Labeling it green – by Heidi Forsell

A Fashion With Responsibility article

Have you ever tried to find out how ethical your clothing is just by looking at the label? Good luck with that. The labeling on most “eco-friendly” or ethical clothing can be confusing, misleading, or incomplete. In the U.S. there is no standard label for clothing that will tell you the whole story of the garment’s production in one glance. Researching for this article led me into a swirling sea of labels that are popping up all over the world, certifying textiles in a myriad of different ways. All the confusion over labeling is enough to make any ethical shopper want to throw up their hands, and forget the whole thing, but there are a few movers and shakers to know about, as well as some interesting organizations to look out for on the horizon. Here is a quick run-down on some of the labels you might see

USDA – Recognize this label? The labeling standards in the US for organic goods were designed for food, not clothing. It’s the department of agriculture that uses this label. The USDA can certify cotton because cotton seeds and cotton seed oil are agricultural products, but its worth noting that cotton textiles are another story. Clothing may say it uses 100% organic cotton, but remember that the finishing chemical treatments or dyes may be very UN-organic.

IWG – A project of the International Working Group, Global Organic Textile Standard ensures organic status of textiles, from harvesting of the raw materials, through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing up to labelling in order to provide a credible assurance to the end consumer. This international effort was started up in 2002, and affirms it’s poised to explode onto the textile market. But so far, this label doesn’t yet have widespread use.

OE – The Organic Exchange is a non-profit business organization focused on facilitating the growth of a global organic cotton industry. Nike, Patagonia and Timberland (among others) are members of the Organic Exchange. The labels for Organic Exchange can be used on clothes that contain at least 95% certified organic cotton.

OTA – Here’s another business membership association, this one is for the organic industry in all of North America. Most of its members are small businesses. Established in 1985, the OTA takes a role in advocating and shaping legislation and representing the industry to governmental officials. It also has a green directory (http://www.theorganicpages.com/topo/index.html), and a blog.

Oeko-Tex. A lot of people worry about wearing clothes that have toxic chemicals on them from the manufacturing process. That’s where Oeko-Tex Standard 100 came in circa 1990, making sure that clothes contained no harmful chemicals. In many ways, Oeko-tex is the go-to label people look for when they want “eco-friendly” clothing.

There is also Oeko-Tex 1000. The extra zero stands for a “testing, auditing and certification system for environmentally-friendly production sites throughout the textile processing chain”. Oeko-Tex 1000 also encompasses criteria such as banning child labor, work safety, minimizing water consumption and waste, and optimization of energy use.

Oeko-Tex 100 plus is for companies who can prove compliance on both Oeko’s chemical and ethical standards for all textile companies involved in the production of a particular garment.

Trans fair is a non profit third party fair trade certification organization. Their mission is to “enables sustainable development and community empowerment by cultivating a more equitable global trade model that benefits farmers, workers, consumers, industry and the earth.” They insure farmers are receiving a minimum price, that no child labor is involved, and promote environmental sustainability. It has licensed 600 companies to use its fair trade label. Trans Fair has focused mostly on products like coffee, cocoa, rice, honey, etc. It has begun to certify organic cotton (but not yet in American markets), but may not go into certifying garments simply because the process of creating a garment tends to be much more complicated and convoluted and harder to track.

Better Cotton Initiative. This isn’t a label per se, but rather an international initiative designed to address the specific environmental concerns of cotton production. Cotton is pest sensitive and takes up a lot of water to produce. BCI is aiming to make cotton growing more conomically, environmentally, and socially sustainable. You can’t find their label on your clothes, but you can see if your clothing company is supporting the initiative.

Wal-Mart (yes, Wal-mart), is working with Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas to create a sustainabiltiy index for all of its products. All of them. Can you imagine? If Wal-mart is serious about enforcing more ethical practices from its suppliers, it could be a serious game changer for the green movement. Some of the issues the sustainability index will ask companies to address are greenhouse gas emissions, waste reduction, and tracking the social and ethical compliance of factories throughout the products’ manufacturing. I can’t wait to see what happens with this ambitious project.

There is another interesting fledgling agency I found called LEAF. Their website states “The purpose of LEAF is to create a comprehensive eco-labeling system that–over time–addresses a majority of the T.I.E.S. (Total Impact on Environment and Society) for a particular apparel or fabric product.” LEAF is hoping to create a unifying labeling program in the US that covers all the bases, drawing from other third party certifiers (such as the aforementioned GOTS and the Organic Exchange) in order to create a true standard.

So that’s my mini-rundown on eco labels for clothes. Are there more labels? About a bazillion more. There are a lot of logos for organic products from various states, such as Vermont or Washington. There are logos advocating for Vegan products, cruelty free, and many other kinds of certification (there’s even one for “bird friendly”-who knew?). And the European market alone has several different certification and logos to look out for (such as the EU Eco-label for greener products shown at left). Researching these labels, you will find a lot of overlap; one organization is often a member of the other. It can seem like one big circle jerk on some levels.

Labeling is tricky in this industry, as textiles can move all over the globe and in and out of lots of different factories on its way to becoming a finished garment. It’s not like coffee, where it’s a one-stop farm. I applaud all of these agencies for doing their best to navigate a very complex issue. For now, Oeko-tex seems to be the most on the ball in terms of specifically addressing the textile industry from top to bottom, but things may change with Wal-Mart and organizations such as LEAF in the mix.

My advice to consumers would be look for the labels, but don’t consider them as the final say on whether you should buy a garment or not. It’s worth remembering that not all ethical clothing companies have become certified, and that labels don’t always address all aspects of ethical clothing. It may make a bigger difference to change your overall shopping habits (like avoiding clothes that will go out of fashion quickly) than just switching brands. Don’t ever buy anything you don’t really need, just because it says its “green” on the label.

http://ecolabelling.org/search/apachesolr_search/*?filters=type:ecolabel&solrsort=stitle%20asc

http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/organizationIndex.cfm

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5435.cfm

http://www.eco-approved.org/about/index.html

http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/eco-home.cfm

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/07/16/wal-marts-eco-labeling-mandate/

http://www.thegreenstandard.org/epd_systems.html

http://www.transfairusa.org/content/resources/faq.php

http://asc.uark.edu/

http://unicyclecreative.com/wordpress/archives/419