Written by Chandra Wong
Small fashion companies struggle with making their product lines sustainable. These companies can work with minimums of 250-2000 units per style which is extremely low for the industry. They don’t have the buyer capability needed to purchase organic fabrics or recycled polyester because of the higher minimums needed for new technology. While looking at all the different areas in the fashion businesses, Rebecca Pickard, co-founder of Eco Garment Bags, learned that it was easier for smaller brands to source packaging that meets their sustainability goals.
The fashion industry including garments and accessories uses about 200 BILLION polyethylene/polythene (plastic) bags per year to transport each garment from the factory to the store. The same thing happens in e-commerce. Every single item that is produced is packaged in a single use plastic bag and then those bags are thrown away.
Rebecca set out to find a solution to the single-use plastic bag problem. Some brands have already moved to recycled packaging on their quest towards sustainability. Recycled packaging still doesn’t solve the ‘end-of-life’ problem with plastics. Even if it’s recyclable and recycled, it’s still a plastic that will end up in the waste-stream.
Other companies use compostable bags that are made out of a plant based starch that comes from corn or cassava. This is a great solution, but it has limitations. The bags themselves have a shelf-life. More importantly, though, is what happens to the bag in the consumer’s hands.
What does a compostable bag mean and does the customer have to have a compost pile to dispose of it properly? Unfortunately, they do need that compost pile. However, most people live in apartments or homes without access to composting. So these bags tend to go into landfills instead.
Biodegradable or compostable materials need oxygen, and in the case of compost, heat, to break down. Just because compostable bags are made from a vegetable, it doesn’t mean they are going to disappear. Landfills are anaerobic environments. Under the surface, no air/oxygen is getting in. Even in soil, the compostable bags are going to struggle to break down.
As consumers, we don’t want to worry about how to dispose of our products or packaging. As a brand owner, Rebecca does not want to pass on that responsibility to the consumer. Eco Garment Bags needed packaging material that was not going to cause any harm, no matter what product the end-of-life is.
Hydropol is an innovative material that is fully biodegradable in aerobic and anaerobic (with or without oxygen) conditions and is marine safe, leaving behind a harmless biomass composed of only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen when it degrades. It combines the positive attributes of single use plastic (strength, transparency, and durability) while creating no environmental impact regardless of the end-of-life option.
Industrial Composting: ✅
Hydropol will not attract any toxins while it degrades. Plastic is hydrophobic (water-hating) making it much harder to break down. Typical plastic bags take at least 30 years to break down. Plastic attracts toxins as it eventually does degrade into smaller and smaller pieces resulting in toxic microplastics.
Eco Garment Bags has bought stocks of Hyrdopol because they understand it’s difficult for many brands to meet minimum order quantities (MOQs). They hold these stocks in three different sizes. They have excellent shipping rates to Europe and to the United States. They have bags available for e-commerce on their website with minimums of just 200 units per size!
Fashion is one of the most polluting industries and there are many brands that are really trying to turn this around. The low minimums required by Eco Garment Bags makes this sustainable solution available to brands of all sizes. Support them and the environment today!
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