{"id":13142,"title":"Clothing powered by renewables, and how to talk about it","description":"This blog helps you understand what truly sustainable production means in practice and how to talk about it. We've included some pictures, some numbers, and some details about the relevant parts of the supply chain, like how we are using renewable energy, organic cotton and low-waste production methods to reduce carbon. As people increasingly expect brands to do something about the climate crisis, sharing specifics about how your brand is leading the way helps to build that all-important trust that leads to growth.","content":"

This blog helps you understand what sustainable production means in practice and how to talk about it. We've included some pictures, some numbers, and some details about the relevant parts of the supply chain, like how we are using renewable energy, organic cotton and low-waste production methods to reduce carbon.<\/p>

It's important because people increasingly expect brands to do something about the climate crisis. Sharing specifics about how your brand is leading the way helps to build that all-important trust that leads to growth.<\/p>

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The Sun and the Wind keep the lights on<\/h3>

Your products are made in factories powered by the wind and the sun. Renewable sources of energy minimise pollution, unlike finite fossil fuels like coal which release greenhouse gases when used, contributing to global warming. \"\"\"\"
-- Renewable energy power is awesome. We use solar on our Island HQ and we also use wind, like here over in India. Interestingly the Vestas V52 blades in this shot were actually made on the Isle of Wight. Full circle.<\/em>
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Plant based Packaging<\/h3>

All your products and packaging are made using natural materials. Whilst it can take hundreds of years for plastic bags to break down, paper biodegrades in weeks. No waste, no plastic pollution. And while plastic is made from oil and requires energy, emitting carbon, to be formed, paper mailers are almost the opposite: The carbon in the molecules that make up the material was captured from the atmosphere during photosynthesis, a physical carbon capture and storage story in your hands. And when they are finally finished, they will degrade into soils and natural systems.<\/p>

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Organic raw materials<\/h3>

To make farms more productive, the business as usual approach is to pump fertilisers into the ground, pesticides into the air, and in some cases, artificially heat and light plants to increase yield. Economically it makes sense because neither the cost of throwing stuff away when it is worn out, nor the climate cost of energy is costed in. But it's insane. Because the amount of energy, water and transport used, and the pollution that is created, is expensive for our environment and the people within it. This is not acceptable to us, because we do not want our products to cost the Earth. That's why we take a different approach.<\/p>

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Organic agriculture is a fundamentally different approach. It means letting plants grow naturally - using techniques the way nature intended them. Instead of pesticides, co-planting crops distract bugs. Instead of fertiliser, well, you have options. Like cow poo. And clean soil means that farmers can grow onions and food in the dry season instead of needing to irrigate water. So instead of creating carbon, these crops absorb it. Soft, kind to skin and a positive solution for our climate.<\/p>

Reusability<\/h3>

Organic production massively reduces the carbon cost of materials, and, better still, we can reutilise the material we have already got to reduce emissions further.<\/p>

Our Remill technology enables us to make new products from worn out materials instead of creating them from scratch every time. This is what we mean when we talk about circular design. The recycled tees and jumpers<\/a> you can design on are made with organic cotton that has been sent back and remade. This reduces the material required to make a new yarn by using the material we already have. And by only printing what people need when they need it, waste is designed out in our factories at every stage. Waste saved is carbon saved.<\/p>

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-- Every one of your products has a label like this, which your customers can scan to see instructions for sending back their items to be remade.<\/em><\/p>

And we do not stop there. We use renewable energy-powered web servers up in the cloud.<\/p>

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-- This is the GCP cloud server in the Netherlands, one of the places your site is hosted. It's nerdy. And it's carbon neutral.<\/em><\/p>

It's a detail but an important one that shows how we've taken a root, leaf and branch approach to this issue. And on that subject...<\/p>


Tree planting turns a small number negative<\/h3>

You probably already know about our tree planting weekends. They're about more than just biodiversity and creating jobs for people in places where they make a difference. Trees absorb carbon.<\/p>

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Trees are famous for their CO2 absorbing super-powers, amongst other benefits like cleaning our water and air. We regularly run Buy One Get One Tree<\/a> offer weekends. It's something you can participate in, promote, and link back to this wider climate story time and again.<\/p>

Talking about it<\/h3>

60% of millennials say they want to shop more sustainably. And with more than half of adults looking at sustainability<\/a> as a factor when they shop from new brands, this should be a strong advantage for you when you do your marketing. It's important not to just expect people to come to you because of this, though. The story needs to be told well, and reach people. Make sure they find you through tactics like SEO<\/a>.<\/p>

It's also important to recognise the role of emotion in marketing. It's not all reason and logic. About 70% of all the sensory receptors in the body are in the eyes and so your designs, and most importantly, your original photography<\/a>, is what sets the scene first. Here's an example of a great photo, with a renewable energy-themed design that would benefit from a supporting story talking about sustainability. If someone cares about that, this product gives them something they can do about it. Something to buy.<\/p>

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-- You can celebrate sustainable solutions and raise awareness of climate issues with your designs - find some ready-made ideas in Studio.<\/a><\/em><\/p>

Building brands is not about selling. It's about storytelling.<\/p><\/blockquote>

The way everything comes together in your brand's story is just as important as the photography and design. Explain why this is important to you as a founder on your About page and help people get to know you, your brand and your values. From that, you can speak about how carbon neutrality has been achieved by using some of the information in this blog, other resources like the impact stats on your Analytics<\/a> page and the resources in the Academy<\/a> like this set of illustrated stats <\/a>.<\/p>

And when you're building out your site, or your socials, remember there's heaps of amazing high quality imagery to download and share in Drive.<\/a>
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-- Drive is full of behind the scenes<\/a> photography as well as impactful imagery<\/a> that you can use to talk about your sustainability credentials and start conversations.<\/em><\/p>

Get involved in the carbon conversation by sharing your thoughts with us below. Have your followers asked about your environmental impact? How important have you found this issue to be for them?<\/p>","urlTitle":"how-to-talk-about-carbon-neutral-clothing","url":"\/blog\/how-to-talk-about-carbon-neutral-clothing\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/how-to-talk-about-carbon-neutral-clothing\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/teemill.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-about-carbon-neutral-clothing\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":true,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1633526806,"updatedAt":1748066464,"publishedAt":1748012854,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":12,"name":"Teemill"},"tags":[{"id":658,"code":"sustainability","name":"sustainability","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/sustainability\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/pgl6o48r9bwfhgjxkjr8bfuuftviiyt0i6uvqtz1iz46rw1l.png","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/pgl6o48r9bwfhgjxkjr8bfuuftviiyt0i6uvqtz1iz46rw1l.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/pgl6o48r9bwfhgjxkjr8bfuuftviiyt0i6uvqtz1iz46rw1l.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"Carbon Neutral Clothing | How To Talk About It","metaDescription":"Thanks to using renewable energy, natural materials and low-waste production methods in our supply chain, your brand is carbon neutral.","keyPhraseCampaignId":4168,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":3357,"title":"Custom robotics, automation and sustainability in our factory","url":"\/blog\/custom-robotics-automation-sustainability-uk-factory\/","urlTitle":"custom-robotics-automation-sustainability-uk-factory","division":12,"description":"Robots are amazing fun and they play a big part here at our Teemill factory. It's really important to consider technologies like this when thinking about sustainability, and we'll explain why.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5e846553730861.26448941.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5e846553730861.26448941.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":4858,"title":"What happens after ordering a product","url":"\/blog\/what-happens-after-ordering-a-product\/","urlTitle":"what-happens-after-ordering-a-product","division":12,"description":"In this episode in our Getting Started series, we talk about what happens after you've got a sale and a product has been ordered from your store.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5ee093a259c4e7.11843152.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5ee093a259c4e7.11843152.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":11543,"title":"Calculating the environmental impact of your store","url":"\/blog\/calculating-the-environmental-impact-of-your-store\/","urlTitle":"calculating-the-environmental-impact-of-your-store","division":12,"description":"In this blog, we explain how your Impact Stats are calculated, including the plastic your store has eliminated, the trees you have planted, the material you have saved from landfill and your net CO2 emissions. These stats are all great sources for your marketing and goal setting.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ncneqssuzvauznyytkfyojinbqeobzsla6zaz060xu7rmawq.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ncneqssuzvauznyytkfyojinbqeobzsla6zaz060xu7rmawq.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}