Organic T-Shirt Printing is one of the easiest ways a brand can shrink it’s carbon footprint and have a big impact!
This isn’t something simply applicable to fashion either. Last year (2017) the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, worked with award-winning British fashion designer Christopher Raeburn to completely re-invent their uniforms for gallery assistants, retail staff and volunteers. Raeburn made use of recycled materials for outerwear, alongside organic cotton for t-shirts and other similar garments.
The Victoria and Albert Museum is one of many brands leading the way with their uniforms, truly embodying what it means to be genuinely sustainable. Joon, a French airline and Iberostar, a major hotel and resorts chain are other great examples of brands that have chosen to move over to eco-friendly uniforms for staff.
Fulfilling Changing Consumer Demands
Millennials now represent the world’s most important consumer category, with $2.45 trillion in spending power. And brands are paying attention, with an acute awareness that 70% will spend more on brands that support a cause they care about. The increasingly interconnected population (via social media and technology), combined with a sharing economy, has resulted in consumers caring a lot more about social responsibility and this is reflected by their purchasing decisions. The explosive growth of the plastic free and vegan movements have really underlined this.
With these points in mind moving over to organic personalised t-shirts, or workwear and uniform can be a great way to demonstrate your companies genuine commitment to sustainability. Especially with the fashion and textiles industry deemed the largest global polluter second only to oil.
While fashion brands are often the target in the headlines, workwear and uniforms are often made within the same supply chains and are a huge part of the overall problem. So making this shift can have a huge tangible impact.
6 Benefits of Organic T-Shirts & branded Uniforms, compared to non-organic alternatives include :
1) Organic cotton results in 91% reduced blue water consumption. To put this into context, Producing 1kg of non-organic cotton consumes 22,500 litres of water. This is enough for 1 t-shirt.
2) Organic cotton means 70% Less Acidification Potential
3) Organic cotton uses less energy, with 62% reduced energy demand
4) Organic cotton has 46% reduced global warming potential
5) Using organic cotton results in 26% reduction in soil erosion compared to non-organic cotton
6) Organic cotton ensures no harmful chemicals are used. Non-organic cotton production in the US uses 38 Million kg of pesticides annually. 7 of the 15 used are known carcinogens. What’s more startling is that 10,000 US farmers die each year from cancers related to these chemicals.
It’s clear to see organic cotton delivers many benefits for people and the environment. When it comes to environmental & sustainability claims you can trust, nothing beats organic cotton.
If you’re thinking of swapping your uniforms or workwear over to organic we’d love to help. Whether it’s aprons, t-shirts, sweatshirts, bags or maybe something else, we’ll likely be able to help. You can get in touch with us here.
You can see more of the impacts organic cotton has in the infographic below:
