Championing Sustainability: A Closer Look at Eco-Conscious Fashion Brands This Earth Month

Sustainability isn’t just a label, brands need action and initiatives to back it up. According to Business News Daily, there has been a 71% rise in online searches for sustainable goods globally over the past five years. Shoppers care where the goods they’re purchasing come from and are willing to spend more knowing it’s sustainably made. Today, 72% of consumers actively buy environmentally friendly products, with that percentage set to increase over the next five years. This shift in consumer behavior reinforces the need for brands to increase their commitments to sustainability while highlighting the initiatives that are already in place.

We’re seeing an increasing number of brands put sustainability at the forefront of their business goals. From the materials used to the programs designed to give back to environmental causes, conscious consumerism is creating a new wave of champions within the fashion industry. With Earth Month approaching, we wanted to share some of our favorite brands and what they're doing to showcase their commitment to Mother Earth.

• Parker Clay crafts sustainable hand-made leather bags with negligible environmental impact on local agriculture and processes. From ethically sourced leather to plastic-free shipping, Parker Clay ensures their pieces are sustainable from start to finish. They handcraft all of their bags locally to where they source their resources in Ethiopia, minimizing the environmental impact of production.

• Frank & Oak designs garments with intention and eco-conscious practices, not to mention they use 100% recyclable denim. The standards are set high for their products and their team. For Earth Day, Frank & Oak employees set out to clean up 1.2K pounds of trash in their local neighbourhoods, showing sustainability isn’t only about the products you make but also the actions you take.

• Nisolo is a climate-neutral certified footwear brand that shares a holistic approach to social and environmental responsibility. They follow five sustainability pillars: People, Planet, Transparency, Accountability, and Collaboration. In celebration of Earth Week, Nisolo shared a social media campaign highlighting the ‘why’ behind each pillar and the practices they are doing to live up to its standard.

• Mate the Label lives by its mission to provide apparel that is “clean from seed to skin.” To help people generate toxic-free wardrobes, they created a take-back program called ‘Detox Your Closet’ where shoppers can send in unwanted goods from any brand for $20 Mate credit.

• Cariuma is a sneaker brand committed to giving back. With every pair of shoes sold, they plant 10 trees to restore our rainforests through their ecological restoration program. To extend their commitment to sustainability for Earth Month, they partnered with five other sustainable brands to offer a $2,500 giveaway prize to share with one lucky member of their collective community.

One way brands can enhance their sustainability efforts is by launching a resale program to extend the life of the pieces they produce. When brands create products that are made to last, we should ensure they live their longest for years to come. Branded resale provides a trusted, easy avenue for brand items to be resold and rehomed, reducing the carbon footprint and creating a more circular journey.

Of course, we can’t forget to shout out some of the sustainable brands we work with at Treet. While we work with over a hundred brands embracing resale as a means to reduce their footprint while capturing new revenue, here are just a few examples of our brand partners who shine during Earth Month:

• Girlfriend Collective is an activewear brand that believes “good things come to those who don’t waste”. From ethical manufacturing to producing garments with recyclable materials, they are practicing a holistic approach to sustainability. Through ReGirlfriend, a garment recycling program, they take back Girlfriend or non-Girlfriend pieces in exchange for store credit. For items that have more life in them, they launch Girlfriend to Girlfriend with Treet to provide an avenue for shoppers to buy and sell pre-loved Girlfriend items.

• Tentree is a brand committed to an Earth-first approach to their business. With every garment sold, a tree is planted to regenerate ecosystems, capture carbon, and provide planting jobs in communities around the world. To continue their journey towards circularity, they launched Circularity by Tentree with Treet and SuperCircle where they offer both trade-in and peer-to-peer resale solutions. Shoppers can send tentree items (or items from any brand!) in to be recycled in exchange for credit back to the brand, or buy and sell secondhand tentree items through The Reshop.

• Wolven is an activewear company that creates their pieces from recycled plastic water bottles. Their commitment to sustainability is shown through their yearly Impact Reports and Trash Talk educational series where they highlight the environmental efforts to remain transparent around sustainability in the fashion industry. They launched Wolven Pre-Loved with Treet to further extend the circularity of their clothing by providing an end-of-life solution for their community’s pre-loved pieces.

With Earth Month in clear view, it’s inspiring to be a part of the growing community of brands embracing sustainability with resale. We're proud to partner with brands like Tentree, Wolven, Girlfriend Collective, and many others, who not only prioritize sustainability from inception to end-of-life but also adopt innovative solutions like resale to promote circularity.

If you’re interested in resale with Treet, reach out to us here to get started!