Following on from the huge success of the BBC’s Blue Planet series, presented by Sir David Attenborough, the corporation has teamed up with apparel manufacturer Teemill to produce a range of ‘sustainable’ garments. BBC Earth says it has established the collaboration in order to “disrupt the fashion industry and propose a solution to one of the greatest environmental problems caused by fast fashion – landfill.”
The collection is designed so that, once worn out, the garments will be returned via a newly-established take-back scheme. The recovery system enables consumers to scan their worn out product with a smartphone and activate a freepost code and triggering a 5 pounds off voucher for a new item. BBC Earth explains: “Every product from the BBC Earth store is designed to be sent back to us when it is worn out. We’re releasing this special edition print made with organic cotton that’s been remanufactured from that recovered material.”
The collaboration’s flagship ‘Sustainable Me’ Circular Economy Organic Cotton T-shirt is made using 50 per cent post-consumer remanufactured organic cotton and 50 per cent organic cotton – certified by GOTS. The product specification also details that the apparel is made in a factory powered by renewable energy. The website on which the garments are sold sharing each step of the supply chain in an accessible way, including details of: rain-fed organic cotton cultivation, CSR initiative-compliant factory processing, ‘low-waste’ printing, and even packaging and delivery methods. The range includes T-shirts and Jumpers retailing at prices between 20-35 pounds.
