Ethical Trading at White and Bishop

Patagonia

Superb clothing made from organic cotton and recycled polyester.

Yvon Chounard (founder of Patagonia) has said that :
"By 2010, we are going to try to make all our products out of recycled and recyclable materials. We're gonna be the 1st company to make all our products out of recycled materials."
Patagonia gives 1% of its sales to the protection of the environment and is a member of the 1% For The Planet Club.

For more info: www.onepercentfortheplanet.org

Smartwool and Icebreaker

Merino is natural, sustainable, renewable. Smartwool have a wide ranging “print” with their suppliers practices, employees social volunteering and an advocacy social 'fund'.

Marmot BambooT-Shirts and HJ Bamboo socks

Marmot T’s are made from 55% Bamboo:
Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant on Earth, growing up to one foot per day. It is biodegradable without causing any pollution to the environment.

Key features:
Bamboo is sustainable, biodegradable, with natural anti-bacterial deodorisation. It is naturally UV resistant.

Paramo

Revolutionary waterproof clothing, utilising Nikwax waterbased proofings.

In 1992 Nick Brown established Paramo’s production facility in Bogota, Colombia.
Working as part of a social programme with the remarkable ‘Miquelina Foundation’ Paramo provides valuable skills to ‘at risk’ women seeking an improvement in their life.

Organic Cotton

Q: What are the environmental issues of growing cotton?
A: Most people are unaware of the effect of mass cotton production on the environment-how it is grown, how it is harvested-and very few will pause to wonder whether child labour is used, or whose pockets are lined with such exploitation. But now most of us are aware that the world faces an environmental crisis, even threatening human survival, with water shortages, global warming and worldwide nitrogen pollution- the main cause of this latter problem being the increased use of artificial fertiliser to boost crop growth.

Although cotton was grown without the use of chemicals for most of its known four thousand year history growing cotton in the modern way is second only to coffee for destructive elements on the environment. Cotton farming consumes more pesticides than any other crop in the world and the majority are highly toxic. Cotton uses only 3% of global farmland but 25% of the world’s synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Cotton farming is especially dangerous in Africa, poisoning up to 10% of the workers (one estimation is of approximately 20,000 world-wide poison related deaths per year), polluting the water supply and badly affecting the land. Finally, because pesticides and fertilizers are so expensive the African farmers often find themselves in a trap of financial poverty.

Q: How is organic cotton grown?
A: In contrast organic cotton uses age-old farming methods of crop rotation, manure fertilising and natural predators to controls pests (bug warfare!). No pesticides, fungicides, defiloilants or chemicals. The land is kept healthier, organic cotton farming mimics nature creating a healthy ecosystem and sustainable use of the land. Patagonia apply stringent rules not only to the growing process but also to the dyeing and finishing processes. There is a painstaking environmental consistency throughout the production process.

Q: So, why is organic cotton clothing a little more expensive than conventional cotton?
A: Organic farming is much more labour intensive. Even after the organic grown cotton leaves the field, nearly every step in production-ginning, spinning, and knitting or weaving-incurs greater costs. Certified organic cotton farming has only been around for 10 years, mainly in Africa but now also in U.S.A. India and Turkey. Although the cost of producing organic cotton is 50-100% higher when it finally reaches the wearer there is only about a 20% + premium on conventional cotton. This is now being regarded by an increasing number of consumers as a small price to pay when ecological issues are taken into consideration. Note that global sales of organic food increase at a staggering rate of 25% per year despite their higher price.

Fact: Every single yard of organic cotton produced for Patagonia avoids the use of at least a third of a pound of harmful chemicals.

Merino Wool

Q: What are the issues with conventional wool production?
A: Common wool production relies upon chemicals at every stage. The sheep are dipped in pesticides to kill parasites, the fleece is scoured with petroleum-based detergents; the yarn is bleached with chlorine and then dyed with heavy metal based dyes.

Q: So what’s the story with Merino?
A: The primary ingredient of Smartwool and Icebreaker Base layer clothing and Socks is Merino wool. This is a sustainable, renewable, natural resource found in a place where sustainable farming helps maintain undeveloped areas throughout New Zealand. Oh, and just feel the quality-it’s the best.

Recycled Polyester

Q: What are the environmental issues of producing virgin polyester?
A: It has been estimated that over one million 2 Litre drinks bottles are disposed of every hour in the U.S.A. Patagonia were the first company to look into recycling these bottles. It takes 25 such bottles to make a fleece jacket. Between1993 and 2003 Patagonia diverted 86 million bottles away from landfill sites. For every 150 jackets produced they saved 42 gallons of oil and half a ton of toxic air emissions.