Creating Clothing as a Certified B Corporation™
An Industry-Wide Issue
There’s no getting around it: the fashion industry is terrible for the environment. Responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions—more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined, clothing manufacturing operations also use immense quantities of water and pollute rivers and streams. And with the advent of fast fashion over the past 15-20 years, more clothes end up discarded sooner than ever before. In fact, ‘the equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or dumped in a landfill every second.’ (UNEP)
Something has to change.
Making Products to Make a Difference
Since becoming a B Corp™, the Mondetta organization has made incredible strides to sourcing more sustainable fabrics and production methods to create its garments. By leveraging existing supply chain partners and establishing relationships with others, the company continues to drastically increase the percentage of items produced sustainably in each seasonal collection. To do so, we're focused on three core areas:
1. Social Compliance
For us, creating garments sustainably goes above and beyond environmental factors; it also includes following and upholding workplace standards to respect and treat with dignity every individual working in our supply chain facilities. All suppliers and factories in the MPG garment production cycle must follow binding and strict social compliance requirements. Based on principles of the International Labor Organization, third-party compliance agencies independently monitor and certify standards of human resources management, health and safety, environmental practices, and legal compliance, including import/export matters and customs and security, which include:
- Compliance with Laws and Workplace Regulations
- Prohibition of Forced Labor
- Prohibition of Child Labor
- Prohibition of Harassment or Abuse
- Compensation and Benefits
- Hours of Work
- Prohibition of Discrimination
- Health and Safety
- Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
- Environment
- Customs Compliance
- Security
2. Chemical Responsibility and Management
To ensure chemicals used in the production of MPG garments are nonhazardous, we rely on third-party organizations, such as bluesign® and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®, to certify our suppliers are compliant with environmentally friendly and safe production standards, including:
- Resource Productivity
- Consumer Safety
- Water Emission
- Air Emission
- Occupational Health and Safety
Eliminating harmful substances from the beginning of the textile production process and at every step along the way, bluesign® and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® provide manufacturers and consumers alike a guarantee that materials used in their products are environmentally friendly. These certifications also ensure all workers handling and dealing with those chemicals do so without risk to personal health.
3. Material Sourcing and Accountability
The fabrics, textiles, and materials used in our garments undergo stringent screenings and certification checks at every phase of the production system. For example, when we say we make something from organic cotton, third-party audits from the farm to the factory ensure that claim is 100% verifiable. The same goes for our wool and down feather sourcing—the animals that provide us with the materials to make our clothing receive humane treatment free from undue suffering.
Sustainability is Nothing Without Attainability
Manufacturing clothing sustainably is often an expensive proposition as the extra sourcing, newer production methods, and compliance procedures can add additional costs to the price of your clothing. Some brands claiming sustainability credentials will pass those costs on to their customer resulting in above-average prices on items comparable to conventional pieces not produced sustainably. At Mondetta, we've been able to ensure our customer can expect to pay the same reasonable price point she always has by designing products intentionally and adapting our supply chain and manufacturing processes to maximize efficiencies. We further reduce our margins because we believe in a three-pronged bottom line—social, environmental, financial—rather than strictly following a profit-only motive.