Responsibly grown cotton: Our partnership with Good Earth Cotton®

Cotton is versatile, durable, and breathable. However, global cotton farming can have a significant environmental impact. 

This is why we have joined forces with Good Earth Cotton®.

How does cotton affect the environment?

 

With around 50% of all clothing made from cotton, production is widespread. The industry employs over 250 million people, including many in developing countries,  but it has also harmed ecosystems worldwide. 

The environmental challenges of cotton growing include:

  • Excessive water consumption, if it is not managed effectively.

  • Soil and water pollution can occur if chemicals, fertilisers and pesticides are not applied precisely and with due care.

Regenerative farming is integral for the future of our planet because it enhances biodiversity, improves soil health, and sequesters carbon, thereby combating climate change. 

By focusing on holistic practices such as crop rotation, agroforestry, and minimal tillage, regenerative farming restores ecological balance and promotes sustainable farming systems. 

These practices not only increase the resilience of farms to extreme weather but also reduce dependency on fertilisers and pesticides.  

Embracing regenerative farming is crucial for the ongoing growth of cotton to clothe the world, without damaging the environment.

 

How we source responsibly grown cotton

To make clothes that are great to wear outdoors without damaging the environment, we’re working with Good Earth Cotton®, which focuses on employing better farming methods to make the cotton industry more sustainable for farmers and clothing makers.

The Good Earth Cotton® program prioritises the environment and uses science and data to benefit both farmers and nature. They promote low-impact cotton production by focusing on enhancing biodiversity, using water efficiently, rotating crops seasonally, and minimising tillage. 

These practices help maintain soil health and protect or enhance natural ecosystems. 

Each Good Earth Cotton farm is audited every year, to ensure that the cotton utilised in our products is grown responsibly and reduces the impact on the environment.

 

Know where your cotton comes from

The partnership with Good Earth Cotton® supports Napapijri’s sustainability strategy in more than one way. On the one hand, by choosing to source our cotton responsibly, we fulfil our commitment to better-sourced materials. On the other, it further develops our dedication to traceability as a key pillar of our journey towards our sustainable objectives. In fact,  through traceability, we can keep working to create our products in an ethical and sustainable manner, because what happens along our supply chain is ultimately what can teach us where and how we need to improve and where we are doing it right.

One of the most innovative aspects of Good Earth Cotton® is the use of FibreTrace®.

FibreTrace® is a real-time verification solution for fibre integrity.

 

Unlike other traceability technologies, FibreTrace® integrates luminescent pigments into raw cotton, creating a unique signature where the pigments are then tracked and identified across the global supply chain. By leveraging FibreTrace’s technology, we can trace and verify the origin of fibre in real-time, promoting accountability throughout the global textile supply chain, and increasing the value of digital-only traceability solutions.

FibreTrace® also helps to gather data throughout the supply chain which can track sustainability improvements. 

Each product in our Good Earth Cotton® Selection comes with a QR code on the label. By scanning this, you can see information and journey about the fibres used in each item as it moves through the supply chain.

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