General Sustainability Statement
Sustainability is important to Colony Neutral. We’re getting greener every step of the way, while still providing you with the quality products you deserve.
Around 85% of all textiles produced by the fashion industry end up in landfills, making it a major contributor to environmental damage. What’s more, one in every five items produced by the fashion industry reaches landfills without being worn even once.
We only produce items we get an order for, avoiding textile waste from overproduction. Our printing partner’s high-quality printing tech creates almost no wastewaters and uses less energy than standard industry printers.
Production Process
Products in our catalog are made on-demand—once you place an order, we produce it specifically for you. This allows us to avoid overproduction and textile waste, and we’re continuously working toward greener production.
We only make our products when we receive your order for it, avoiding textile waste. So forget about mass-produced clothing, and let us create your quality one-of-a-kind piece!
Direct-to-Garment Printing
Our clothing designs are fulfilled using various methods. Some of our products are printed with the direct-to-garment (DTG) technique, which is a printing method where ink is first sprayed directly onto the garment, and then it soaks into the fabric. It’s like printing on paper, but on clothing. We use printers that generate almost zero wastewater and use less energy than standard industry printers, which lowers our carbon footprint.
Ink Usage
The inks we use for printing are certified, water-based, and free of harmful chemicals. Colony Neutral takes sustainability seriously, that’s why we take care to properly dispose of any left-over ink according to the ink supplier guidelines.
Embroidery Information
At Colony Neutral, we embroider our products with threads that are safe for both adult and children’s clothing. Compared to printing, embroidery is generally more durable and produces less environmental waste.
Production Times
Products in our catalog are made-on-demand, which means once you place the order, we start working to get it to you. It takes time for us to create and send out the product, but making each order on-demand allows us to avoid overproduction. This way we get to take care of you and the planet we all share.
Packaging & Fulfillment
At Colony Neutral apparel products are packed in post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic mailers. The amount of PCR in the packaging will differ depending on where your order gets printed, but it’s at least 50% for the outside (white or grey) poly mailer bags and at least 30% for the inside (clear) bags used in multi-item shipments.
PCR packaging is made from everyday items, like used plastic bags and bottles. This material protects your order just as well as regular plastic bags, however, choosing PCR over first-use plastics reduces the environmental impact plastic has on our planet.