendly detergents, which have minimal aquatic toxicity and will biodegrade quickly and completely.
Information from
http://www.continentalclothing.com/page/lily_cole_in_india
At Anna Prints we use Ecover.
http://uk.ecover.com/en/why-ecover/
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