Environment is key
The best thing we could do for the environment would be to not make anything at all.
The next best thing is to do provide a better option to any woman wearing activewear. And that is what we are doing to the best of our ability.
We are fully committed to reducing our impact on the environment.
We are nowhere near perfect, but it is a process and we are constantly working on finding better ways to do things.
Making clothes, any kind of clothes, takes resources.
It takes water and energy, soil on the surface of ground and resources hidden deep under ground.
While we can’t control how our partners in fibre and fabric manufacturing, sewing and transport use resources, we can and we do choose our partners carefully.
If there is an option for us to choose, we will go with a partner who shares our values. This could be using sustainable energy sources, closed loop water systems in their manufacturing processes or techniques to reduce material waste.
We use both natural fibres and man made fibres in our collections.
Natural fibres
For naturally grown fibres, we have been using organically grown fibres from the start. They are all Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified and have been knitted into fabric in GOTS certified mills.
Technical fibres
For our technical fabrics we have been using both polyester and polyamide (better knows as Nylon) fibres. In most cases these are mixed with elastane to give the fabrics improved stretch and recovery properties.
For the last two years we have been only buying technical fabrics made out of regenerated nylon as the main fibre. Our regenerated fibre fabrics are all Global Recycling Standard (GRS) certified and knitted in GRS certified mills.
However, you can still find products made out of virgin polyester or polyamide in our collection. We are phasing out all fabrics made of virgin polyester or polyamide, but as we are a small company and our quantities are small, it will still take some time to finish the virgin fibre based fabrics we currently hold in stock.
We expect to have no more virgin fibre technical fabrics in our range by the end of 2022.
Energy
As we don’t make our own fibre of fabric, it is also difficult for us to control the water and energy consumption of our partner mills.
Most of our partners use solar or wind energy to power their plants. Some have their own solar panels, others rely on the local energy providers for their energy. Solar and wind power are unfortunately not fully reliable resources for availability, so all of our mills also use some ’old’ energy resources to be able to keep their machines working when the weather is cloudy or witout wind.
Water
Water is also a heavily used resource in fibre and fabric production.Natural fibres take a lot of water to grow and technical fibres need water to be made (water is used in different steam, pressure and cooling processes). Most fibres need water to be dyed.
There are many things that we can do, though.
- Organically grown natural fibres take less water to grow than conventionally grown fibres.
- There are fabric dyeing processes that use a closed loop water systems, thus reducing the amount of water needed to do the dyeing.
Packaging
This is what we are doing:- Our products come from the factories packed in bulk only into a cardboard box. No single use plastic bags; no single piece packing.
- When shipping products to our customers, we use a biodegradable outer bag and small gift box made out of recycled cardboard. We have left the gift box without branding, so you could reuse it to packing or storing something.
- For any pieces you order online or come to buy from our studio, there are no hangtags attached. We find hangtags, although often super cute, tricky objects to dispose of sustainably. However, we do attach hang tags to pieces sold in brick and mortar stores to give information to your and we ask you to find the correct bin for each different part.
Shipping
We are doing as much as we can do reduce shipping and our carbon footprint related to shipping.- All of our first tier factories are based in Estonia – meaning that most of them are literally within a 10km radius from our studio.
- All of our second tier factories/mills are based in EU, some closer to us (Estonia and Lithuania) than others (Spain and Italy).
- Any shipping of production from our factories is done over land. If we could, we would use electrical trucks for this, but unfortunately this is not available tou s yet. We are keeping an eye on the developments though.
- Most of our customers at the moment are within 500km radius from us in Tallinn. This means that most of the shipments arrive to our customers over land. We use parcel machines where possible for increased efficiency.
This has been a long read.
Thank you for bearing with us.
We feel that we have only barely scratched the surface with this article telling you about all the different aspects of how we are working to minimise the impact we have on the environment.
In the coming months we want to introduce to you our mills and factories. We’ll make the information easier to find and process.
We’ll make sure you know exactly where each piece comes from.
But for now – if you have any specific questions, please do contact us at hello@susimust.com or send us a message on Instagram.
x
Kersti
20 September 2021