Category Archives: CSR

Oxfam Hong Kong launches new CSR report for the Garment Industry

Oxfam CSR Guidebook

Oxfam Hong Kong has just launched a new guidebook for the garment industry titled Good Fashion: A Guide to Being an Ethical Clothing Company.

Although they encourage the use of the guidebook for educational use, as well as for research, advocacy and campaign purposes, be sure to notify them if you are going to use the guidebook so that they may assess its impact.

“As an active promoter of corporate social responsibility (CSR), Oxfam Hong Kong launches the first corporate social responsibility guidebook: Good Fashion: A Guide to Being an Ethical Clothing Company today. Good Fashion targets to support the garment sector in Hong Kong to further develop and implement CSR policy. In producing Good Fashion, Oxfam aims to raise awareness within the business sector on the importance of CSR and to encourage them to put CSR principles into practice.

The 71-page Good Fashion, which is divided into four sections, is a comprehensive guidebook containing practical tips for implementing CSR throughout the production process, such as merchandising and manufacturing. Good Fashion also includes CSR insights from various stakeholders, including workers, community organisations, union representatives, and other groups. Online resources and a simple checklist are also included for companies’ reference.”

You can download the full report in English (PDF) here.

Also, be sure to check out Oxfam Hong Kong’s previous reports. In 2004 they published Turning the Garment Industry Inside Out – Purchasing Practices and Workers’ Lives. They have also published two transparency reports: Transparency Report – How Hong Kong Garment Companies Can Improve Public Reporting of their Labour Standards (2006) and Transparency Report II: Have Hong Kong Garment Companies Improved Their Reporting on Labour Standards (2009).

Source: CSR Asia

FIBERcast: Environmental Sustainability in the Apparel Industry

The University of Delaware’s FIBERcast on “Environmental Sustainability in the Apparel Industry” has been rescheduled for July 31, from 2–2:45 p.m. EDT.

If you can’t listen in live, then be sure to check back to the site for the recorded version of this Fibercast (the 3rd), and preivious casts (the 1st, Social Responsibility’s Place in the Global Apparel Industry (February 23, 2009), and 2nd, Global Sourcing Trends in the Apparel Industry (June 5, 2009)), here.

fiberlogo

“Join FIBERcast co-host, Dr. Marsha Dickson, for an insightful discussion of Environmental Sustainability in the Apparel Industry with two experts from industry and academia: Dr. Suzanne Loker of Cornell University and Dr. Huantian Cao of the University of Delaware. The FIBERcast guests will explore:

What does it mean for a clothing or footwear company to be environmentally sustainable?
What specific policies can apparel retailers and brands implement to become more environmentally sustainable?
How does pursuing environmental sustainability impact the bottom line?
How can companies measure environmental sustainability in a transparent and cost-effective manner?

The FIBERcast will also delve into recent findings from the University of Delaware’s Sustainable Apparel Initiative’s guide “Creating a More Environmentally Sustainable Apparel Business: Policies for Apparel Brands and Retailers”, which contains best environmental practices companies can use to promote sustainability throughout their supply and value chain, from production to consumption to re-use. ”

Source: Fibrecast

The University of Delaware’s Sustainable Apparel Initiative (UDSAI)

University of Delaware’s Sustainable Apparel Initiative offers ten policies for apparel brands and retailers to implement into their business practices. Click here to learn more about the policies and the initiative. Although all ten policies are crucial considerations for sustainable practices, “Policy 5: Consider and implement end-of-life strategies (recycle, renew, or reuse) when choosing materials, designing, and producing apparel” pays particular attention to design through suggested best practices in both material and design assembly considerations. In the context of socially responsible fashion design education, how can these policies be integrated into your fashion curriculum? Early next week, Social Alterations will be opening a members based discussion forum for fashion and apparel educators to ask questions and share ideas on how to best approach social and environmental concerns within the industry in their design classrooms. I hope you will join in on the conversation and share your ideas with this community.

Press Release: UD publishes sustainable apparel business guidelines

What does it mean for a clothing or footwear company to be environmentally sustainable? Browsing some brands’ Web sites, you might think a company can lessen its impact on the environment just by using organic cotton in some of its clothing. But it’s not that simple.

The University of Delaware’s Sustainable Apparel Initiative (UDSAI) is demystifying the process of becoming more environmentally sustainable for brands and retailers. Companies seeking this information are invited to read and utilize UDSAI’s recently produced policy guide, “Creating a More Environmentally Sustainable Apparel Business: Policies for Apparel Brands and Retailers.”

“Sustainability is the ‘buzz’ throughout all industries. The problem is there is no clear definition of what this means,” said Rick Horwitch of Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services. Bureau Veritas is an international firm that helps clients comply with standards and regulations relating to quality, health and safety, environment and social responsibility.

“I applaud the University of Delaware for taking on this daunting task of trying to put some structure and context around this very important issue. UDSAI will help bring clarity and direction,” Horwitch said.

University of Delaware faculty and students collaborated with industry professionals involved with environmental sustainability to research best practices.

“The apparel industry is predicated on change and planned obsolescence, which often results in overconsumption and waste throughout the value chain,” said Huantian Cao, UD associate professor of fashion and apparel studies and co-director of UDSAI. “UDSAI attempts to provide some simple guidelines that, when followed, will result in a more sustainable company.”

Source: UD News Releases

Greener By Design 2009 Conference

The second annual Greener By Design 2009 “Greener Products for Leaner Times” conference was held yesterday and today in San Fransisco. William McDonough gave the keynote speech at the conference yesterday. This article, “Greener By Design: Nature’s Rights, Nutrients and Quality Design,” by Jonathan Bardelline sums it up.

Check it out. For more on the conference, live blog posts, and twitter feeds (#gbd09) visit Greener Design

Makower talks Greenwash

TerraChoice: Sin of the Hidden Trade-off

Back in April, TerraChoice released their second report on greenwashing, titled “The Seven Sins of Greenwashing.” The first report, “The Six Sins of Greenwashing,” came out in 2007. The recent report offers new stats and, of course, the added seventh sin. Unfortunately, fashion, textile and apparel products were not included in the TerraChoice research. Don’t let this fool you; greenwashing is rampant in the fashion, textile and apparel industry.

Joel Makower from Greenbiz offers a great commentary on the report, outlining where, and how, it may have fallen short:

“Late last year, TerraChoice repeated the process, though extended its reach: Its researchers were sent into retailers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia. The track record was slightly better: 25 products found in North American stores were deemed “sin-free,” says TerraChoice. The trends were similar in the other countries.

At first glance, those findings seem dire and depressing. But much like some of the eco-claims themselves, TerraChoice’s report doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. What’s really going on here? Are manufacturers truly that overwhelmingly misleading? Is just about everyone out there pulling the green wool over our collective eyes? Or has TerraChoice set a bar so unreasonably high that even the most well-intentioned companies can’t clear it, and lumped the imperfect claims together with the truly bad ones in order to make its point? In other words, who’s greenwashing who?

Truth is, there’s a little of each going on.

First, honor is due. TerraChoice has performed a public service here, calling attention to the fact that so many companies are making claims that are anything from fuzzy to fraudulent. The groundwork they’ve done here is invaluable, even if the conclusions they’ve drawn from it are, in my opinion, a bit misleading.”

Read the rest of his article here. Make sure you check out the full TerraChoice report.

For more information, listen in on this Greenbiz.com Podcast, “Lies, Damn Lies, and the Seventh Sin of Greenwashing,” where Makower interviews Scot Case, Vice President of TerraChoice on the issue of greenwashing and the 2009 report.

Stay informed!

Source: TerraChoice, Joel Makower, and Greenbiz.com

Women Exploiting Women

The National Labor Committee released a report last week citing sweatshop conditions in a Guatemalan factory manufacturing clothing for Briggs New York (80%) and Lane Bryant (remaining 20%) clothing.

If you don’t want to read the full article, here is the abstract:

“Young Mayan women sew Briggs New York and Lane Bryant clothing under abusive and illegal sweatshop conditions at the Nicotex factory outside Guatemala City. Women in the U.S. are unknowingly purchasing clothing made by other women who are being exploited.

All overtime at the Nicotex factory is mandatory, and 14 2/3-hour shifts, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:40 p.m. including six hours of overtime, are uncommon. The women are routinely at the factory up to 72 hours, forced to toil 20 to 25 hours of overtime. Women unable to remain for overtime work, even if they have family emergencies, are fired. The workers are allowed just 10.2 minutes to sew each Briggs New York blouse for which they are paid 19 ½ cents. The women and their families are trapped in extreme poverty, earning just 76 cents to $1.15 an hour, which comes nowhere close to meeting even their most basic subsistence level needs.

Workers and their children are cheated of health and maternity care, including paid maternity leave, which they paid for and is supposed to be guaranteed under Guatemalan law. Workers are also robbed of their vacation and severance pay and are shortchanged of their legal bonuses.

The Nicotex garment workers have no rights. U.S. company audits are a sham, and the workers have never even heard of a “corporate code of conduct.”

At least some officials of the government-run Social Security Institute appear to be involved in a widespread corruption scam, along with factories such as Nicotex, to defraud the workers and their children of the healthcare they pay for. This scam is an open secret in Guatemala, and it has devastating consequences for the workers.

The Nicotex sweatshop is just another example of how the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement has badly failed to enforce even Guatemala’s most minimal labor laws. US-CAFTA has certainly not empowered workers through respect for their legal rights, nor has it helped raise them out of extreme poverty.”

Source: NLC

For those of you who don’t know who Charles Kernaghan is, he is “The Man Who Made Kathy Lee Cry”. He also heads the National Labor Committee. He discusses what he calls ‘the science of exploitation’ and his work with the NLC from the film The Corporation. You can view the trailler for the documentary in the videos section of this site (on the left hand side).

Compostmodern09 tweet along

Below is my tweet along for Compostmodern09, which took place on Sat. Feb 21^st 09. This event was greatly inspiring, and I will be writing a post soon on the over all themes of the conference and where the convergence into sustainable fashion design comes into play. Stay tuned for that post (and some images as well).

· excited to be at #cm09 8:19 AM Feb 21st

· #cm09 only 5000 days left. take it as fact. 9:55 AM Feb 21st

· #cm09 Allan Chochinov ten rules applicable to fashion design. 10:23 AM Feb 21st

· Michel Gelobler: design through the lens of soul and policy coming up, #cm09 10:26 AM Feb 21st

· wonderment being made plain/plain being made wonderment cm#09 10:28 AM Feb 21st

· Michel Gelobler certainty/worry/sorrow/hope #cm09 10:30 AM Feb 21st

· need to bend the Al Gore curve #cm09 10:32 AM Feb 21st

· Michel Gelobter: what we have, what we are using, need to establish equilibrium looking to connect product to solution. #cm09 10:40 AM Feb 21st

· #cm09 we own the solution not the problem, Michel Gelobter 10:43 AM Feb 21st

· Michel Gelobter #cm09 further mention of the design acccord http://tinyurl.com/b5yzl4 10:47 AM Feb 21st

· Saul Griffith howtoons http://www.howtoons.com/ #cm09 10:52 AM Feb 21st

· Saul Griffith: 2008, the year of ‘peak waste’ #cm09 11:03 AM Feb 21st

· Saul Griffith: need to re-design everything. make it small, fish shaped,slow. need a new soundtrack, font, aesthetic. need a bob dylan.#cm09 11:14 AM Feb 21st

· Saul Griffith: we need an heirloom culture #cm09 11:17 AM Feb 21st

· Saul Griffith: I’m an earth fucker and so are you, #cm09 11:19 AM Feb 21st

· Saul Griffith: http://www.wattzon.com/ #cm09 11:20 AM Feb 21st

· Saul Griffith: soon to be born child going to kick ninja ass #cm09 11:23 AM Feb 21st

· Saul Griffith: the planet is the new design client. #cm09 11:25 AM Feb 21st

· HR + PR does not equal CSR 11:55 AM Feb 21st

· Emily Pilloton #cm09 1. what>how (sustainability=human+environment) 1:59 PM Feb 21st

· Emily Pilloton #cm09 2. the other 90% is next door (local+global) 2:00 PM Feb 21st

· Emily Pilloton #cm09 3. always bring pom-poms (and a picket signs) 2:00 PM Feb 21st

· Emily Pilloton #cm09 4. scalable systems, not stuff (take the product out of product design) 2:01 PM Feb 21st

· Emily Pilloton #cm09 5. 2 (thousand) heads are better than one (the more the merrier) 2:02 PM Feb 21st

· Emily Pilloton #cm09 6. more cattle, less hat (stop talking and just do it) 2:03 PM Feb 21st

· whats the opportunity for graphic design, asks Makower..needs to play a bigger role. 2:05 PM Feb 21st

· Emily Pilloton #cm09 started project H with 400$ in her bank 2:08 PM Feb 21st

· take the poll http://tinyurl.com/coebq5 2:10 PM Feb 21st

· Watching Pam Dorr short film “Housing Hope” 2:15 PM Feb 21st

· John Bielenberg and Pam Dorr #cm09 spoke on Project M, and some amazing housing projects. 2:17 PM Feb 21st

· John Bielenberg wants you to think “wrong” so you can find solutions. Inspired by Sambo rural studios and a beautiful mind. 2:19 PM Feb 21st

· John Bielenberg #cm09, breakthroughs happen in your late 20’s-he is inspired by grad/students. 2:22 PM Feb 21st

· #cm09 project M: think wrong http://www.projectmlab.com/ 2:23 PM Feb 21st

· #cm09 project H http://www.projecthdesign.com/ 2:25 PM Feb 21st

· all speakers at #cm09 stress the importance of serendipity in the process 2:30 PM Feb 21st

· Dawn Danby #cm09 takes an interdisciplinary perspective on responsible design 2:38 PM Feb 21st

· Dawn Danby #cm09 concerned with the small size of sustainable design social network 2:41 PM Feb 21st

· Dawn Danby #cm09 asks “are we not educating our designers correctly?” this is my research question (fashion designers) 2:45 PM Feb 21st

· Dawn Danby #cm09 “1. be cool w/ paradox 2. learn the local language 3. reconsider work worth doing 4. YOUR CLIENT IS THE PLANET” 2:46 PM Feb 21st

· Dawn Danby #cm09 talking: sustainability is not a communist plot…semantics are crucial here. **YES!** 2:54 PM Feb 21st

· Dawn Danby #cm09 designers are looking for direction-but they still need to understand the numbers in product lifecycle analysis 3:01 PM Feb 21st

· Dawn Danby-if your client is the planet…then it’s on you to figure out how to solve the problems that weve got and how to pay for it 3:03 PM Feb 21st

· Dawn Danby #cm09 “we need to get rid of our specialness” and open it up to others, interdisciplinary partnerships 3:04 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 is about to tell us what we can do Monday morning, when we wake up at work with all of this. 3:08 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 conservative = conservation start the ‘conservative’ movement with the actual definition 3:15 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 don’t use green… use blue… it comes off more effective in business (without being too ‘environmental’) 3:17 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 OH… and use the work capital *this business advice is awesome* 3:18 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 use some sustainable frameworks: 1. lifecycle analysis 3:19 PM Feb 21st

· 2. natural capitalism (eco- efficiency).. 3:20 PM Feb 21st

· 3. cradle to cradle 3:20 PM Feb 21st

· 4. “natural step” (trademarked) 3:21 PM Feb 21st

· 5. biomimicry 3:21 PM Feb 21st

· (the point here is that these frameworks are all incomplete…they do not cover social, financial and environmental) 3:22 PM Feb 21st

· 6. Datschefski’s “Total Beauty” 3:23 PM Feb 21st

· 7. social return on investment (SROI)*very difficult to quantify* 3:24 PM Feb 21st

· 8. (last one) sustainability helix 3:24 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 wants you to bring the frameworks together for a good place to start..overlap them to cover all ground 3:25 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 wants you to design for use be the ‘apple’ and lead the way the challenge is on your compeditor will do it if you dont 3:27 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 wants you to design for dematerialization (all the way back) the whole lifecycle 3:29 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 wants you to think about material substitution. **in the context of fibre (textiles) diversify and substitute** 3:31 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 wants you to think local, to decrease transport. not always a good idea though. 3:32 PM Feb 21st

· transmaterialization, Nathan Shedroff #cm09, and informationalization, are more sustainable (still have impact) 3:33 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09: next, design for durability (did i miss one? oops) 3:35 PM Feb 21st

· design with multifuction in mind, design for reuse: Nathan Shedroff #cm09 3:36 PM Feb 21st

· design for disassembly (Rickshaw zero bag example) http://www.rickshawbags.com/# 3:38 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09: redesign the system (Curitiba, Brazil, example) 3:39 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 wants us to find new models, economic models suck (ex. GDP and GPI measurements) 3:41 PM Feb 21st

· Nathan Shedroff #cm09 said DONT USE PVC!!!!!! YES!!!! http://tinyurl.com/bftk4d *thank you!!* 3:42 PM Feb 21st

· How is this a debate, again? why are these shoes being sold as “sustainable” http://tinyurl.com/b4tnaf I wish i new more about PVC 3:46 PM Feb 21st

· Joel Makower asks about green marketing #cm09 3:47 PM Feb 21st

· #cm09 Joel Makower wants gree to equal better. work around the dogma. remember the business case, here. 3:51 PM Feb 21st

· #cm09 question asked “the planet is your client” is an internal conversation? Ans. sometimes. sometimes we have to talk around the subject. 3:55 PM Feb 21st

· Joel Makower #cm09 stories through design can/should/will integrate head and heart in the discussion 4:02 PM Feb 21st

· AIGA #cm09 http://sustainability.aiga…. 4:04 PM Feb 21st

FIBERcast tweet along

The first FIBERcast, featuring Dr. Marsha Dickson and Mr. Doug Cahn, took place today, February 23, 2008. The broadcast was hosted by Dr. Hye-Shin Kim, of the University of Delaware, and focused on “Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry”.

For those not following on Twitter, here are my live tweets of the event: searchable under #fibercast, #csr and #sr

· Dr. Marsha Dickson # fibercast: monitoring become the standard, but often does not provide solutions. new book http://tinyurl.com/aqb85w about 2 hours ago

· #fibercast problems are complex and widespread/freedom of association/forced labour/discrimination/child labour about 2 hours ago

· Environmental responsibility does not just have to do with fiber choice. remember the whole life cycle analysis/ #fibercast about 2 hours ago

· CSR to Mr. Doug Cahn# fibercast is about looking at the impact, to mitigate the negative, and augment the possitive about 2 hours ago

· Doug Cahn #fibercast http://thecahngroup.com/ about 2 hours ago

· #csr is not an add-on, its a core issue, supplychain for an apparel company..pay your workers the legal limit, at least make up short fall about 2 hours ago

· disctinction between compliant and non-compliant/the industry is aflling short. yes there is cost, but also have a business case (save$)#csr about 2 hours ago

· #csr #fibercast Dr. Marsha Dickson Answers Q. on WRAP factory certification is important but not the answer http://tinyurl.com/bjckwu about 1 hour ago

· limitations of factory monitoring asks “what?” not “why?” and quality of auditing can be lacking…provides only ‘snapshop’ #csr #fibercast about 1 hour ago

· # fibercast #csr #recession: Cahn finds opportunity in downturn for better integration/restructuring interdepartmental thinking opportunity about 1 hour ago

· #csr #fibercast Dickson: consumer difference perceptions from behaviour. no real ‘no sweat’ label, cannot ensure compliance about 1 hour ago

· #csr #fibercast Dickson believes to look for honest companies working toward real change #nike #adidas (ex) about 1 hour ago

· # fibercast #csr Cahn: government can play a voluntary role, also use trade agreement..ensure internationally approved standards on imports about 1 hour ago

· # fibercast #csr Cahn check out fairlabor.org for opperations and http://www.sa-intl.org/ about 1 hour ago

· # fibercast #csr Cahn, small/med. company: ask questions again and again, collaboration fairfactories.org about 1 hour ago

· #csr #fibercast Dickson stresses importance of multi-stakeholder initiatives and also ngo’s light the fire under companies about 1 hour ago

· #csr #fibercast Dickson to students: we need to educate students on #sr in graduate program, but also integrated into undergrad class about 1 hour ago

· #csr #fibercast #sr Dickson http://tinyurl.com/b3ep9u about 1 hour ago

How does “Poison Plastic” translate to “Sustainable Plastic”? Anyone?

And so, as promised, I had sent an email requesting more information on PVC to Melissa (via Arbec Group), Vivienne Westwood and Grendene.

I received an email response from the Arbec Group immediately asking me which environmental and safety concerns I was referring to. A simple Google search might have given them an idea, but none the less, here was my response:

According to this 2005 Greenbiz article, “[h]azardous chemicals are used and released in this commonly used material, the second highest selling plastic in the world. Studies show links between chemicals created and used during the PVC lifecycle and cancer, reproductive and immune system damage, and asthma”. The article claims that many companies have taken action in eliminating PVC from their products due to health, safety and environmental concerns such as Microsoft, Crabtree and Evelyn, Wal-Mart, HP, Adidas, Aveda, Bath and Body Works, the Body Shop, Gerber, Honda, Ikea, Lego Systems, Nike, Samsung, SC Johnson, Shaw Carpet, Toyota, Victoria’s Secret, Volkswagen, and Volvo. And of course, MEC as mentioned in the earlier post. The Centre for Health, Environment and Justice even maintains a “PVC: The Poison Plastic” campaign.

I have yet to hear back, but when I do I will post an update.

So what do we have?

-These shoes are being marketed and sold as sustainable.

-We know that in 2005 companies such as adidas, Nike and Wal-Mart took steps to remove PVC from their products, as a result of the hazardous nature of the material.

-Melissa claims that Grendene is the “holder of exclusive injected thermoplastic”

-According to their website, Melissa has trademarked ‘MELFLEX’ which is “hypoallergenic and 100% safe for your health. It is odourless, neutral and natural”

-The companies involved have yet to comment on the hazardous reputation of PVC in the textile and apparel industry.

Let’s talk briefly on the importance of understanding the lifecycle of a garment. It may be true that the factory producing the PVC for this shoe company maintains “practically zero waste” and that the shoes are easily recyclable in house. The company boasts the sale of 176 million pairs of shoes per year. Surely all of these shoes are not sent back to the original factory in Brazil for proper breakdown.

There are quite a few shocking factors at play here: that a fashion/apparel company could so blatantly market itself as sustainable without feeling the need to support its claim; that the entire lifecycle (particularly post consumer) of the PVC is not taken into consideration when stressing the company’s take on its plastic “ecological manifesto”; and the lack of response for comment on the ‘sustainable nature of PVC’

Greenbiz article is available here

“PVC: The Poison Plastic” campaign is available here

Vivienne Westwood: PVC Debate

Vivienne Westwood: Lady Dragon

Vivienne Westwood recently teamed up with Melissa to create a new shoe collection. “The Fashion Audit: 02/02/09” in The Independent claims that these shoes are made from recycled rubber. The shoe company offers limited information on the details of the environmental factors associated with the plastic. One thing for sure, the shoes, like all Melissa shoes, are made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride). Now, I am no expert on PVC, that’s for sure, but I seem to recall the material being associated with some pretty serious safety and environmental risks. What’s changed? Apparently, at least one PVC manufacturer (Grendene), has been producing sustainable PVC since 1996?

Vancouver based Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) takes a clear stand against the use of PVC in its products. According to MEC,

“Polyvinyl chloride, known as “PVC” or simply as “vinyl”, is a common compound used in thousands of products. But for us and the planet, it’s bad stuff. During manufacture it produces potent carcinogens and toxins including dioxins, chlorine residue, and heavy-metal pollutants. Over their lifespan, PVC products can off-gas and leak some of their dangerous additives. PVC is difficult to recycle; most of it ends up in landfills. When burned, it releases further dioxins and gases such as hydrogen chloride.”

According to Melissa,

“Plastic is the chosen medium to communicate technology and renewal”

“Because our products are created from mono-materials they can be easily disassembled and recycled. Solid, liquid and gas residues, left over from our production process, are recycled and dealt with in-house. Nothing leaves the factory without being treated, resulting in practically zero waste.”

The company sources its PVC from Grendene, whose site offers no real information on the material. You can read the company’s Code of Conduct here, and a statement on PVC here

I have sent in an email to the people at Melissa, Vivienne Westwood, and Grendene requesting more information on PVC and will hopefully hear back and write more on the subject at a later date.

You can find “The Fashion Audit: 02/02/09” by Harriet Walker here

You can read more on Melissa’s sustainable plastic dreams, and the designers working with the company here