Sustainability
You Complain.
We Sustain.
A company has the duty to take care of the environment and of the society in which it lives because it depends on them, in a mutual interdependence.
In an age like the one we are living in, marked by profound and radical changes, we feel the urgency to mobilize to propose, through the adoption of “benefit” behaviors, a different – but possible – way of acting. Not just words and claims then, but a precise and concrete commitment.
It is for this reason that, starting from 2020, SEAY has become a Benefit Corporation.
The “Benefit Corporation” legal form was established in Italy with the 2016 Stability Law. Italy was the first country in the world, after the United States, to have regulated this new way of doing business of and for the future.
Being a Benefit Corporation imposes to consider and include, in addition to the profit objectives, an activity program capable of ensuring a positive impact on the society and on the environment since it is becoming every day more clear that the current development model does not work any longer.
PACKAGING
For the shipment of our garments destined to stores and to our end-customers we have adopted the solution with the second lowest environmental impact currently available. Why didn't we choose the first and lowest? Because it would have forced us to ship without packaging (and it didn't seem like a good idea).
We chose then to use shipping bags that are biodegradable and compostable and therefore they becomes organic compost following a natural degradation process. They are certified by TUV AUSTRIA according to European regulation EN-13432 for composting.
Estimated time to degrade a traditional shipping-bag: 10-1,000 years (depending on the material with which it is produced)
Estimated time to degrade a SEAY shipping-bag: approx. 3 months (if in contact with water)
SUPPLY CHAIN
The Englishman Mike Berners-Lee, in the book How bad are bananas, calculated that an apple has zero emissions if it is produced in our garden, but generates 150 grams of Co2 if it arrives from the other side of the world.
It would have made no sense to use the materials with the lowest environmental impact available on the market to then produce our garments in Asia, contributing to the production of tons of Co2 due to the movement of our collections.
The production plants we rely on are on most of the cases at a geographical distance of less than 100 km from our headquarter. Sure, they won’t be in the garden, but we get close enough.
LOGISTICS
Thanks to the selected logistic partners, our CO2 emissions are measured using a dashboard and standards for determining the level of carbon emitted.
The calculation methods used for the Emissions Report are subject to a third-party verification procedure.
Finally, emissions from transport and logistics activities are offset by contributing to climate protection projects.
GOTS CERTIFICATION
Organic cotton is a type of cotton grown from non-genetically modified plants and without the use of synthetic agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers or pesticides. For the organic cotton are used only natural raw materials and, being 100% pure, it represents an excellent solution for all those who suffer from allergies and dermatitis. Its production helps to promote and improve biodiversity and biological cycles.
The organic cotton we use is GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified. This certification defines compliance with top-level environmental criteria for the entire supply chain of textile fibers and at the same time requires compliance with important social criteria.
OEKO TEX STANDARD 100 CERTIFICATION
Many of our garments are Oeko-Tex standard 100 certified, an independent test and certification system for textile products.
The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 label indicates that the manufacturer of the fabric we use is certified as environmentally friendly both in the processes and in the factories, as well as tested for the absence of harmful substances.
GRS CERTIFICATION
Our synthetic fiber garments (polyester or polyamide) are produced with the highest quality recycled material.
Made with the highest quality recycled polyester. Lightweight and resistant, the production of recycled PET is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by 32% compared to normal polyester. Additionally, recycled polyester can help reduce the extraction of crude oil and natural gas from Earth to produce more plastic. As polyester accounts for around 60 percent of world PET production, roughly double what is used in plastic bottles, the development of a non-virgin supply chain for polyester fiber has the potential to have a huge positive impact on reducing the consumptions of global energy and resources.
The recycled polyamide, instead, is a product obtained from the recycling of nylon, a high-value material with excellent characteristics of resistance, dyeing, softness and versatility. Through recycling and recovery, the scraps are converted into polymers and subsequently into yarns that maintain excellent technical performance characteristics and excellent aesthetic qualities.
PACKAGING
For the shipment of our garments destined to stores and to our end-customers we have adopted the solution with the second lowest environmental impact currently available. Why didn’t we choose the first and lowest? Because it would have forced us to ship without packaging (and it didn’t seem like a good idea).
We chose then to use shipping bags that are biodegradable and compostable and therefore they becomes organic compost following a natural degradation process. They are certified by TUV AUSTRIA according to European regulation EN-13432 for composting.
Estimated time to degrade a traditional shipping-bag: 10-1,000 years (depending on the material with which it is produced)
Estimated time to degrade a SEAY shipping-bag: approx. 3 months (if in contact with water)
SUPPLY CHAIN
The Englishman Mike Berners-Lee, in the book How bad are bananas, calculated that an apple has zero emissions if it is produced in our garden, but generates 150 grams of Co2 if it arrives from the other side of the world.
It would have made no sense to use the materials with the lowest environmental impact available on the market to then produce our garments in Asia, contributing to the production of tons of Co2 due to the movement of our collections.
The production plants we rely on are on most of the cases at a geographical distance of less than 100 km from our headquarter.
Sure, they won’t be in the garden, but we get close enough.
LOGISTICS
Thanks to the selected logistic partners, our CO2 emissions are measured using a dashboard and standards for determining the level of carbon emitted.
The calculation methods used for the Emissions Report are subject to a third-party verification procedure.
Finally, emissions from transport and logistics activities are offset by contributing to climate protection projects.
GOTS CERTIFICATION
Organic cotton is a type of cotton grown from non-genetically modified plants and without the use of synthetic agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers or pesticides. For the organic cotton are used only natural raw materials and, being 100% pure, it represents an excellent solution for all those who suffer from allergies and dermatitis. Its production helps to promote and improve biodiversity and biological cycles.
The organic cotton we use is GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified. This certification defines compliance with top-level environmental criteria for the entire supply chain of textile fibers and at the same time requires compliance with important social criteria.
GRS CERTIFICATION
Our synthetic fiber garments (polyester or polyamide) are produced with the highest quality recycled material.
Made with the highest quality recycled polyester. Lightweight and resistant, the production of recycled PET is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by 32% compared to normal polyester. Additionally, recycled polyester can help reduce the extraction of crude oil and natural gas from Earth to produce more plastic. As polyester accounts for around 60 percent of world PET production, roughly double what is used in plastic bottles, the development of a non-virgin supply chain for polyester fiber has the potential to have a huge positive impact on reducing the consumptions of global energy and resources.
The recycled polyamide, instead, is a product obtained from the recycling of nylon, a high-value material with excellent characteristics of resistance, dyeing, softness and versatility. Through recycling and recovery, the scraps are converted into polymers and subsequently into yarns that maintain excellent technical performance characteristics and excellent aesthetic qualities.
OEKO TEX 100 CERTIFICATION
Many of our garments are Oeko-Tex standard 100 certified, an independent test and certification system for textile products.
The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 label indicates that the manufacturer of the fabric we use is certified as environmentally friendly both in the processes and in the factories, as well as tested for the absence of harmful substances.
CLIMATE CLOCK
What is a climate clock and how does it work?
The climate clock shows two numbers.
The first in red, is a timer, counting down how long it will take, at a current rates of emissions, to burn through our “carbon budget” – the amount of Co2 that can still be released into the atmosphere while limiting global warming to 1.5 C°.This is our deadline.
The second number, in green, is tracking the growing % of the world’s energy currently supplied from renewable sources. This is our lifeline.
We need to get our lifeline to 100% before our deadline reaches 0.