We believe that every decision matters and are guided by our commitment to do better. Always.
Transparency is at the core of everything we do. We invest in eco-friendly and ethical practices, because we recognize that everything we make has an impact. Our approach holds us accountable and challenges us to evolve what we’re doing today so that we can reduce our impact tomorrow.
CARBON FOOTPRINT
In order to reach our goal of being Carbon Neutral by 2023, we needed to know where we’re at today. So we started by measuring our current carbon footprint. We are currently undergoing a complete audit of our business and production processes to assess our exact emissions and the cost of offsetting them. We’re looking forward to sharing more information on this process as we go.
CARBON NEUTRAL SHIPPING
Through EcoCart we are proud to offer carbon neutral shipping. They’ve helped us estimate the cost of offsetting the emissions from manufacturing and shipping each order. We give our customers the option to make their order carbon neutral at checkout, usually adding 1-2% to their total. EcoCart then donates to a verified carbon offset project. Currently, our carbon offset dollars go to The Purus Project, a tropical forest conservation project in Acre, Brazil.
FACTORY PARTNERS
WRAP, or Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production, is the world's largest factory-based certification program for manufacturers of clothing, footwear, and other sewn products. WRAP certification ensures humane and fair practices (including no child or forced labor) by checking payrolls, benefits, and hours/week.
LOCAL PARTNERS
Our clothing is mindfully designed in Los Angeles. Though it’s a small percentage of what we do, approximately 15% of our garments are produced locally. We aim to work with local factories who have a minimal environmental footprint.
CERTIFIED ORGANIC COTTON
This non-GMO fiber is USDA and GOTS certified organic. We are proud to source our Organic Pima Cotton from Bergman/Rivera, a small family owned farm founded in 1986. Bergman/Rivera has been a pioneer in Organic Cotton promotion and sustainable practices in Peru and was the first Peruvian company to receive GOTS certification. This small family business supports more than 160 families across three different valleys in Peru. Farm workers are paid fair wages and treated with Fair Trade standards, and the GOTS certification also ensures traceability for the cotton fiber. Growing and harvesting our Organic Pima Cotton leaves the soil, air, and water free of contaminants from harmful pesticides, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and defoliants. Which means it’s better for the land and safer for the workers.
85% of our total company are women, and 86% of our leadership team are women (at this time we don't have diversity numbers).
We’ve built a transparent and inclusive corporate culture. We encourage frequent feedback from every member of our team and have found this dialogue to be where change inside our organization truly begins. We don’t take lightly our responsibility to foster diversity and inclusion through our hiring practices. That said, we are a small team. As we grow, it is our priority to add more diverse voices at every level.
Our corporate office adopted a flexible remote work policy. Working from home reduces the amount of greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere by commuting each day. (Not to mention that we’ve found flexible working has helped enable employees to balance their jobs with their families and other responsibilities). Win-win.
We’ve committed to supporting and amplifying causes that align with our core values. So far we’ve partnered in donation with: The ACLU, The Loveland Foundation, One Tree Planted, Global Forest Generation, I am a voter., and Feast.
In 2021, after years of work behind the scenes, offering a size XL became a reality for our brand. Our pieces are designed to flatter any figure and finally making size XL available is what we consider our first (and overdue) step towards a more inclusive size range. With our Winter 2022 collection we've taken the next step by offering 2XL. Not only does this make NATION LTD pieces available to more women, but also a wider size range helps us with photographing our design samples on models with more diverse and representative bodies.
On average, eCommerce uses about 30% less energy than traditional retail. We don’t have in person stores, however we work with and support local boutiques throughout the country.
We purchase environmentally friendly supplies across all our operations. We’ve made the choice to go with the most renewable option on everything from recycled copy paper, office cleaning supplies, shipping materials, and equipment.
At the factory level, our partners have made a commitment to ZERO WASTE. Our fabric scraps from cutting are bundled and then re-purposed into mops, rags, and mattress fillers, or recycled into new fibers, ensuring a circular supply chain that keeps waste out of landfills.
In our corporate office and warehouse, we’ve made it a priority to implement a recycling program.
Our shipping envelopes are 100% certified compostable and our card inserts are made of 100% recycled materials. We choose not to include a return shipping label to reduce potential waste. Every piece in our line is enclosed in a 100% certified compostable bag. When composted, the bag will fully biodegrade within one year.
“THE MORE YOU KNOW, THE LESS YOU NEED.”
- YVON CHOUINARD
WHOLESALE
In 2021 we reduced the amount of our wholesale sampling by 57%, instead choosing to utilize our visual digital assets in better ways by eliminating the sampling of multiple colors and core styles. For context, our showrooms used to receive a sample of each item in the line. It’s industry standard for sales purposes, but it got us thinking about the negative environmental impact with regard to resources, waste, carbon emissions, and water for producing this many samples. Our reduction in sampling translates to about 774 less samples in a season, and that is roughly 3,096 samples in a year.
SLOW FASHION
What does that even mean? Well, it’s the consideration of the environmental impact of all the processes and resources required to manufacture clothing. And, yes. It’s more expensive. It’s important to understand that the cost of a piece of clothing is the result of the entire process that brought it into existence. We use premium fabrics, the most environmentally friendly practices, and pay everyone in the supply chain a living wage. All those things contribute to a high production cost. It starts with us, and we believe those things are worth it. Therefore, we teach our customers the best way to buy less is to buy better. Invest in fewer high quality pieces that come from sustainable processes and fabrics. Take a step back and decide if you really need something…
WE CARE ABOUT THE PLANET.
AND WE KNOW YOU DO TOO.
Focus On Less
Our vertical manufacturing process in Peru makes our 100% Peruvian Cotton fabric one of our most environmentally friendly practices.
We evaluate every fabric before adding it to our line. Our goal is to highlight the most eco-friendly elements of our fabrics, and also to acknowledge where improvements can (and should) be made.
Through our partnership with thredUP we’ve built a resale marketplace, reNATION LTD. This helps keep clothing in circulation.