In 2021, we kicked off our Responsibility Roadmap. With our ambition of being the most responsible version of ourselves, we outlined our intentions, and set in place tangible short and long-term initiatives around how our business impacts people, the planet and how we produce our products in a responsible way.
-
2022
-
Re-Fashion
Collaborated with Re-Fashion to promote circularity and give clothes a second life.
-
-
2021
-
Reforestation
Supported TreeSisters by funding the planting of 5.5k trees.
-
Circularity
Signed up to Textiles 2030 to tackle circularity in the fashion industry.
-
Recycled materials
Launched our first athleisure collection made from recycled plastic bottles.
-
Forestry policy
Partnered with Canopy on the PACK4Good initiative, making a commitment through our Forest Fibres Policy to protect the world’s ancient and endangered forests.
-
Women's empowerment
Signed up to the Women’s Empowerment Principles.
-
Carbon emissions
We kicked off the year with a carbon assessment of our business.
-
Brand commitment
Collaborated with The Right Project to map out our Responsibility Roadmap.
-
People
“Doing a world of good for people and the planet is what we truly believe in. Because while we’re on a journey, we feel positive about the change we can make along the way.” – Jody Plows, CEO.
Planet
Climate impact
We know that climate change is the biggest problem facing our planet; it’s responsible for food insecurity, water scarcity, flooding, infectious diseases, extreme heat, economic losses, and displacement. We also know that textile production is the world’s second most polluting industry after the oil industry. The total greenhouse gas emissions from textile production currently stands at 1.2 billion tonnes annually and accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. Consuming fossil fuel-based electricity, the primary source of energy in the apparel production process, cause huge greenhouse gas emissions.
Measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is complex. Many businesses do not include emissions that derive from the use of their products and supply chain (where the most emissions usually occur), but only the operations in the country they operate.
To start our journey in this area, we worked with an independent carbon consultancy over four months to gather important data that allows us to map our entire emissions, both direct and indirect, and set our baseline year (2020). This included measuring emissions all the way from raw materials to how our customers use out products.
What we learned
Our total carbon footprint is how much carbon dioxide and other gases go into the atmosphere.
Our total emissions for 2020 were 2,050 tCO2e. That’s the equivalent of:
1,266 flights from London to New York or
34.4 million smart phone charges
88% of our carbon footprint is attributed to sourcing our products. This includes raw materials through to sewing and then transporting our goods to the UK
10% comes from our customers using our products (mainly washing and drying)
2% comes from the storage and distribution of our goods
Product
Transparent supply chain
We would not be able to say that over 90% of our 2022 collection was made from responsible fabrics if it were not for our key partners in our supply chain.
We strive to trace every step of our clothing supply chain from raw material source to manufacturing. For the majority of our ranges, we buy fabrics directly from fabric mills which allows us to better understand potential social and environmental risks, as well as opportunities to improve our impact
In support of our transparency objectives, we list all our factories on the Open Apparel Registry, an open-source tool which maps garment facilities worldwide.
“Here at Nobody’s Child, we have a positive vision for the future. We believe thoughtfully created clothes should be the rule, not the exception, and we’re dedicated to making responsible and affordable pieces, whilst being as transparent and honest as possible.” – Jody Plows, CEO.
“For fashion this means creating business models that keep clothing in use for longer, making clothes from safe and renewable materials, and ensuring clothes are made to be made again, so that at the end of their use they can be safely and easily used to make new clothes.”
– Laura Balmond Project manager for Make Fashion Circular at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation22
Goals
We have chosen 5 key goals to achieve. We plan to review these goals at the end of each year and provide updates on our progress. Under each goal you the relating, The Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. Here at Nobody’s Child we align our activities, goals and reporting to these SDGs.
-
2023
-
95% of collections made from responsible fabrics
How will we achieve this?
- Responsible fabric alternatives will be continually assessed for all product types and integrated into our material mix regularly.
- Continue to always choose the most responsible version for key fabrics.
web-12 web-14 web-15
-
Carbon Neutral
How will we achieve this?
- Update our carbon footprint for 2021 and 2022
- Offset 2021 emissions in full (Scopes 1,2&3)
- Create a carbon reduction strategy and establish Science Based Targets (SBTi)
web-13
-
Zero waste to landfill from our UK operations
How will we achieve this?
- Working with our warehouse partners and office management to implement policy and procedures to ensure no waste to landfill. A reporting mechanism will be established to monitor.
web-14 web-15
-
-
2024
-
Introduce Circular Design into 50% of our styles
How will we achieve this?
- Train our design and buying teams on the concept of circularity.
- Specific training for our designers to ensure circular principles are designed into our clothes.
- This is in line with the following UN sustainable development goals:
web-12
-
-
2025
-
Reduce our absolute emissions in-line with the Paris agreement
How will we achieve this?
- Collaborate with experts to identify key areas in which we can reduce absolute emissions and drive core initiatives to reach targets set.
web-13
-