Donna Ida Denim and Sustainability

In the last few years we have been working with our suppliers on environmental solutions so that the denim used in our jeans, jumpsuits and boiler suits are as ethical and sustainable as possible. 

Our aim is to share with you exactly how much impact each piece has on the environment so we are completely transparent on how your favourite jeans are made. This environmental impact will take into account the working conditions at the factory, the sustainability of the wash process, and fabric of each style we produce.

Each pair of jeans will now have an Environmental Impact Measuring (EIM Score)  which measures the impact of material washing on each product page. We score the jeans either:
 
• Low Impact
• Medium Impact
• High Impact
 
For example, our Blackest and Milk styles are made with Tencel fabrics and have a Low Impact EIM. This is because both styles only have a very short rinse wash without special treatments, to minimise their environment impact. 
 
Blue denim can be high impact due to the amount of washing that goes into creating different shades. The Blackest and Milk fabrics are not washed which ensures the Blackest and Milk are super low impact.
 
We are continuing to improve all of our materials including our new pocket bags which will be between 65% to 80% recycled polyester.
 
Our Denim Factory
Our factory is SA8000 certified, which is one of the most rigorous international standards to assess the company's social responsibility towards its employees, partners and other stakeholders. 

They are required to:
- Comply with the national legislation and other applicable laws on social matters and in matters of hygiene and safety, including international convention, such as ILO and UN
- Comply with the codes of conduct of its customers
- Comply with all the requirements of the standard of social responsibility SA8000-2014 

Our factory are members of SEDEX. The SMETA audit code requires compliance with their rules of hygiene and safety. A work environment that respects health and safety rules is provided, taking into account industry knowledge and potential specific hazards. Measures are taken to prevent material and personal injury arising from or associated with work by minimising, as far as possible, the causes of hazards in the workplace.

Our commitment to quality is endorsed with ISO 9001 accreditation (version 2015).

Our fibres
We are working towards using sustainable fibres in all our products such as recycled material, sustainable cellulosic (eg Tencel) and organic cottons. For our Blackest and Milk washes for example, the cotton we use is BCI cotton. Some estimates suggest 50% reduction in water irrigation compared to “standard cotton” and the “biological integrated pest management” replaces some of the chemical pesticides with natural methods (good insects); the most toxic pesticides are banned.

The farmers of BCI cotton are educated and supported to grow their crops with a lower environmental impact, following seven key principles: 

1. minimise harmful crop protection practices
2. promote water stewardship
3. care for the health of the soil
4.  enhance biodiversity and use land responsibly
5. care for and preserve fibre quality
6. promote decent work
7. operate an effective management system


We also use sustainable Lyocel and are constantly striving to improve other fibres.
 
Our Manufacturing Process
Our manufacturing process for denim uses the latest technologies to ensure it is as environmentally friendly as possible.

Sustainable-Jeans Washing
As sustainability is a crucial issue in the denim field, the washing process uses the latest innovations and developments including:

Laser
Using the Flexi HS3D Laser machine which belongs to the Pro generation, the new generation of laser enables more productivity, efficiency and an improvement in design management to make the lighter contrast areas you see in denim.

E-flow washing machines
These use nebulisation to hugely reduce the amount of water and chemicals used by old technologies (95% less water, 90% less chemicals and 40% less energy). Our factory measure and monitor the impact of our washing to the environment and personnel using the latest software, to ensure that all of our jeans are low impact in production.


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