Sustainability at Off the Wax🌱🤙
“Buy less, choose well.”
Vivienne Westwood, Fashion Designer
In the past few weeks we got in discussions with leaders in the surfing community that are trying to make the difference in any type of capacity.
It was already clear to us how important is to create something that is sustainable and reuses materials that are already available in the world.
That’s when we came into realization we can be of something bigger, something that goes beyond what we all put on ourselves. We decided to take a new step towards sustainability.
“We decided to take a new step towards sustainability.“
For reasons that go beyond Off the Wax brand we have already established connections with players active in sustainability from recyclers of materials, to collectors of waste and plastics from the ocean to investors funding companies that are making a greater impact to the social cause.
Off the Commitment wants to go beyond the basic eco-friendly label
Here is where we would like to pledge our commitment to turn our entire store to provide only sustainable products. And possibly as things grow and move forward to involve ourselves more into the sustainability table.
For now we have done quite a deep research on our providers (Bella + Canvas to be the most important) actions towards sustainable and eco-friendly materials.
It is time that you all know get briefed about what the label “Eco-Friendly” means in our store, on the products already available (about 5 items for now).
Sustainability behind Eco-Friendly Labels
When you see the Eco-Friendly label on our products this is what it means:
- Our partner does all of their dyeing in Los Angeles and it means a lot because California has the strictest EPA regulations in the world. This ensure a much higher level of compliance rather doing it in another country
- The machines they use are so efficient that allowed them to reduce their water usage by 7 times
- They use 3 gallons of water per pound of fabric, compared to most clothing manufactures that use between 9 and 20 gallons of water
- The technology they use ensures a very low dye per water ratio which they constantly monitor through their digital computer system. When this is done manually, the process uses extra dye and causes inconsistency and wastefulness
- The dye they use is bluesign® certified, which guarantees that they are eco-friendly
- By taking advantage of the technologies, specified above, they are able to save 24 million of gallons of water PER WEEK!!!!! (insane for the water situation in California)
- The water is recycled through a in-house filtration system and it is USED AGAIN RATHER BEING DUMPED INTO RIVERS AND OCEANS (this is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR OUR BRAND YOU MIGHT UNDERSTAND WHY!)
- They are doing as much as possible to reduce CO2 emissions which means going green and saving energy in any way they can
- Their sawing and cutting facilities are run on SOLAR POWER in 2019 they finalized a 450,000 sqft solar farm that proved their commitment for clean energy
- For their building they added skylight to rely less on artificial light and more on NATURAL light
- They added motion sensors and LED lightning that uses 9x less energy than traditional lights.
- They recycle every that is recyclable. Fabric, plastics, bottles, paper and more. Everything that cannot be made into a t-shirt is recycled. The extra fabric is picked up daily and reused for pillows stuffing or dog bed filling
- Their tees and product are made with high garments and stand long product lifecycles.
This is also all explained on their video that we purpose here below:
Quick notion on Sustainability available on internet we thought cool to share:
Sustainability is the ability to exist constantly. In the 21st century, it refers generally to the capacity for the biosphere and human civilization to coexist. It is also defined as the process of people maintaining change in a homeostasis balanced environment, in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.[1] For many in the field, sustainability is defined through the following interconnected domains or pillars: environment, economic and social,[2] which according to Fritjof Capra[3] is based on the principles of Systems Thinking. Sub-domains of sustainable development have been considered also: cultural, technological and political.[4][5] According to Our Common Future, Sustainable development is defined as development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”[6][7] Sustainable development may be the organizing principle of sustainability, yet others may view the two terms as paradoxical (i.e., development is inherently unsustainable).[8][9][10]
Sustainability can also be defined as a socio-ecological process characterized by the pursuit of a common ideal.[11] An ideal is by definition unattainable in a given time and space. However, by persistently and dynamically approaching it, the process results in a sustainable system.[11] Many environmentalists and ecologists argue that sustainability is achieved through the balance of species and the resources within their environment. As is typically practiced in natural resource management, the goal is to maintain this equilibrium, available resources must not be depleted faster than resources are naturally generated.
History of the term “Sustainability“:
Modern use of the term sustainability is broad and difficult to define precisely.[12] Originally, sustainability meant making only such use of natural, renewable resources that people can continue to rely on their yields in the long term.[13]
The concept of sustainability, or Nachhaltigkeit in German, can be traced back to Hans Carl von Carlowitz (1645–1714), and was applied to forestry.[14]
