We measured the environmental impact of 3 of our flagship pieces with the company Deceo: the Colibri leggings, the Gélinotte bra and the Toucan t-shirt.
For the Pelican t-shirt and the Heron sweatshirt, we took the results from the Toucan t-shirt because the composition is identical.
Obtaining figures to increase our credibility was indeed important to us.
Because it is by concretely measuring our impact that we can have a reference and commit to always doing better than the day before.
1. Life cycle analysis
The process began with an initial meeting to raise awareness of ecodesign, an approach based on life cycle analysis.
Keywords ? Multi-stages (life cycle) and multi-impacts.
It is indeed a question of taking into consideration all the stages of manufacturing.
From fibers to use by the consumer and the end of life of the item and crossing them with a series of impacts which each have their own unity: climate change of course (in kg. CO2 eq.) but also the pollution of fresh water (in kg. Eq. Phosphates), the use of fossil resources (in MJ), water consumption (L) or even particles which are expressed in additional diseases.
2. Methodology
To be able to calculate this environmental score, we had to fill in a data collection file: mass, composition, country of manufacture, weight, all elements determining the impact.
The countries' electricity mix plays a role during industrial processes: manufacturing in France will have less CO2 impact than if it were produced in China. The Ademe Empreinte Base served as the database.
3. Results
With our French manufacturing and our recycled fibers, we suspected that our impact would be reduced compared to that of similar mass market products.
Our intuitions were confirmed: manufacturing in France represents a saving of 55% in CO2 compared to manufacturing in India and using recycled fibers is 33% more interesting from a CO2 perspective.
It is the dyeing or printing stage, called 'finishing', which is most responsible for the total impact compared to the production of raw materials.
Our short and medium term objective is to find partners in digital printing and dyeing who use less polluting techniques.
Another conclusion that deserves attention: it is better to have French manufacturing with virgin fibers than Asian manufacturing with recycled fibers.
We are therefore reassured in our choices and eager to continue with eco-responsibility!
4. Where can I find the environmental impact of each item of clothing?
On each product page, discover the environmental impact score of the product in question in the corresponding tab on the right!
If you liked the theme of this post, others will certainly please you, such as our article on plastic microfibers, different textile fibers and their environmental impact, or even 11 essential labels in fashion.
The “First steps in ecodesign were financed by ADEME, France Relance and Agir pour la transition économique
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