For Spring/Summer 2018, mint&berry introduces sustainable clothing, footwear and accessories to its collection with the well-being of people and planet at the heart of its process. All fabrics in this collection have been carefully selected for their water, chemical and carbon saving properties.
The collection is made from materials including linen, lyocell, responsible viscose and certified organic cotton, which help conserve resources and are overall much better for the planet. To select our materials, we use third-party guidelines and verified life cycle assessment data such as Textile Exchange’s Preferred Fibres report, the Made-By fibre benchmark and the Material Sustainability Index developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, which were joined in 2017.
Why is the cotton we’re using considered sustainable?
The cotton used in the mint&berry Sustainable Collection is either sourced as Better Cotton through the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) [apparel], the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world, or certified to the Organic Content Standard [shoes].
The Better Cotton Initiative exists to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, the environment it grows in and the sector’s future. We became a member of the Better Cotton Initiative in 2017, and since then are working hard to increase the percentage of our cotton sourced through BCI each year.
Why is the viscose / lyocell we’re using considered sustainable?
In February 2018, we joined the CanopyStyle initiative in pledging to eradicate ancient and endangered forests from the viscose supply chain. The viscose used for our Sustainable Collection comes from companies who are leaders in sustainable manufacturing and innovation and have completed CanopyStyle audits, with policies in place to prevent sourcing from controversial areas.
We also use lyocell (Tencel) from Austrian company Lenzing, which is made from wood pulp sourced from sustainably managed forests or fast growing renewable materials such as bamboo and eucalyptus. The lyocell is certified with the EU Ecolabel, 100% biodegradable and produced in closed loop system, so almost nothing is wasted.
What other materials are we using and why are these sustainable?
Linen is a natural fibre made from the flax plant which requires little water and no pesticides to grow. It is mainly produced in Europe, Russia, Egypt and China with no associated harm to rainforests, and can also be grown on land unsuitable for food production. For the Sustainable Collection we also use jute for the soles of our espadrilles (a material similar in origin to linen with an even lower environmental footprint) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified straw for our accessories.
Where is the Sustainable Collection produced?
Due to the size and variety of our assortment, it’s necessary for us to collaborate with sourcing partners in different countries, who have years of technical expertise in their respective product areas. Our main sourcing countries are China, Turkey, India, Bangladesh, Spain and Portugal.
How do we ensure fair working conditions in our supply chain?
We have a strong Ethical Trade program in place and require that all our business partners comply with our Code of Conduct. All the factories we use are audited on a yearly basis and we have additional requirements for high risk countries, such as homeworkers and migrant workers. We regularly visit production sites and in addition, we also run tailored factory improvement programs on topics like health and safety and social insurance. We are part of the International Labor Organization’s Better Work Program and in March 2017 we were awarded ‘Partner’ member status in recognition of our factory improvement work over the past years. We collaborate on an ongoing basis with other brands, ethical trade consultancies and NGOs across the world.
How do we ensure our products are free from hazardous chemicals?
All our sourcing partners are required to avoid the use of possible harmful substances to ensure that our products meet legal minimum safety standards, such as the EU systems REACH and POP. In addition to regularly testing our finished products to ensure they are safe to wear, we want to continue to reduce the volume of harmful chemicals used along the supply chain, which means less risk to customers, workers and the environment.
About our Animal Welfare Policy
Our Animal Welfare policy forms an important part of the work we do and is based on Directive 98/58/EC concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes and the standards of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). mint&berry has always been fur free and we forbid the use of any type of rabbit wool such as angora and products made from exotic or endangered animals.
Most of our shoes are made from leather, which offers some important benefits in terms of product quality and lifespan but is also associated with many complex social and environmental issues. In 2017 we became members of the Leather Working Group and are mapping our supply chain back to the tannery stage. We aim to increase our percentage of LWG-audited tanneries, in order to improve environmental standards and the lives of the many people supported by the leather industry.
What is planned for the future?
As members of the European Clothing Action Plan, we are working towards a minimum target of 10% carbon, water and waste reduction by 2019, which we will achieve through switching to more sustainable materials. We intend to grow our percentage of sustainably-sourced materials in the future, and have already started to apply these criteria to the rest of the mint&berry collection. As members of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, we are part of a very large community of fashion brands which is working to create standardised industry tools to measure the environmental performance of factories and the footprint of our products through the Higg Index. Last year we submitted our first factory results to the Higg Index, and will continue our work to create more transparency along our supply chain with a specific focus on materials like viscose and leather. Finally, we will continue to drive industry improvements through projects like the Social and Labor Convergence Project, and have plans to expand our Factory Improvement Program to cover more topics, countries, and workers.
