What is Fair Trade? Adhering to fair trade principles ensures that the products we manufacture do not exploit workers; frequently underpaid, abused, and even underage. Workers are paid a fair wage, and child labor is never used. Instead of sweatshops, workers enjoy safe and healthy working conditions, and they benefit from equal opportunity employment. These same principles also protect the environment by promoting environmentally sustainable practices.
Why Hemp? Using hemp makes our products even more environmentally friendly. The hemp plant is naturally resistant to pests and weeds, so the farmer does not need to dump toxic pesticides and herbicides on the land. Hemp also requires about 1/20th as much water to grow and process as cotton, and the hemp fiber is up to 4 times stronger than cotton. Fabric made from hemp naturally resists bacteria growth and filters harmful UV light. And thanks to new developments in preparing and finishing the fabric, hemp clothing is super soft and comfortable.
Why Organic Cotton? About 23 percent of the world's insecticides and more than 10 percent of the world's pesticides are used on conventional cotton. These synthetic fertilizers and chemicals contaminate soil and ground water. In contrast, certified organic cotton is grown without pesticides, insecticides or defoliants.
What is Fair Hemp? Fair Hemp is the idea that organic and recycled materials can replace conventional cotton and polyester at a competitive price. All without harming the workers who make our products. We can make a difference today by supporting this sustainable model. And by educating the consumer about the social and environmental benefits of Organic and Fair Trade, we hope we can make an even bigger difference in the future.
What is Fair Hemp doing today? Our standard
hemp t-shirts are blends of Hemp and Organic Cotton
only. Reducing regular Cotton use by 55% in a t-shirt does not solve the problem of the heavy pesticide use or support organic agriculture. There's no reason to only go halfway and stop short of truly environmentally friendly products. We believe in the whole solution and it is inspiring to see just how many people agree.
We have the Hemp blends perfected but we're not stopping there. We have been hard at work developing fabrics from other eco-friendly fibres including organic wool, soy(limited), organic cotton and recycled plastics. These are currently available in custom productions. We no longer work with Bamboo because after extensive testing it seems that it was never really eco-friendly (aka greenwash).
