Sustainability
October 25, 2022 min reading
Sustainable Future
We believe in a more sustainable future of fashion and recognise the challenges that exist today. As part of our commitment to driving positive change within industry we ask and encourage our suppliers to share this goal. Our supplier manual includes strict policies on chemical compliance and animal welfare. This includes, and is not limited to prohibiting the use of harmful chemicals, being REACH (EU) compliant and reach Prop 65 standards within our American supply chains.
Sustainability
We continuously assess how we can improve across all areas of our business, from sourcing better fabrics, researching natural dyes to re-considering use of plastic within delivery processes. We are proud to say that currently our poly-bags are composed of at least 50% recycled content. But we aim to go even further in this area and achieve 100% compatibility in the future.
With this in mind, we’ve created a sustainability plan which aims to help preserve the environment, minimise waste and which seeks to ensure our products are made in environments complying with health, safety and employment laws.
Our 12 Point Sustainability Pledge
Design and manufacture our products with consideration for the environment and end of life.
Focus on supply chain management and mapping which allows us to pursue environmental responsibility and traceability of production throughout the entire supply chain process.
Strive to use organic fibres and recycled materials in the production of our designs.
Expand the number of collections we create that use solely organic or recycled materials.
Increase the use of eco-friendly poly bags. Currently our poly-bags contain at least 50% recycled plastic content. We are aiming to achieve 100% recycled composition in the future.
Upscale the use of recycled LDPE within our products. This material is sourced from plastic waste that would otherwise end up in landfill.
Carry out regular auditing and compliance checks on factories producing our products to ensure they are demonstrating safe and fair working conditions. We respect human rights by ensuring our products are made in working environments that comply with health, safety and employment laws.
Achieve tier 2 and 3 supply chain transparency by continuously mapping our processes and coordinating with auditing bodies such as SEDEX and BSCI.
Encourage our suppliers to recognise their environmental responsibilities and, if necessary, offer them practical support to help implement improved environmental health and safety policies and practices where required.
Review and investigate any claims which are presented to us that our suppliers are falling short of these standards.
Keep empowering communities. Whispering Smith is a family-run business and we are proud of our heritage. Our head office in Manchester and regional office locations across the UK support local talent with jobs and we regularly make donations to good causes in the regions we are based.
Whispering Smith is taking great steps forward, but we are mindful there will always be more we can do in the future. That’s why our aims and objectives in this area are being constantly reviewed to ensure they can change and adapt if and when they need to.
What's Next?
We are on a journey to
Be climate positive
We need to go a step further than Carbon Neutral, by saving MORE greenhouse gas emissions than we are generating.
Replenish
...the earths natural resources. We continue to use natural and organic ingredients, focus on chemical reduction and/or biodiversity impact through our supply chain.
Generate Zero Waste
We focus on waste prevention that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused.
Learn more about how we work with sustainability
The author of this article is Anna Marianna White
