Our Sustainability Practices
It’s no secret that the apparel industry has a sustainability problem. We all know about the big apparel conglomerates that stockpile thousands of new items every week, adding to the growing problem of overproduction. To paint the picture, a shocking 21% of produced textiles are estimated to remain unsold. Needless to say, the end-of-life journey for the leftover stock is most often unknown.
As McFadden Fashion House works with an on-demand supplier, we only produce items when we get an order, avoiding textile waste from overproduction. Our printing partner’s high-quality printing tech creates almost no wastewater and uses less energy than standard industry printers.
In other words, each product in our catalog is made on-demand—once you place an order, we produce it specifically for you. This allows us to avoid overproduction and textile waste, We’re continuously working toward more sustainable production.
Our clothing designs are fulfilled using various techniques. Many of our products are printed using the direct-to-garment (DTG) technique, where ink is first sprayed directly onto the garment and then absorbed into the fabric. It’s like printing on paper but on clothing. We use Kornit printers that generate almost zero wastewater and use less energy than standard industry printers, which lowers our carbon footprint.
The inks we use for printing are Oeko-Tex™ certified, vegan, water-based, and free of harmful chemicals. Any leftover ink according to the ink supplier guidelines.
We also embroider our products with 100% recycled polyester threads. These threads are also Oeko-Tex™ certified, meaning they’re safe for both adult and children’s clothing. Compared to printing, embroidery is generally more durable and produces less waste, as there’s no ink residue.
Our eco-friendly product collection consists of items made of at least 70%
organic or recycled materials or a mix of these materials. All beauty products in this collection are natural certified. To verify material content, we collect valid certificates from our suppliers. As proof of the organic composition of the apparel products, we only accept GOTS or OCS certificates. For recycled composition, we accept either GRS or RCS certificates. We only accept the Ecocert COSMOS certificate as proof of the beauty product’s natural origin.
All apparel products are packed in post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic mailers. The amount of PCR in the packaging will differ depending on where your order gets
printed, but it’s a minimum of 70% for both the outside (white or grey) poly mailer bags and the inside (clear) bags used in multi-item shipments. PCR packaging is made from everyday items like used plastic bags and bottles. This material protects your items just as well as regular plastic bags. However, choosing PCR over first-use plastics reduces the environmental impact plastic has on our planet!
Sustainability is very important to McFadden Fashion House. We’re getting better every step of the way while providing you with the quality products you deserve!