What is Bluesign® and Global Recycle Standard (GRS)? And why does it matter to us?
You may have noticed that most of our products are produced with bluesignⓇ approved (or bluesign® certified) materials, as well as being GRS certified. But what does all that mean?
Well, let's take a look.
bluesign (yes, their name is spelt without a capital, just like ours) is a Swiss based company that was founded in 2000. They set out to create a process that has the lowest possible environmental impact, and increase of resource efficiency, with consideration for worker and consumer safety. Today, they continue to lead the chemical and textile industry to a cleaner future. Every bluesign® approved partner has to go through a third party audit that meets their strict criteria on water and energy consumption, chemical usage, and working conditions.
Knowing that our fabrics are bluesign approved assures us (and our customers) that from the spinning of the yarn, to the dying and any final treatments, our fabrics are meeting the highest standards of today. Reducing our environmental impact and providing safe and healthy working conditions.
There’s no doubt that being eco-friendly is a trend these days, and rightfully so. That’s where the Global Recycle Standard (GRS) comes into play. GRS is one of the standards created by the Textile Exchange who have set out to make sure that the materials used for textiles are produced in a way that supports our planet, its ecosystems, and its communities. Their focus is how these resources are extracted, farmed and sourced, which makes up 24% of the textiles supply chain carbon footprint. Textile Exchange has set a goal of reducing this by 45% by 2030 through their Climate+ strategy. Along with assuring traceability and accuracy of recycled content at every step of the manufacturing process, GRS also has strict certification criteria on workers health and safety, environmental impacts such as waste management, water usage and chemical management.
For a small brand like akta, it would have been easy, and cheaper, to not seek out bluesign and GRS certified fabrics. Doing what we can to make the apparel industry have less impact on our planet is a top priority for us, however small it may be, it's something we strive for and are to continuing to improve upon.
