Badge of Honor: Understanding Sustainability Certifications

There is no central authority that regulates sustainability in clothing, materials, or brands. Instead, brands can earn various certifications to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and ethical labor practices. There’s also no single certification that covers every aspect of a company's operations. Most certifications focus on specific areas, such as the materials used, how the energy is sourced, or the labor practices. Before we break down each certification, let’s go over some key things to consider when you spot these badges on products.

Why Certifications Matter

Certifications exist to help us make informed choices. Without them, we’d all have to deep dive into a company’s processes and behind-the-scenes efforts to decide whether their clothing is worth buying. The organizations that handle the certification process set clear standards for brands to meet and maintain to earn and keep their badge. These standards are typically evaluated through initial testing and inspection and then maintained through regular audits. This gives us consumers some peace of mind knowing that brands are doing the work they say, and we can properly shop from companies we want to support.

Common Misconceptions

While it’s great for companies to get certified, there are some misconceptions that shoppers should know about. We want to set the record straight.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that all certifications are equal. This is not true. Some organizations that oversee certifications have been around a lot longer, cover a larger geographical area, and/or are more comprehensive in their evaluation and audits of companies. Because of this, some certifications may be more useful when a company has earned its badge, as they can tell you a lot more about what’s happening behind the scenes. This is the root of why this article was written, to give more detail into each certification, that way you can pick which ones you care about most, and what companies you’d like to support.

We’ve already talked about how there is no single certification that means a brand is fully sustainable, likewise, a lack of certification doesn’t mean a company isn’t. Obtaining certifications can be a rigorous process that requires a lot of resources. For this reason, it may not always be ideal for a smaller business to obtain certification, even if they have the right practices and materials in place. Finding and understanding these companies may take a little work, but Prohto is also dedicated to supporting smaller brands that want to do some good in the world. Many of these smaller brands showcase their great work and even make sustainability an integral part of their business. Supporting these businesses is still shopping for a good cause, and helps them earn certifications in the future.

Now that we’ve gotten some facts about certifications down, the following information will provide details and examples of some of the most popular certifications for sustainable and ethical clothing brands. They are in no particular order, and we’ll update this list with more and more certifications.

Certifications Index

B Corporation

·Focus: Social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.

·Overview: Companies with this certification must be purpose-driven and strive to benefit all stakeholders, including workers, communities, and the planet. These companies are in business to act as a force for good. This is a comprehensive certification that requires careful consideration on the company’s part.

·Key Criteria:

-must undergo one of the most in-depth assessments for certification.

-Rigorous standards in areas such as employee treatment, community engagement, accountability, and environmental practices.

Example Companies: Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, TOMS, Beautycounter, Uncommon Goods

Fair Trade Certified

·Focus: Fair wages, rights, and working conditions for underrepresented employees and workers.

·Overview: Farmers and workers are the backbone of this certification. Companies must ensure adequate pay for all workers making their products. Emphasis on beneficial ecological and agricultural practices. It is more common to see specific products from brands be fair trade certified, rather than an entire company.

·Key Criteria:

-Initial, regular, unannounced, and renewal audits are performed. 

-Zero tolerance for discrimination, forced labor, or child labor

-Fairtrade producers, farmers, and workers are all consulted when establishing new standards and policies for Fairtrade

Example Companies: Pottery Barn, Madewell, e.l.f. Beauty, Death Wish Coffee

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)

·Focus: Organic Fibers and environmentally responsible production processes.

·Overview: GOTS is one of the leading standards for organic textiles. Strong focus on the entire supply chain, from raw material harvesting to socially responsible manufacturing. Independent 3rd party certification organization performs an annual on-site inspection of supply chains before final products can be labeled as GOTS-certified.

·Key Criteria:

-Organic origin of product.

-Employees’ health, safety, and rights must meet standards, irrespective of organic textiles.

-Only approved chemicals may be used, no hazardous substances allowed.

Example Companies: Everlane, Cole and Cleo, Avocado Green Brands

OEKO-TEX

·Focus: Responsible business decisions that protect natural resources. Prevention of the use of harmful substances and GMOs.

·Overview: While there are numerous Oeko-Tek certifications, most of them require testing for harmful substances throughout the supply chain, and in the final products.

·Key Criteria:

-Testing for harmful chemicals such as pesticides, heavy metals, and formaldehyde. Over 1,000 substances are tested for.

-The certified article is harmless to human health

-The more skin contact, the stricter the testing and requirements.

Example Companies: Girlfriend Collective, Toad & Co, Lowa

Bluesign

·Focus: Environmental and chemical management in textile production.

·Overview: Bluesign certification is one of the most popular certifications for sustainable textiles. Strict safety and environmental requirements regarding chemical use, carbon emission, water consumption, energy consumption, and worker health and safety.

·Key Criteria:

-Use of environmental performance indicators (eKPIs) to assess environmental footprint and ensure sustainable processes.

Example Companies: Mammut, Helly Hansen, Burton

Cradle-to-Cradle

·Focus: Product manufacturing that uses a circular economy and sustainable product life cycles.

·Overview: This certification focuses on keeping products out of landfills and oceans by encouraging and focusing on products that can be recycled, or safely biodegraded.

·Key Criteria:

-Framework with five categories of sustainability performance including material health, product circularity, clean air & climate protection, water & soil stewardship, and social fairness.

Example Companies: Herman Miller, Zalando, Westwing