By: Samantha Hudak
In honor of Earth Day this month, I want to bring awareness to one particular company that is paving the way for a more sustainable future within the fashion industry. Tentree, a Canadian lifestyle apparel company founded in 2012, fulfills its name by planting 10 trees for every 1 item purchased. Their goal is to plant approximately 1 billion trees by 2030 and are even on track to do so. Currently, Tentree has planted approximately 55,554,385 trees globally within the nine years they have been operating.
On average, 85% of garments produced end up in landfills or incinerators, making the fashion industry the second largest polluter in the world. To help lessen this daunting statistic, Tentree recognizes the actions that they must take for substantial change to occur. As a certified B-Corporation, they are committed to “minimizing our environmental impact, uplifting the well-being of our people with ethical labour rights, and safe workplaces, and recognizing our social responsibility to keep our business practices as transparent as possible”.
Many factors play a role in making Tentree successfully sustainable. A few environmentally conscious materials used in production include recycled polyester made from recycled plastic bottles, organic cotton, hemp, cork, coconut shells, and their own Tencel wool pulp fiber. Most of their fabrics are dyed with plant-based dyes, and renewable energy is used throughout the production process. As for shipping, Tentree eliminates the use of polybags by using roll packaging shipments and FSC-certified recycled paper for all inserts. To stay true to its mission, Tentree keeps three environmental factors in mind: water, waste, and carbon emissions. They even use 75% less water to make their clothing compared to other companies within the industry.
Tentree surpasses its competitors and goes above and beyond by providing customers the ability to select which countries they want the trees to be planted. Customers can choose from Madagascar, Haiti, Nepal, Senegal, Cambodia, Indonesia, Peru, the U.S., or Canada. Then, customers can “track their impact” by observing their trees’ growth using a unique code provided on their website when they purchase an item. Overall, Tentree is a company to look out for as they are very sustainable, eco-friendly, and interactive by helping to reforest the planet 10 trees at a time.
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