Sustainability

Clothing production is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions. We want to change that.

As we work to create a community within Cheegs, it is important to us that there are certain values that are shared. For us, sustainability and treating our planet with honor and care is one of those values. From before Cheegs had a name, our founder saw carbon neutrality as a non-negotiable MUST. Our team shares an understanding that it is our duty to our customers, manufacturers and Mother Earth to have our footprint be a core focus. Our motto is, “We handle it so you don't have to think about it”. But you are here, so you clearly want to think about it…

Clothing production is the third largest manufacturing industry after the automotive and technology industries. Textile production itself contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined, according to a House of Common Environmental Audit Committee in 2019. It makes up over 8% of global annual carbon output, which is concerning. We are here because fast fashion giants are solely focused on lowering production costs and they neglect the sustainability aspect of the process. The main sources within the overwhelmingly high 8% of annual carbon output are things like pumping water for cotton, general transport and many oil-based pesticides.

The responsibility falls on consumers as well. According to the Saturday Evening Post, the average American throws away around 81 pounds of clothing yearly. This is all ending up in landfills.

So… we hope it is becoming very clear, it is imperative to move away from fast fashion to quality clothing that lasts! This means buying clothing should be seen as an investment in line with your values rather than a short-term tool. At Cheegs we have engineered each and every clothing item with durability, sustainability, versatility, comfortability and overall quality in mind. This way our customers can wear our apparel for years and years without having to replace it. It starts by changing the way we think about our garments.

"By thinking of the garments we wear as short term tools rather than long term investments, we contribute to wasteful consumption patterns that inevitably lead us towards drastic climate change." Jennifer Darmo

How are we reducing our footprint?

1. Recycled Materials

Using recycled polyester can reduce the CO2 footprint of a fabric by over 59% as it doesn’t require the refining and polymerization stages from petroleum. We choose our fabrics carefully and with all of our units being at least 60% recycled fabric we can make large reductions in our output.

Why did we choose our space fabric for our Collarfree Future line?

1. When we look at the sustainability of material, we take into account the production process, the care that’s needed and what happens at the end of life.

2. Naturally-derived fabrics aren’t always sustainable, as they can take large amounts of land, water, and inexpensive labor to produce, require dry-cleaning and can release dyes during the washing and dyeing process.

3. Synthetics aren’t always bad either. They can have performance properties, use less water to produce, don’t require dry-cleaning and can be recycled.

2. Fabric Waste Reduction

30% of fabric is lost in the cut and sew process of a typical garment shirt.

We are constantly working with our manufacturing partners to reduce waste. One of the things we are doing currently is using waste materials from our shirts to make our Just Breathe Masks that will be used to combat Covid-19.

3. Lean Supply Chain

We choose our partners very carefully, based on ethics, capabilities and service. Price is not a factor in our selection criteria. Although we put massive efforts into moving manufacturing back to the U.S., we found that the U.S. does not have the performance fabric mills to get this sort of fabric made. Not only that but our cut and sew manufacturing expertise is still far behind that of Taiwan.

Our manufacturing partners in Taiwan are nearby one another in efforts to reduce transport from the mill to our cut and sewing facilities. They are Oeko-tex certified which is one of the most recognized environmentally-responsible production certifications.

4. Air to Sea Shipping

Shipping by sea versus air reduces the CO2 emissions for a typical shirt by 8 pounds. It’s a significant difference that motivates the whole industry to shift from their reliance on air-shipping. Due to lead times we are not always able to ship by sea, but are shifting as much as possible to make the sea our most used method of transportation.

What about the limited footprint that you do have?

We want to be held accountable for our impact. We are excited to be investing in energy projects to neutralize our carbon emissions. We are not tied to one organization and will be looking to find good organizations to partner with to make this happen. If you have ideas or would like to talk about future environmental investments, please reach out at info@cheegs.com.

For our first project, we have partnered with One Tree Planted. One Tree Planted is a non-profit environmental charity on a mission of global reforestation. Through their partnerships with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. State Forest and Conservation District, they are able to plant trees in many regions across the United States, including California, Colorado, Florida and Oregon. With your purchase of Cheegs apparel you will be helping with reforestation in the United States. We will have updates about calculations and investment numbers once the product is available in April.