Earth Positive: The Most Progressive Sustainable Clothing on Earth
100% Organic Blank Clothing
Continental Clothing Company has been licensed under the Global Organic Standard (GOTS) since 2007. EarthPositive is produced from organic Indian cotton & the entire production process is controlled and certified, following the latest version of GOTS certification. For the past five years, Earth Positive has been the largest organic textile licensee of the Soil Association.
Verified Ethical Clothing Manufacturing
100% of the EarthPositive® production undergoes annual audits to comply with the FWF Code of Labour Practices following the International Labour Organisation's conventions. Continental Clothing has been a member of the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) since 2006.
90% Reduced Carbon Footprint
EarthPositive® is made in manufacturing facilities powered by green renewable energy from low-impact raw materials. The carbon footprint of EarthPositive® products has been reduced by some 90%, and the calculations were certified under the PAS2050 standard by the Carbon Trust in the U.K. between 2007-2009.
The Earth Positive Factory
The vertically integrated garment factory in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, is the primary manufacturing facility of Continental Clothing Co & Earth Positive.
The state-of-the-art technology & ultra-modern infrastructure provide the setting for the textile industry's leading showcase of socially and environmentally responsible production. Earth Positive has been designing, manufacturing & distributing clothing to the garment decoration industry since 1998.
Social Responsibility
We all have a right to a safe and healthy work environment, a living wage, a legally binding contract. We all have a right to be free from discrimination and harassment, join - or not join - a labour union to freely choose our work. We all have a right to fair and reasonable working hours. And our children have a right to go to school.
Continental Clothing Co. has adopted a robust policy concerning the following minimum social responsibility criteria:
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No use of child labour
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No use of forced labour
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Safe and healthy working conditions
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Legal labour contracts
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Payment of living wage
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Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining
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No discrimination against employees
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No excessive hours of work
Continental Clothing Co. has been running a pro-active social responsibility programme as a member of the Fair Wear Foundation since 2006. All the company's manufacturing facilities are regularly audited for social compliance. They are running active monitoring programmes following standards advocated by the International Labour Organisation, the Ethical Trading Initiative and other international bodies.
The company publishes an annual Social Report.
Fair Wear Foundation carries out an annual brand performance check and produces a comprehensive report and a score rating.
The following organisations govern FWF:
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Mount (business association for manufacturers and distributors of fashion, interior design, carpets and textiles)
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CBW-MITEX (business association for retailers of interior design, fashion, shoes and sportswear)
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FNV Bondgenoten (federation of trade unions - service industry)
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CNV Dienstenbond (Christian trade union - service industry)
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Clean Clothes Campaign
Sustainable manufacturing
Sustainable manufacturing creates manufactured products through economically sound processes that minimise negative environmental impacts while conserving energy and natural resources. Sustainable manufacturing also enhances employee, community, and product safety.
Continental Clothing Co. recognises that garment manufacturing is one of the most environmentally damaging and harmful industrial sectors on the planet and takes decisive and often pioneering steps towards addressing the many negative impacts. Starting with the sourcing of raw materials, the company ensures full traceability of all fibres, choosing low impact cotton, Tencel® Lyocell, bamboo and EcoVero viscose, and recycled polyester in the Continental® range, 100% certified organic cotton in the EarthPositive® field, and recycled organic cotton blended with recycled polyester in the Salvage® range.
Continental Clothing Co. has been a vivid supporter of many high profile campaigns, including the Clean Cotton Campaign, Pick Your Cotton Carefully, and has been working with the Environmental Justice Foundation and the Pesticide Action Network for many years. Continental Clothing Co. is an active contributor to the International Working Group on the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The company is certified under the Global Organic Textile Standard, Organic Content Standard and the Global Recycled Standard.
Yarns and fabrics
Continental Clothing Co. controls the spinning process of almost seventy per cent of all the yarns used in production as part of its vertically integrated manufacturing structure, with the remainder being carefully sourced externally. All the yarns used by the company are fully combed and ring-spun.
The quality of Earth Positive's yarns and fabrics is the foundation to delivering the highest quality garments.
All the fabrics are knitted at their in-house facilities and dyed with GOTS approved chemicals, using low-water and controlled waste discharge processes, certified to OekoTex 100 Class I standard and conforming to REACH. Organic certified fabrics are dyed in a zero-discharge dyehouse, where all the water is recycled in a closed-loop system.
Carbon footprint reduction
The carbon footprint (CO2e) is the total carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases emitted during the cultivation and harvesting of cotton, fibre processing, textile production, packaging, transportation and warehousing. In January 2008, Continental Clothing Co. became the first company to calculate the carbon footprint and place the Carbon Reduction Label on textile products.
Continental Clothing Co. has reduced the carbon footprint of EarthPositive® products by around 90% through a combination of innovative product design, low impact organic agriculture, efficiency in manufacturing, and replacing standard grid electricity with renewable wind power. Continental Clothing Co. does not use carbon offsets, and Earth Positive's footprint calculations were certified by the Carbon Trust Certifications in the U.K. between 2007-2009.
It has been calculated that a single EarthPositive® T-shirt saves around 7 kilograms of CO2e compared to a conventional T-shirt, whereas a hooded sweatshirt saves up to 28 kgs.
All the greenhouse gas emissions to pre-industrial levels, all the EarthPositive® products carry the registered mark "Climate Neutral, "taking greenhouse gas emissions to pre-industrial levels.
Printing suitability
All Earth Positive products are designed and manufactured specifically for garment decorating. Except for un-dyed bags, they are suitable for all screen-printing techniques and all ink types, including discharge printing.
Because of the high-quality surface finish, Earth Positive garments perform exceptionally well with digital direct-to-garment (DTG) printing.
Continental Clothing Co. strongly urges the use of ink types and printing processes with a low environmental impact, without phthalates or aromatic solvents, non-PVC, water-based, compliant with environmental and organic standards - such as The Print Room's water-based screen printing inks.
The new Continental® Sublimation T-shirt, made from 100% recycled polyester, is designed especially for sublimation transfer printing.
The Ordering Process
Earth Positive offers a direct wholesale distribution, with some 1.5 million garments in stock in their U.K. warehouse. Orders are despatched from the U.K. warehouse to us in New Zealand. Orders typically take three weeks to land in New Zealand before being decorated. We hold a range of Earth Positive samples that we can send out to you to check the quality and fit; just touch base with your account manager to arrange this.
