US based MetaWear has unveiled the first solar and geothermal-powered US operation, providing cutting, sewing, dyeing, and screen printing certified organic cotton t-shirts.
MetaWear which uses seaweed-based inks with no toxic inputs, was recently certified to the world’s platinum standard for the processing of organic textiles; the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).
According to a MetaWear press release, MetaWear is the first and only US-based GOTS factory of its kind.
GOTS covers the growing, processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, trading, and distribution of all textiles made from at least 70 per cent certified organic fibre.
As with organic food standards, a textile product carrying the GOTS ‘organic’ seal must contain a minimum of 95 per cent certified organic fibres.
While a product with the ‘made with organic’ label must contain a minimum of 70 per cent certified organic fibre.
GOTS-certified textiles are free of pesticides, GMOs, formaldehyde, chlorine bleaches, heavy metals, and other chemicals but are typically used in conventional cotton t-shirts and textiles.
“MetaWear is extremely proud to be paving the way for today’s textile industry here in the US,” Marci Zaroff, ECOfashion pioneer and MetaWear co-founder and president said.
She added, “We adhere to the most stringent global processing standards, and offer earth-conscious, socially responsible, and flawlessly-fitting screen-printed apparel.”
MetaWear, located in a refurbished Verizon facility in Fairfax, VA, makes its promotional custom t-shirts for men and women using Fair Trade-certified organic cotton.
In addition, the company uses “SeaInk,” a proprietary dye process that uses a seaweed-derived base with no harmful inputs including PVC, resins, or binders.
“With SeaInk, MetaWear can avoid the harmful impact of standard dyes without sacrificing colour vibrancy,” says CAS Shiver, MetaWear Co-Founder and technical mastermind.
In addition to being GOTS-certified, MetaWear produced the world’s first Cradle-to-Cradle Certified fashion T-shirt for leading lifestyle brand – ‘Under the Canopy’, also founded by Zaroff.
This T-shirt was unveiled at the Cradle-to-Cradle Innovation Institute’s Fashion Positive launch, celebrating its newest program dedicated to the circular economy.
The five categories of focus for C2C Certification include material health, material reuse, renewable energy, water stewardship, and social justice.
“I am approached regularly by organisations seeking sustainable, domestically made solutions to their t-shirt needs,’ Zaroff informed.
“Authenticity and transparency in the supply chain add value, and cheap, toxic t-shirts are no longer seen as acceptable,” she observed.
According to OTA’s 2014 Organic Industry Survey, organic fibre was the largest non-food organic category in terms of sales in 2013 for the second year in a row, reaching $960 million in sales that year.
