Ethical & Environmental Responsibilities
Our Garments
We use quality garments from ethical suppliers. All our garments are from factories following WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) procedures and are ethically manufactured and sweatshop free. .
Aurora Clothing
We are very selective in choosing factories. Supporting the factories that look after their workers is the single most effective step clothing companies can take to ensure ethical manufacturing wins. More business to the caring factories enables them to employ people that previously worked at the unethical ones. If enough of us insist on this, together we can bring change and improvement to those thousands of lives.
Sets WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) 12 Principles as minimum requirements for our partner factories in Asia.
AS Colour
At AS Colour we seek out the best factories in each specialty. We may interview up to fifty factories before selecting one to make our products. Each factory is based on a certain fabric and an assured production capacity. All our factories get a regular order every six weeks, giving them certainty around work and income. We choose to work closely with fewer factories that we know well. Importantly, all AS Colour's products are produced under safe, fair, legal and humane working conditions throughout our supply chain.
We select our factories very carefully, seeking the best from around the world. This way, we ensure top-quality output and that production standards are complied with. We only work with factories that can assure auditable standards of safe, fair, legal and humane working conditions. We work with some great people.
Our Print Method in Comparison
Our primary method of printing is using PU Vinyl, which is cut on our CAD plotter. The advantages of this method over traditional screen printing are many.
Reduced material wastage
We only print what we intend to use, as opposed to having certain quantities of ink that have to be used to ensure good coverage.
No mess or toxic chemicals required
Normal screen printing eqiupment needs to be cleaned using strong chemical solutions and can have hazardous waste byproducts.
No water consumption
Screenprinting equipment uses a lot of water to flush out ink and clean off chemicals.
Limited Consumables
The only consumable part of a CAD Plotter is a blade and a teflon strip, both of which will last 1000s of prints. Screenprinters regularly need to replace screens which are simply disposed of.
Source: Indian Textile Journal, EPA.
Material Production
PU Vinyl is marketed as being environmentally friendly, but to understand why, we need to go into the lifecycle. Let's start with disposal, and we'll work our way back.
Easy to recycle without expensive or toxic chemical processes.
To recycle polyurethane parts back into prepolymer constituents from which they were made, the process uses bio-microorganisms to break down urethane products
No toxic leeching
When products made of polyurethane break down they do not release hazardous chemicals into the enviroment.
Ecotoxicity
Doesn’t contain any chemicals that interfere with endocrine and hormone systems, Doesn't contribute to PH change in soil or water,
Not a thermoplastic material
PU is not a thermoplastic, and thermoplastic is which is what accounts for 95% of plastic waste.
Okay, so polyurethane itself is better for the environment, but what about the process of making this plastic? Isn’t it just as bad for climate change and the environment as other plastic manufacturing?
What makes polyurethane so attractive are its longevity and energy efficiency, both of which have positive impacts on the environment and the effects of climate change, because they have lower energy use and higher longevity than alternative products, making PU the better choice from the perspective of resource consumption, and from the perspective of end of life, PU is better there as well.
