In the last blog article we have taken you on the exciting journey to our brand new W ave of Change Collection taken. Because on 01.04. We're launching our sustainable Oceanmata merchandise in the form of T-shirts. We'd also like to give you an insight into the entire production chain, which is why we're picking up where we left off last time.
After the conception and design comes the implementation!
production
How is sustainable clothing made?
With the company Textile maker from Munich we have found a great partner who supports our Printed shirts . In our comparison with other printing companies, you performed best due to your sustainable certifications. We were looking for a printing company with naturally high-quality production, coupled with the values we also represent at Oceanmata.
Climate protection, environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, recyclable raw materials, and social responsibility are all things that we want to reflect in our merchandise and have been able to realize with the company Textilmacher.
GOTS-certified production, what does that mean?
We have already briefly touched on this topic in the last blog article, but we would like to tell you a little more about why GOTS seal is so important. Translated, GOTS stands for "Global Organic Textile Standard." The GOTS seal is the most widely awarded certification for natural textiles and is also recommended by Greenpeace. Strict ecological standards ensure that the entire production process is checked for several factors. For example...
...toxic-free printing ink
The GOTS standard regulates, among other things, the criteria for textile printing inks used by companies. The focus is on biodegradability and toxicity. of the colors, but also the social responsibility in ecological production of textiles.
Regardless of whether it is fashion from cheap or expensive labels, the pollutants that enter the clothing through printing inks and are still used by many brands are causing massive damage to our environment. With every wash cycle, parts of the Chemicals from the textiles and thus enter the Wastewater .
However, the sewage treatment plants are not able to filter these microparticles from the water, which means that they find their way into our Environment and cause massive damage. Of course, the toxic fumes pose health risks for those who have to work with color.
Textiles certified according to GOTS may not contain certain substances at all or may only contain them in limited quantities. Completely prohibited are, for example:
- Hormonally active substances
- Heavy metals
- Additives that can release carcinogenic arylamine compounds
- Short-chain chlorinated paraffins and much more.
You can see the entire list on the GOTS website.
GOTS also includes criteria for wastewater treatment, storage, packaging and transport, minimum social requirements such as the prohibition of child labor, discrimination and safe and hygienic working conditions for employees.
Fair Wear Seal
Why should you buy sustainable clothing?
The second seal that is very important for us in relation to our sustainable Oceanmata Merch in the area of production is the Fair Wear Seal . This comes from the Fair Wear Foundation , which aims to improve working conditions in the textile industry. They inspect production facilities and interview workers. Sewing work are the focus here.
Why is this urgently necessary?
The price for Fast Fashion are mostly paid by the seamstresses in the large factories, who work under absolutely inhumane conditions.
- 12-14 hour shifts are not uncommon at suppliers to the global textile industry
- The average monthly wage for seamstresses in Bangladesh is 9.50 euros
- 100-hour weeks are not uncommon so that workers can feed their families
- Sexual harassment in the workplace and physical violence are not uncommon, especially when the required workload is not met
- Labour and social security security such as employment contracts, health insurance, pensions, maternity protection or holiday entitlements - none
- Rebellion against the conditions is often suppressed with threats of dismissal or pay cuts. Often, the shame is too great, and the conditions are simply accepted.
At this point we would like to present you the documentary "The True Cost - the price of fashion" filmed in various countries around the world, where you get a glimpse behind the scenes of the dazzling fashion industry.
We would like to use our sustainable Oceanmata Merch gladly a sign for Fair Fashion and against Fast Fashion For the reasons stated above and because we, as I'm sure you too, believe that a rethink is needed here.
And this is what it looks like when our T-shirts are printed in the Textilmacher
>> Click on the individual images to access the videos from the production <<
1. Get to the keys and let's go
2. Let's print
3. The beautiful end result
In the next articles, you'll learn more about how our shoot went and how our sustainable collection is packaged and shipped !
