Our environmental commitments

1. The raw material

Because the production of raw materials represents around 15% of the textile industry's contribution to global warming:

We do not use new materials to make our little vests. We only work with “waste” and obsolete material (with the exception of some of our labels). We work with our partners to optimize production in order to recover as much usable scrap as possible.

2. Making

Because the production phase represents around 35% of the textile industry's contribution to global warming:

We are committed to producing cleaner. Our workshop allows us to use nearly 50% solar energy in the manufacturing of our products (objective of 90% from 2023). We also limit our ecological impact by taking other elements into account: wastewater purification, waste recycling, etc.

3. Reforestation

Because a replanted mangrove captures nearly 1.5 tonnes of CO2 during its life:

Azala, with her partner Bondy, has committed to replanting a tree for each vest sold. This tree serves two environmental objectives: helping to limit deforestation and the disappearance of species in Madagascar and raising awareness among local communities about nature protection.

Each Azala vest has a QR Code allowing you to follow the evolution of the tree associated with it.

4. Our environmental impact study

We have measured the environmental impact of our vests with the company Deceo. It was indeed important for us to transcribe in a quantified manner the commitments which are at the heart of our approach. The adage “everything that gets measured gets better” is familiar to us. How many kg CO2 eq do our upcycled vests emit during the different stages of their life cycle? How much more virtuous are they than an identical non-upcycled vest?

Because we reuse fabric scraps, the raw material production, spinning and weaving phases could be neglected. Good point for us insofar as creating matter often represents more than a third of the impact. Depending on whether the vest was dyed or not, this last phase, the finishing, particularly responsible for water pollution, could also be hidden.

We therefore began to take into account the environmental impact during the manufacturing phase in Madagascar. What was favorable to us: our very low loss rate and 50% of the electricity coming from our solar panels.

The next step, transport, however, was detrimental to us: our vests were sent to Europe by plane. It alone represents 80% of the impact. The cargo ship would emit significantly less CO2.

As for use by the consumer and the end of life, these stages are no longer in our control and we based ourselves on assumptions: 5 washing cycles and an end of life divided between 40% incineration, 40% % landfill and 20% recycling.

Regardless, our pieces come out with excellent scores: between 2 and 3 kg eq. CO2 for our baby and child vests, a gain of 66% compared to a non-upcycled vest.

Dying them results in 20% more CO2 impact and more than double in g. eq. Phosphates for water eutrophication.

Find all the details of these measures on our item sheets.

This study was made possible thanks to assistance from ADEME.