Children are one of the largest consumers of apparel. They are also the most vulnerable customer segment to feel the ill-effects of synthetic clothing and toxic chemicals. With children’s skin being about 30% thinner than adults, it is more absorbent of substances present in their clothes.
With increasing exposure to pollutants and toxins in most clothes available today, there is a significant rise in the number of children prone to allergies, skin rashes, respiratory disorders amongst other threats to health. Synthetic garments take a long time to decompose, creating long-term pollution which in turn impacts the future generations who will inherit this planet in the days to come.
To make a significant environmental impact, it is not just occasional partywear which needs to be sustainable, it is daily casualwear worn in larger numbers which must be responsibly produced.
Organic, the new normal
Barkha Das (left in feature image) and Meghna Kishore (on the right) started Greendigo with the vision of making ‘organic’ the new normal in baby clothes. Says Meghna, “In India, availability of good quality, organic cotton clothing for children is low. The handful of brands who offer certified organic cotton clothing for kids often charge a huge premium, which has resulted in the perception of organic clothing being very niche and for the elite only. We endeavoured to change this perception because in reality, organic cotton clothing can be very affordable and accessible to the masses.”
The journey was not without its challenges. The first and the biggest challenge the they encountered was to set up a clean, sustainable, tight loop and reliable supply chain. Barkha elucidates, “Manufacturers often do not entertain start-ups since they fail to meet the MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity). Also, given that organic clothing for kids is still a relatively nascent category in India, there are only a handful of manufacturers whose supply chain is end-to-end compliant with the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).”
Meghna adds, “Our first big setback actually was encountering a manufacturer who believed in greenwashing and tried coaxing us to follow suit. Since his ideology was not in line with our belief of building an authentic, sustainable and organic brand, we took a business call to delay our go to market date rather than do what was not in line with our ethics and principles.”
Busting the myths
When the duo started out with Greendigo Organic Clothing, their understanding was that there is a dearth of good quality, comfortable and sustainable clothing for children. As they progressed, they sadly learnt that the majority of ‘organic’ brands are misleading consumers by indulging in greenwashing, thereby paying lip service to their standards on product quality and sustainability. This turned out to be a big challenge for Greendigo.
Barkha explains, “We had to quickly pivot and focus on educating the audience on what organic clothing truly means and how Greendigo is different from the rest. Devoid of artificial fertilisers, synthetic pesticides and toxic colours, Greendigo’s garments are soft, pure, comfortable and gentle on delicate skin of children while being environment-friendly.”
Moreover, to test the genuineness of authentic organic garments, such as Greendigo’s, customers can check for the certification from GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) which comes attached with every garment. All Greendigo garments come in reusable and recyclable packaging as the brand has eliminated use of plastic from all its packaging.
Furthermore, there is a cloud of misconceptions that organic clothing is dull and not stylish, is unavailable in bright colours, is difficult to maintain and is only for occasional wear. “By constantly having to reinforce that organic clothes can be fun, affordable, low maintenance and for everyday wear, we feel that we are in the space of category creation rather than vying for a share in an existing category,” points out Meghna.
Sustainable supply chain
Greendigo’s entire supply chain, from farms to factories, and from fabrics to dyes and colours is 100% GOTS certified. This affirms the organic status of raw materials and also guarantees that the manufacturing processes are environmentally and socially responsible. The cotton farmers get a fair price for their produce which helps them break away from a vicious cycle of debt, the factories are free of child labour and offer fair and safe working conditions to all workers.
Furthermore, since the processes eliminate the use of artificial fertilisers, chemical pesticides and toxic dyes and colours, the health of farmers, factory workers and consumers is safeguarded. This also prevents harmful chemicals to make their way up our food chains and contaminate water bodies.
Organic cotton clothing is often perceived to be dull, boring and high-maintenance thereby being unsuitable for children to wear daily. Greendigo endeavours to debunk this myth by offering good looking, vibrant, long-lasting, feel good and thought-through garments for children aged 0 – 12 years. The garments are designed keeping in mind the comfort of children and the convenience of parents. Considering the active lifestyle of children, the garments are machine washable, hardwearing and practical.
Greendigo’s clothes are capsule wardrobe friendly and include everyday essentials such as onesies, tshirts, bottoms, dresses etc. which make mix and match a whole lot of fun.
Meghna says, “Our innovative and clever designs such as babygrow onesies feature additional fabric or extra buttons with the objective of offering more wear for growing babies while our reversible clothing styles offer the delight of two garments rolled into one. We draw a lot of insights from parents of newborns with the intention of addressing their pain points with our innovative designs. For instance, our swaddle bag which solves for babies kicking off their blanket and the parents worrying about babies being left cold. Babies can be securely zipped in our swaddle bag and sleep soundly through the night.”
Carbon neutral
Greendigo is also a carbon neutral brand right from seed to shelf and customers can experience Greendigo’s carbon neutral journey across their entire shopping experience on the company’s website.
The parents of today, are getting increasingly aware of the ill-effects that garments laden with harmful chemicals can have on the health of their children. They are also interested in the environmental and social impact of the product that they are consuming. Barkha comments, “Consumers understand the perils of genetic modification of crops and use of toxic chemicals. In light of this gradually changing mindset, we feel that ‘organic’ will become the new normal eventually. It is a slow and tedious process but the wheels have already been set in motion. As more ‘real’ players enter this category, the awareness among consumers is bound to increase due to combined efforts.”
Greendigo already uses organic fabrics and employs sustainable manufacturing practices to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. But there are still emissions which are unavoidable. Meghna informs, “We are tackling these unavoidable emissions by investing in offset projects such as renewable energy, forest conservation and energy efficiency. We buy carbon offset credits from these projects that are equal to our unavoidable emissions. This provides crucial funding for these projects to continue to thrive while making all our products carbon neutral from ‘seed to shelf’. All our projects are rigorously verified and certified through The Gold Standard and UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).”
Greendigo currently retails through their direct-to-consumer ecommerce channel and ships worldwide. In the coming months, the brand plans to venture into private labelling and white labelling for bulk buyers. With certifications, carbon neutrality and ethical manufacturing practices in place, the brand aims to attract buyers from world over who believe in responsible production, in line with their vision of making organic the new normal. The brand plans to expand its product line to make it more inclusive over the next one year.
Also Read: Choosing Fairtrade cotton makes a difference
Great going Barkha & Meghna! Never knew about GOTS – BTW, how do you certify about GOTS on the garments? Does each garment carry a seal on its label? Is there any logo for this? And what minimum age group of children does Greendigo cater to? Any on-line catalogues or brochures available?
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Suzanne DeVall Founder Plant Based Technologies