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Patagonia's clothing gets Fair Trade label
Recently, Patagonia has got its
full collection of board shorts
and bikinis’ Fair Trade Certified,
as part of its move to support
workers, elevate communities and
work in an equitable way. Fair
Trade is a non-profit organization
offering benefits to workers and
Fair Trade Certified factories
observing strict environmental
norms. For every product made
at a Fair Trade Certified factory,
Patagonia pays a premium that
workers can use to elevate their
living standards. Such is the case
that premiums from Patagonia
purchases have been used to
fund child-care programmes
and vouches for medicine and
household goods.
In addition to the benefits
paid directly to workers, Fair
Trade Certified factories are
required to adhere to Fair
Trade USA’s strict standards
for safe working conditions
and environmental
responsibility. “For a long time
now, there’s been too little
transparency in the garment
industry. When we buy clothing,
we’re often oblivious to the
reality of how it was made –
not to mention the true human
and ecological costs of the
manufacturing process,” informs
Dave Rastovich, Global Surf
Activist, Patagonia.
Patagonia’s swim and surf
collection are field tested by some
of the best surfers in the world
and incorporate recycled nylon
or recycled polyester
fabrics, while the women’s
swimsuits and bikinis are
printed using a laser process that
minimizes fabric scraps
and waste.
New research focuses on clothes being used till
they are worn out
A new research by Sandra Roos
on the clothing lifecycle reveals
that clothes should be used until
they are worn out. The research
has been a five-year project, where
the researcher studied 30 different
sub-processes in textile production.
The lifecycle perspective used in
the research involves an overall
assessment, from production
to the user phase and product
waste management and the
effect of background processes
such as electricity consumption
and mining. The results of this
research make it possible to
compare textile products that
are extremely different to each
other. “I have assessed the
toxicity of the chemicals used in
30 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2017 | www.apparelresources.com
the processes. This is an area
where, until now, there were huge
knowledge gaps. The sub-processes
I studied extend from techniques
as different as entirely synthetic
textile fibres made of plastic, to
cotton production – where farmers
cultivate the soil, plant and harvest
the cotton, before ginning and
preparing it,” reveals Sandra.
Roos has taken an overall approach
to the clothing lifecycle with
her doctoral thesis at Chalmers
University of Technology in Sweden
and the research institute Swerea,
within the research programme
Mistra Future Fashion which is a
collaborative project between the
fashion industry and researchers in
Sweden. Their next step will be to
transform the results of the thesis
to a practical tool that clothing
manufacturers can use to improve
the environmental performance
of their processes and products.
The tool is expected to be ready
sometime in 2017. This is an
important step, since the majority
of the environmental load in the
clothing lifecycle is created in the
production phase. Roos' research
has also yielded conclusions
about which consumer actions
are most effective in reducing the
environmental load of clothing.