Apparel designer Greensource bags Sustainability All-Star Award

03 Apr '09

2 min read

Seattle-based apparel designer and manufacturer Greensource was named a "Sustainability All-Star" March 24, 2009, by Apparel magazine a leading publication for global apparel executives. Company President David Basson accepted the award at Apparel's Tech Conference West at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in Irvine, CA.

In addition, according to the Organic Exchange Organic Cotton Market Report 2008 released March 31, 2009, Greensource ranked as the 9th largest user of organic cotton in the world for its "Greensource" and "Re-Gen" (Recycled Generation) branded apparel. If the company's considerable private label production for major retailers, including Walmart ("Faded Glory") and Kmart ("Route 66"), was taken into account, the company would actually rank much higher.

The editors of Apparel noted that Greensource's "field-to-shelf involvement in creating a more eco-friendly supply chain is particularly focused on keeping toxic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and defoliants out of the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe."

Greensource grows its own organic cotton crop, builds schools for its workers' children, uses only organic cotton and other sustainable fibers, and certified all five of its manufacturing facilities to the new Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) by Control Union between 2007 and 2008. These mills are some of the front-runners worldwide to gain certification. In addition, the company uses an online system enabling shoppers to input a code found on a garment label and track the garment's voyage from the field to the store. Other recipients of the award were American Apparel, Levi Strauss, Patagonia, and T.S. Designs.

According to the Organic Exchange report, global retail sales of organic cotton apparel and home textile products reached an estimated $3.2 billion in 2008. This represents a 63 percent increase from the $1.9 billion market in 2007. The top ten organic cotton-using brands and retailers globally were Wal-Mart (USA), C&A (Belgium), Nike (USA), H&M (SE), Zara (Spain), Anvil (USA), Coop Switzerland, Pottery Barn (USA), Greensource (USA), and Hess Natur (Germany).

Greensource, a trend-forward apparel design and manufacturing company based in Seattle, WA, is one of the nation's largest suppliers of private-label and branded apparel and home products made with organic cotton. A division of Greensource, is a large supplier of certified organic cotton blank T-shirts for the men's, women's, and children's markets.

Greensource

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