Eco Info
Excellent Working Conditions
This product is made by hand by skilled tailors in Spain. They get fair pay and work on their own terms. After the pandemic, many of the tailors working with larger mainstream players, lost their source of income, and Sidikai and JF Curated have been eager to make sure to use the craft of these tailors in the process of creating 2.9 Oslo/Berlin products.
The supplier making the fabric of this product is a trusted Social Entrepreneur turned organic peace silk producer. They are known for the way they treat and incorporate local collaborators in their company, and make sure to involve workers in the process. They also facilitate for workers with disabilities in their production line. Their unique business model has created abundant employment opportunities in rural part of India, and created fairly paid work for highly skilled artisans.
The weavers of the fabric in this product have a comfortable lifestyle and their children are attending local schools. The supplier also allows the silk farmers, spinners, weavers etc to work directly from their own areas.
High Quality
This product is crafted and made by hand. It is meant to last in your wardrobe for a long time, and be loved and cherished. The fabric will not change after first machine was and it will not loose shape or luster after one week of wear. Not only the shirt itself, but also the fabric is handmade. A process that is done combining old and new methods to make a long lasting result.
Supporting Traditional Skills
This products supports traditional skills from start to finish. It is sewn by hand in Madrid by skilled tailors, and this way supporting and creating work for local crafters, and strengthening the knowledge of old techniques and hand-made arts.
The silk supplier promotes silk-weaving on handlooms to generate employment in rural India and to reserve migration to big-cities. Around 90 handlooms are in action any time and another 40 reserved for peak season.
Low Carbon Footprint
This product is Carbon conscious and has a low carbon footprint. Even though the raw material has travelled far, the process of all the pieces making up this product is created with conscious thought to carbon footprint, and the suppliers have changed their energy sources to renewable ones over time for many years now. The use which is there, is made up for via Sidikai’s Carbon Footprint calculator, which buys quota in Carbon reducing projects.
Waste Reduction
This product is Waste conscious and leaving as little waste as possible. By being sold through a preordering-campaign, 2.9 Oslo/Madrid, makes sure there is no overproduction, and that the produced stock is limited and focuses on quality over quantity. Packing and storing along the way is done with reusable and biodegradable jute bags or reclaimed cardboard.
Animal Welfare Pluss
In conventional silk production, the silk worm is boiled alive for convenience, and to make the silk thread as long as possible. When creating “Ahimsa” or “nonviolent” silk, the silk worm is allowed to complete their life cycle and fly away as a silk moth, before the thread is collected from the cocoon. In some cases the cocoons need to be pierced by well-trained staff, and the butterfly tipped out.
All along the production process, the worms live in their natural habitat and feed naturally. They are not given any chemicals, or growth enhancements to make the process go faster.
Organic Peace Silk as raw material
There are so many great repercussions from making organic peace silk. The silk moths have a short but very significant life span. Like the bees, they contribute to local pollination, which has made the entire region appear significantly greener, and many local plants and flowers have return after decades away. The farming has seen a tremendous growth of grass on the soil, which is now used for cattle feed.
Furthermore, the silkworm rearing activity is utilized as high-class organic manure for farming, and compost from waste Arjun leaves are used as nutrient-rich organic fertilizer for different regional agriculture in east India. Also the residue from the degumming process is used as compost for agriculture, as it is 100% organic.
The organic production developed over time, use double crop production, cultivating rice and potato along with the host trees.
The process of making this silk is completely non toxic and has close to zero water footprint. The working process is closed-loop, and requires 1/4 of the wateruse in conventional silk production. The supplier is certified with the largest and most trusted organic standard in the world, GOTS, and also has a certification for being a maker of Peace Silk.
Lyocell as raw material
Lyocell is harvested from certified and controlled wood sources, mainly beech wood and Eucalyptus. The process of making Lyocell fiber, where wood pulp is transformed into cellulosic fibers, is nearly a closed loop process in which bleach is not required. Waste products in the air and water from the manufacturing process are minimal, and considered harmless.
Lyocell can be recycled and is also biodegradable, it is highly resource efficient and has a low ecological impact. Water used in the production process is recycled and the solvent is reused at a recovery rate of more than 99%.
Biodegradable
Silk is in itself a natural fiber, and when it is made organically it can safely be biodegraded in the proper environment. Lyocell is certified as biodegradable and compostable and can also fully revert back to nature. This product is therefore safe to biodegrade, also as soil for food production, and can be composted in a compost bin with other biodegradable materials when worn out. The thread in recycled polyester can be removed when the product is 100% biodegraded. Buttons and labels must be removed before the process starts.
Water Saving
This product has conscious water use, and is water saving in many ways. Both the production of Lyocell and silk, and the production process of the fabric has close to zero water use. Organic silk production requires 1/4 of the wateruse in conventional silk production and waste products in the air and water from the manufacturing process of Lyocell are minimal, and considered harmless.
Non Toxic
This product is non toxic and contains no chemicals or pesticides. In the production of the organic silk, there is a process of eliminating “Gum (sericin)” and impurities from raw silk, known as “degumming” of silk. In conventional silk production this process often involves chemicals like Chromium, Barium, Lead, Iron or Sodium magnesium, but in the organic production, it is done by adding natural bio soap in hot boiling water. Occasionally hydrogen peroxide is used to make different shades of silk yarn, but this is ecofriendly and approved by both the REACH and GOTS standards.
For the Lyocell, the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for lyocell/ Tencel rates the amine oxide solvent used to digest the wood pulp as being non-toxic, and in addition about 99% is recovered and recycled during the manufacturing process.
Energy Saving
This product saves energy in the production process.
In conventional silk production, a lot of firewood is used, a source which is not good for the environment. With this organic production, they have been using solar power since 2016 to irrigate and boil water, and it is now a Zero-emission system. Eight out of twenty power looms have been upgraded with solar powered motors, and pinning and reeling is completely processed either manually or with solar power.
The production of Lyocell is done with modern and highly energy efficient methods.
Plantable Labelling
The hangtag and flyer of this product can be turned into flowers. This seed-paper is a special eco-friendly paper made from 100% recycled cotton, and then embedded with wildflower seeds from Iceplant, Poppy and Daisy flowers. The paper is acid-free and chemical-free and is biodegradable.
These chosen flowers are common in many areas of the world, but make sure to check that the seeds are not invasive to your country, if so, your hangtag should be planted in a pot inside. When the paper is planted, the seeds grow and the paper composts away. All that is left behind is flowers and no waste.
Use of Recycled Polyester Tread
2.9 Oslo/Madrid have chosen to use a recycled quality synthetic thread instead of a biodegradable cotton one. The reason for this choice is quality based. This shirt is made to be flowy and fluid and move with your body, and it is also meant to last for a long time. As 2.9 Oslo/Madrid sees it, for this product to keep its fluidity and also tolerate wash and wear and tear, the recycled polyester thread is the best choice.
Use of Virgin Polyester tags and buttons
The tag is made of virgin polyester and the buttons are made of a mix of virgin polyester, metal and mother of pearl. These elements are not good choices, but as 2.9 Oslo/Madrid haven’t found any high quality sustainable choices this time around, it is an important factor to focus on quality above all.
Supporting education
This product supports education through the production process. The silk supplier strive to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, with a special focus on girls and disabled. They operate a primary school in PPP model (Public-Private Partnership) with the local village school near the silk farm. The children of employees are receiving modern quality education at no cost, so in the future they can transform the project intro a technology based company. Regular visits from German and English pedagogists provides them with extra resources and knowledge.
Supporting Women
This product supports women in the production process. The women working with the silk producer are able to adapt their professional skills, allowing for social and economic self-dependency. The supplier also makes it easier for women to be able to work from their region in India, making them able to stay with their families instead of going to the big cities to find work. It also strengthens the female role in families, and makes them economically independent.
Ethically made
2.9 Oslo/Madrid are adamant about going the most sustainable way, and has come so far, that we can add the Ethically made symbol. For two years, JF Curated and Sidikai have been planning and mapping the process for this product to exist, and nothing is taken for granted or overlooked in the process.
Good ethics has a lot to do with trust, and to be able to trust you need to know. Know the people you collaborate with and know the details and intentions of their production. Through the process, both Sidikai and JF Curated have been convinced about the obligations of all their collaborators in this project.
Traceable Supply Chain
2.9 Oslo/Madrid know the supply chain of this product from start to finish. Traceability and transparency is at the core of the process, and also an important part of the suppliers process. The whole production chain can be verified, the organizations, the people, the activities, the information, and the resources involved. This collaboration can show to a close relationship with the production chain that goes beyond direct contact with first-level supplier. We can say that 2.9 Oslo/Madrid are in control of the total chain, from raw material, through consistent contact with suppliers and sub-supplier, knowledge about production facilities, material treatment, and control regarding manufacturing, transportation, production schedule, material selection, production technologies, policies and regulations in the field that we operate.
Low Transport Footprint
This product has a low Transport Footprint, as the journey it takes from us to your door is shipped with DHL, who is working to achieve zero emissions by 2050.
