Eco Commitments:
Smart T’s endeavours to keep its ‘carbon footprint’ to the minimum and takes this matter seriously; we have attempted to do this in many ways, often with just the simplest of means:
Our “in-office” policy is to recycle and re-use where ever possible, keeping print to a minimum by adopting electronic paperwork (including Invoicing) as often as we can; electrical appliances are turned off when not in use where switching on after a period of rest is deemed preferable; paper-shredding is composted and used on earth bedding; all waste is separated for correct disposal, with as much as permitted being sent for recycling.
With P&P of our on-line orders we have taken the responsibility of packaging disposal out of our customer’s hands by the use of bio-degradeable envelopes which begin breaking down after exposure to daylight; thus, even though we expect most of our customers will dispose of the packaging responsibly it will help in that even sending to landfill will degrade suitably. Alas, this is only possible with transparent materials, at the moment which makes for difficulties with disguising the contents – still, we fold the shirts with the print inside and rest easy that the packaging will only survive for the shortest time. We will monitor new products and hope to improvewith this in the future.
Our “festival sales” are also as eco-friendly; low-enegy lighting has been adopted – reducing consumption by 700 watts per day from pre-2010 events; our plastic carrier bags are durable for subsequent re-use but are made of recycled and bio-degradeable material; although our waste is minimal it is sorted where facilities allow or returned to our own site for apt disposal options.
Alas, our Carry Kegs are made of PVC! This is unfortunately unavoidable as the production process does not permit the use of PET, which is a far more user-friendly and recyclable material – we know because we researched it! However, we are confident that the continual re-use over the life of the container is actually less damaging to the environment than the single-use “milk” containers that are so often seen as an alternative. It is a dilemma but we feel this is a happy balance. We do not offer ‘milk’ containers!
We are constantly assessing our position but welcome ideas of practical limitation methods – feel free to contact us if you think you can suggest anything that we may have missed!
Ethical Manufacturers (Codes of Conduct):
We take it seriously that our garments are produced by manufacturers with sound ethical practices; most of Smart T’s tees are from Gildan, Continental, Hanes and Ranks; without listing each manufacturer’s approach or answers to this issue, we can only outline some of their main points and guidelines and name the Organisations they have worked with to ensure fair practices are in place; the text below is by no means the full description of the policies of the garment manufacturers but we hope it gives an overview to assure their intentions.
Continental Clothing: in conjunction with Fair Wear Foundation
– no use of child labour and must have completed a period of compulsory education
– no forced labour, including prisoners
– safe and healthy working environment in hygienic conditions with risk assessments in place and without fear of intimidation or threats or punishment
– legal labour contracts
– living wage payments to comply with minimum standards to meet at least the legal min. standards and family needs
– rights to form associations to collective bargaining and trade union recognition
– no discrimination against employees by way of recruitment policy or wage policy; access to training, promotion, pensions and all other areas of labour relations; are conducted on the basis of equal opportunities, regardless of sex, race, colour, religion, political orientation, trade union membership, nationality, social background, disabilities or handicaps
– no excessive working hours; no more than 48 hrs per week on a regular basis with at least 1 day off in every 7 day period; voluntary overtime and will not amount to more than 12 hours per week and will always match additional compensation
– working with Ethic Trading Initiative, Fair Labor Assoc., Social Accountability Int’l., Workers Rights Consortium and Clean Clothes Campaign
Gildan: in conjunction with Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WARP)
From independent verification carried out by Bureau Veritas Quality Int’l, Gildan obtained WRAP certification for its San Jose, San Antonio & San Miguel sewing facilities in Honduras and its Rivas facility in Nicaragua
WRAP is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion and certification of lawful, humane & ethical manufacturing throughout the world.