Environmental RESPONSiBILITY

It starts with the raw materials, but it does not end there.

We want to be very honest with you on this: we are not a sustainable brand.

Everything we make and sell has an environmental impact along the supply chain. The production and harvesting of raw materials, the garment manufacturing processes, the packaging and shipping of our products – each of these steps produces waste and requires lots of water and energy. Even after being sold, our products will still do environmental harm due to consumption of energy, water and the use of chemicals in the daily care of the clothes.

We’re not sustainable, and we’re not sure if we’ll truly ever be, but we are very thoughtful on the choices we make. 

For us, being environmentally responsible means taking the time to learn about our own impact and actively trying to come up with better solutions.

There’s a lot that goes into making a t-shirt. That’s why, in the description of every piece, you can read about every single component of our products – from the main fabric to sewing threads, embroidery and dyes. Yes… even the components we’re not so proud of! We believe that you have the right to know what exactly what you’re buying is made from. By doing this we’re also making ourselves accountable, in order to make sure we keep on finding better solutions for the creation of our pieces.

We’re starting small, and there’s still a long way to go. Here are some of the choices we’ve made from the beginning.

Raw Materials

We chose Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS)1 certified cotton as the main fabric for all of our garments. Compared to conventional cotton, the production of organic cotton uses 91% less water for irrigation, 62% less energy and emits 46% less greenhouse gases2. Furthermore, organic cotton farming does not allow the use of GMO seeds or toxic chemicals. This means that the health of workers, soils and ecosystem is properly preserved and protected3.

We are aware that organic cotton is not the perfect solution. There is the argument that, because organic cotton seeds are not genetically modified, its production is less efficient, requiring more land and water to produce it.

However, adding organic matter to the soil significantly improves the water retention of the soil, making it less reliant on irrigation4. In fact, 95% of the water used in organic farming systems is rain-fed2. Once again, we’re not sure we could consider organic cotton as a sustainable material, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. Our embroidery threads are either made of polyester or viscose (rayon). To be honest, we aren’t very happy with these solutions, so we’re looking on ways to improve it in the future. Both of these threads are certified according to Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX, meaning that they are free of toxic substances5. Our viscose thread is also FSC qualified, ensuring that it comes from responsibly managed forests6.

Manufacturing Processes

We’re proud to say that all our clothes are made in Northern Portugal, right where we live. This is a region well known for its quality and reliability in the textile industry. However, that’s not the only reason why we chose to produce it here.

Every factory in Portugal has to comply with specific environmental legislation in order to be able to operate7. By producing all of our products locally, we can pay regular visits to our suppliers, learn more about each step of the process and establish a long-term relationship of trust.

On top of that, most of our suppliers are GOTS certified, ensuring they respect a strict set of environmental and social standards. Only our embroidery supplier isn’t yet GOTS certified, but they’re working on it.

Dyes & Printing

The dyes we use in our clothes are OEKO-TEX & GOTS certified. This means they are non-toxic and free of harmful substances for human health.

The illustrations in our t-shirts are digitally printed with water-based, PVC-free, GOTS and OEKO-TEX certified inks. Digital printing is an energy and water efficient process that gives us the flexibility to produce in smaller batches, avoiding unnecessary waste.

Waste

We’re all aware that textile overproduction is a common problem of the fashion industry. Therefore, we chose to produce all our pieces in small batches. By producing in minimal quantities we can reduce the amount of potential waste.

However, not everything is perfect. It is estimated that 10% of the total fabric is lost during garment production8. Unfortunately, we’re no exception to that rule. For now, we came up with a very rudimental solution. We’re collecting all the waste from our off-cuts and studying ways of up-cycling them into new products. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to send us an email. If, however, we don’t manage to find ways of up-cycling them, we’re also looking into factories that could recycle our cotton. We’re planning on holding this waste until we find a solution for it. We’ll keep you updated on this subject.

Cotton Pictures (7)

Packaging

As a brand selling online, we’re aware that unboxing is an important part of the experience. Especially when we’re starting out, first impressions matter, and we want you to have a great experience from the moment you receive our product. At the same time, we are aware that most of it just goes straight to the bin, so we kept it quite simple.

Our packaging is 100% recyclable. Our cardboard box is FSC mix certified, and our tape/stickers are made of 100% Recycled FSC certified content, printed with soy-based inks. 

Our clothes were supposed to come from the factory in recycled poly bags, but we rejected those. Instead, we use recyclable tissue paper to wrap our products.

Unfortunately, not everything is perfect. We know our cardboard box is bigger than it needs to be. After contacting different suppliers, we quickly learned that, to have it with specific measures, we would have to order much larger quantities. So we decided to stick with this solution for now.  We’ll keep looking for ways to improve it.

End of Life

We believe we’re responsible for owning our flaws, and this is one of them. We are not circular. We’re starting small, and our first focus is on making products that can last you for a long time. Hopefully, as we grow and learn more about it, we’ll find ways of giving a new life to a used product. Until then, if you don’t want to use it anymore, please consider giving them to a friend, donating to a charity or reselling for another person to take care of it and use it as much as you have.

You can make a difference too

Only buy our products if that means you’re going to give them use. By reducing consumption and making more thoughtful purchases you can make a massive difference. We put a lot of thought and care into our products, and it would be a shame (not to mention a waste of resources) to make a piece of clothing just for it to stay in the closet most of the year. If you’re going to buy it, please use it. A lot! Nothing would make us happier than seeing you wearing a piece of Humano.

While you can fully recycle our packaging, we challenge you to re-use it first. Maybe you can use it to keep some of your memories, cards or other objects that mean something to you; or you can use it as a gift box to send to a loved one on a special occasion.

There are also a few things you can do to maximize the life of your Humano t-shirt: washing it in lower temperatures and less frequently, air drying instead of using the tumble dryer, and repairing any holes by taking it to your local tailor or even repairing yourself at home. If you want to learn more about how to take care of your Humano piece click here.

References

  1. Global Organic Textile Standard, The Standard. Retrieved February 10, 2021, from https://www.global-standard.org/the-standard
  2. Textile Exchange (2014). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Organic Cotton Fiber – A Global Average
  3. Textile Exchange, What Is Organic Cotton. Retrieved February 10, 2021, from http://aboutorganiccotton.org/#:~:text=No toxic chemicals are used,insecticides and 7% of pesticides)
  4. Textile Exchange, Organic Cotton Farming System. Retrieved February 10, 2021, from http://aboutorganiccotton.org/organic-farming-system/
  5. Oeko-Tex, STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX, Retrieved March 14, 2021, from https://www.oeko-tex.com/en/our-standards/standard-100-by-oeko-tex
  6. FSC, CERTIFICATION, Retrieved February 20, 2021, from https://us.fsc.org/en-us/certification
  7. EUbusiness, Doing business in Portugal: Environmental rules, Retrieved March 15, 2021 from https://www.eubusiness.com/europe/portugal/environmental-rules/
  8. Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017), A new textiles economy: redesigning fashion’s future, Retrieved February 10, 2021 from https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/publications/A-New-Textiles-Economy_Full-Report.pdf

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HERE'S WHAT TO DO TO PROPER TAKE CARE OF YOUR CLOTHES

Admittedly, many of us wash our clothes after each wear. However, with some items, that’s not really necessary to do. Most of the times, if your piece is not dirty, it just needs to be shaken out and aired to be good for another day. This not only helps reducing the environmental footprint, but it also helps maintaining the quality of your garments for longer. The more you wash it, the quicker your piece will lose its color and overall quality.

Washing at low temperatures is great not only for your clothes, but also for the environment. We suggest machine washing at maximum 30ºC. This helps preserving the color of your pieces, as well as preventing them from losing their shape. Washing at higher temperatures might damage and shrink the fabrics.

In each product page you can see the specific garment care instructions and recommendations. These aren’t just a formality. Because our fabrics are not synthetic, they need to be maintained with care. The garment care instructions are intended to help you keep the quality of your pieces for longer.

Before running your washing machine, make sure you’ve accumulated enough clothes to fill it up. This will significantly reduce the consumption of water and energy over time. However, be careful to not overfill it, as it can lead to poorly washed items and even damage them due to friction.

Before washing, please sort your garments by color. We recommend separate them in three categories: whites, light colored and dark. This can prevent dye transfer problems during washing.

Wash all of your colored garments inside out and follow all the garment care instructions.

When cleaning stains, please avoid the use of solutions with bleach, as this can alter the color of the fabric.

Avoid drying your clothes in direct and bright sun light for long periods of time, as this can accelerate color fading over time.

The longer you wait, the harder it will be to treat stains. These are easier to remove when they haven’t set into the fabric.

Tumble dryers have a significant impact on the environment, as these use a lot of energy. Not only that, but dryers can also damage your clothes and alter their shape. If you can, skip the dryer completely. However, we understand that’s not always possible. If you’re using a dryer, use a low heat setting. The higher the heat, the higher the risk of shrinking.

Most of the times, air drying is the best option. Not only does it have zero impact, but it also helps maintaining the quality of your clothes for longer. In this case, if possible, avoid long exposure of your garments to direct and bright sunlight, as this can lead to fading of the colors over time.

As soon as you finish washing your clothes, we recommend gently shake them to remove some wrinkles and hang them properly to dry. By doing this, you’re ensuring that there will only be minimal wrinkles before ironing, which makes the entire process much easier. Sometimes, this process might be enough and you can skip ironing entirely.

We recommend steaming instead of ironing, as it’s less aggressive for the fabric fibers. However, there will be some items that do need some ironing.

If you’re ironing garments made of cotton, make sure they’re slightly damp prior to ironing, or use the steam setting on the iron. This will make the fibers smoother and the process of ironing much easier.

We recommend ironing all of our clothes at low/medium temperatures, inside out. This will help avoid any possible damage in outer side of the fabric. Finally, please avoid ironing directly on the print or embroidery, as this can damage it over time.

If you can, reduce the consumption of clothes that contain any type of plastic in their composition, such as: polyester, nylon, elastane or acrylic. Every time you wash these fabrics, microplastics are released into the water systems and consequently into the aquatic ecosystem. This happens because a lot of these microplastics are just too small to be filtered by the current waste treatment plants. By entering into oceans and rivers, they pose a potential danger not only for the environment and the marine life, but also for our own health, as we can ingest them through food and water. All of our pieces are made of 100% organic cotton. However we also need to consider the labels, sewing threads, embroideries or other embellishments, which can be made with synthetic fibers. We care about every single component of our pieces, and so we believe that we should inform you the best we can about them. Unfortunately, some of our sewing threads and embroidery are made of polyester. We recommend always using a Guppy Friend washing bag, as it collects the microplastics that are released from garments in the wash and prevents them from entering in the water supply systems.

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