Yuki Threads Values & Fabrics
Yuki Values
1% For the Planet :
- They believe that the time has passed for business as usual. It is very clear to them that they cannot continue to operate as a business the way businesses in the past have run. Our planet's resources are finite. They are running out. As a species we are taking far more than we are giving back.
- So, they're doing something about it. Bucking the trend and the status quo and imposing an environmental tax on themselves to make sure they are supporting environmental activists, organisations and heroes (in their eyes) who are out there making sure they're doing their best to replenish what they are taking. This is a self imposed tax on revenue (not profits, every dollar) that gets donated to audited environmental NGO's around the globe.
Fairtrade:
- 6 years ago they started asking questions. Where did the fabric come from that they were using? How were the people treated who made them? How do we get good quality, certified organic cotton that has been grown in a holistic way?
- After a rabbit hole of investigation, they chose to partner with Fairtrade to facilitate their needs for quality ethical cotton and to help fight their cause of helping producers in growing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. the result of this helps some of those most marginalised communities on the planet take control of their lives and flourish together.
- This is done through set minimum prices for the cotton that the farmers grow, so they never pay less than the fair price agree upon regardless of the circumstances. There is also a 2% premium paid on all Fairtrade products that goes back to the farming communities for them to spend as they choose, a new well, infrastructure, whatever they need to improve their community. Yuki love this!
Eden Reforestation:
- There are many tree planting projects out there, but the difference for Yuki, and the reason they chose to partner with Eden Reforestation Projects, is their holistic approach. Eden Reforestation Projects' unique "Employ-to-Plant" methodology: provide sustainable employment to local people to restore and protect their natural environment, is something that spoke to Yuki's brand values in regards to having a broader vision of creating a solution to an environmental issue with an empowering social approach.
- To Yuki, environmental and social challenges go hand in hand, they feel they need to address both simultaneously to effectively overcome.
Yuki Threads Materials
Bluesign:
- BLUESIGN represents the vision and mindset of responsible and sustainable manufacturing of textile consumer products. When Yuki choose to use a synthetic fabric for their technical outerwear, they choose to use BLUESIGN approved fabrics. Yuki do this because while they realise that all synthetic technical fabrics come at a social and environmental cost, they can significantly reduce that. If they're producing their fabrics ina a way that excludes the most toxic chemicals, limits the use of chemicals and monitors the waste, they believe they're taking the most effective steps to limit their impact of these fabrics.
Organic Cotton:
- For the plethora of reasons, the only cotton they use and have used for the past 6 years is Organic. The social and economic returns are staggering. The environmental advantages such as the huge reduction in water consumption are enormous but another thing they find really cool is the carbon sequestered by organic soils as posed to conventional and reduction in fossil fuels from not using synthetic fertilizers. These things go a long way towards Yuki's net 0 emissions as a global community.
- The organic cotton they choose to procure and that you ill find is Fairtrade but also GOTS certified organic cotton the world textile processing standard for organic fibres.
PFC Free DWR:
- C8 and C6 water repellents contain dangerous fluorocarbons which are made of carbon and fluorine atoms. Although these chemicals help repel water and oil from fabrics, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined them to be highly toxic to humans.
- C0-DWR on the other hand is a non-fluorinated water repellent that helps keep you dry without the nasty chemicals. It has been a non negotiable for Yuki for years.
- Taking it a step further Yuki's Zealan R3 DWR is also 63% renewably sourced and also fully complies with OEKO-TEX®, Standard 100 requirements.
YKK Zips:
- There is nothing worse than a failed zip & potentially dangerous depending on your whereabouts when it happens. Even worse if it's not repaired, all the time, energy and resources that has gone into creating a garment is laid to waste with a single slip of a tooth.
- It's for this reason, Yuki choose to only partner with YKK.
Recycled Nylon:
- By partnering with Greenlon Yuki are able to employ their innovative recycling technology, increasing the usage of reclaimed materials from pre-consumer textile waste, minimizing the resource consumption & environmental impact.
- In choosing Recycled Nylon Yuki have seen an 8.5% reduction in power consumption, 100% reduction in heavily oiled energy consumption, an 84% reduction in water consumption and a massive 77% reduction in CO2 emissions in the fabric production.
Recycled PET:
- Recycled polyester gives a second life to a material that's not biodegradable and would otherwise end up in landfill or the ocean. According to the NGO Ocean Conservancy, 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean every year, on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons that currently circulate in marine environments. If we keep this pace, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
- Yuki believe that any place they can, they need to use recycled materials, so they do. That is why they use 100% recycled fabrics for all of their synthetic fabrics along with a number of their trims and labels.