Ethical Brand Profile - Continental

Continental, alongside Starworld, are the names behind the two promotional clothing ranges who supply direct to Pier 32. Almost all the other brands that we have been reviewing in our Ethical Brand Profiles are supplied to us through an intermediary distributor. Starworld's ethical credentials have been the subject of many articles in this blog; Continental have featured too - but we have not yet completed a Brand Profile - so with no further ado.....

Continental go about presenting their products in a modern, polished manner. Instantly from the home page of their website there is a green environmental message coming across is all the branding. We have already featured in this blog their EarthPositive range featuring their Climate Neutral clothing collection, their role in campaigning against the exploitation of child labour in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan, the positive aspects of using organic cotton in conversion, and the eco-friendly luxury of the bamboo t-shirt.

This paints the background of a company with high eco-friendly standards. They are a private company and their UK based founders feature prominently in the various initiatives which they have followed. While their Climate Neutral clothing range directly using natural energy in its production, the rest of the company's activities are certified as Carbon Neutral by an independent monitor as a result of carbon offsetting.

Independent monitoring of their environmental claims is very evident with Oeko-Tex certification, their main line of organic t-shirts are certified organic by Skal and carry the organisation's EKO symbol and last but by no means least, their Earth Positive range is certified organic by the Soil Association.

What you get in terms of environmental impact very much depends on which brand line you go for. To concentrate on their mainstream range, "Continental Collection", and moving away from their Skal certified organic range that is part of that collection, what you get here is a t-shirt made from organic cotton in conversion. Follow the link for more information.

So there is the environment looking good. What about ethical, free trade issues? Here things are not quite so clear from the website. The supply chain of the EarthPositive range is stated to be Fair Wear foundation accredited. The same applies to the Eco Apparel range within the unbranded "Private Label" service. What about the rest? Our conclusion is that Continental have messed up their presentation

The Fair Wear Foundation website lists all its members and there you will find details of Continental. The message confirms our own long standing understanding that Continental products are manufactured in a factory in Turkey and that factory is monitored by the Fair Wear Foundation. With Continental's concern for the environment and their campaigning on child labour issue, it would have been most surprising to have discovered a chink in their ethical armour.

Know any different? Let us know!

The Climate Neutral T-shirt

"The humble T-shirt - the most basic canvas for communicating a brand name, corporate identity or political slogan, has become the environmental product"

Thus spake Continental Clothing who have just come up with the Climate Neutral T-Shirt (which Pier 32 are pleased to able to supply). These T-shirts are manufactured with power generated from wind and solar power and combined with the use of low impact organic cotton and other climate sensitive measures such as containerised ocean shipping, carbon emissions per T-shirt by up to 80-85% reduced compared with T-shirts measured by conventional methods.

More good news (as you can tell from the image) is that it's not just T-shirts - there are hoodies and polos too.

See the Climate Neutral Apparel website for more information or see the continental organic T-shirt selection on our website.

Undermining fair trade in Cotton

When people think of fair trade the first thought is that the producer is paid a fair price for what is being produced. In a world economy where everyone is competing on price then what exactly is a fair price? That's where basic ethical considerations come into play. A government of a country that is a major producer of cotton on a global scale that in an organised way enslaves children to produce cotton cheaply undermines the whole market place, forcing many ethical farmers to live in poverty or simply put them out of business.

The country - Uzbekistan. The investigative journalism putting together the video evidence was carried out of the BBC's Newsnight programme. The video is in 3 parts, first part here, the remainder can be accessed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6BnqPQGITU




Many will argue that in the end the real responsibility rests with the Western consumer. We believe the vast majority of people care enough to pay a fair price but are unaware of what is going on. Our supplier Continental is running a major campaign to raise awareness on this issue. See their site: Boycott Uzbeck Cotton

Helping farmers convert to Organic

One of Pier 32's main suppliers is Continental, a promotional clothing company based in the UK, with which we have recently set up ties.

We are very pleased with our choice because they have recently announced that their entire range is to be either made from organic cotton or "organic cotton in conversion".

So what's this 'in conversion' tag? It's important because it identifies a product that is not quite the same as pure Organic Cotton. It identifies fabric from farmers who are especially in need of support - those who choose to convert their crops from chemical production methods to those that are organic. These farmers have chosen to forsake the use of chemicals and unfortunately find themselves in limbo, unable to use the Organic label until their soil is free of all traces of chemical residues. However their cotton is not sprayed with pesticides, they no longer use chemical fertilizer and they use natural methods of pest control.

By buying products made from "organic cotton in conversion" you support these farmers at a time when their businesses are most vulnerable. If they cannot make the conversion because of financial constraints then the land is in danger of being sold and/or going back to the use of chemicals. Continental explain more in this article on Organic Cotton.