ETHICS & ENVIRONMENT

Hi there, I know that being in the fashion industry is by its very nature not very environmentally friendly, but here are some things to make the impact of my business on the environment as least damaging as possible. 

 

Carbon offsetting: 

I plant trees via Ecologi  to help soak up carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. If you click here then you can see how many trees I have planted so far. At the time of writing (Feb25) it is well over 21,000 trees. Although carbon offsetting is not the definitive answer to curbing global warming, being responsible for more trees being planted in the world can only be a good thing.

 

Waste: 


I am pleased to say that I have never ever thrown out an item of clothing from my business. As I only do very small print runs and order in small quantities, I tend to sell 99.8% of my items. Any that are unsold or faulty I give to charities such as the salvation army, where they are re-sold, reused or recycled. 


I recycle any plastic packaging my clothes arrive in, and of course recycle all the cardboard boxes and paper. So there is very, very little waste that I send to landfill.
 

Garment manufacture:

Most of the sweatshirts, hoodies & tees etc I print on are produced in factories with the strictest rules and regulations when it comes to ethics and the environment. Everything is either FAIRWEAR or WRAP certified. This means: 

 

  • No use of child labour
  • No use of forced labour
  • Safe and healthy working conditions
  • Legal labour contracts
  • Environmentally friendly

Most of them are made from organic cotton (this requires much less water to grow, and contains no nasty chemicals) and recycled polyester. 

Most of the sweatshirts, hoodies and tees have the following certifications: 

GOTS - Global Organic Textile Standard

OEKO- TEX - free of harmful chemicals and safe for human use

PETA - Vegan - no animal testing involves in any of the ingredients or products.

 

The SuzyD joggers are made in factories in Italy that are inspected regularly by the Italian authorities, who check for a number of things including child labour/working conditions/health & safety. The manufacturers also visit all of the factories every month. The same conditions apply to the fabric/yarn supply.

The other joggers, jeans and skirts I sell I have checked with the manufacturers and they all assure me that they are produced ethically and the factory workers have good working conditions. 

 

Packaging:

I used to receive all my tops from my printing company and suppliers nicely folded in a plastic packet. This made them look very smart and was also very convenient for me! I'd then put the plastic packet inside another plastic packet for sending... again, very convenient! But all that plastic didn't sit well with me. So now I receive most my clothes unwrapped in cardboard boxes and wrap them in acid-free tissue paper and send them out in eco-friendly paper packets. Any clothes that are in plastic packaging - the latter is recyclable.  

The swing tags I use on the products I've designed are made from paper and hemp cord (not plastic).

If you would like any more information, please contact me: lucy@lucydodwell.com. Thanks!
 
Lucy x