For Redwood Classics Apparel (asi/81627) sustainability is more than just a buzzword or trend. The Toronto-based supplier recently released its first-ever Impact Report, detailing a decade of its sustainability and diversity efforts in the fashion industry.

Focusing on the period of 2009 to 2019, the report dives into what sustainability means to the supplier and how it ties into its mantra of “people, planet, prosperity.” Redwood Classics also hopes that releasing the report will serve as an aspirational baseline for others in the industry. Sustainability has increasingly been a focus for promotional companies, whether they’re using more earth-friendly materials, investing in solar power or giving a second life to unwanted products.

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Redwood Classics Apparel’s report highlights how the supplier has focused on sustainable innovation as well as diversity and inclusion, both inside and outside its factory walls.

“Innovation is so much more than just a new idea,” said Kathy Cheng, founder and president of Redwood Classics. “It includes leveraging emerging technologies and business models to deliver creative, enhanced solutions for a more sustainable future.”

Some highlights from the Impact Report include:

• About 70% of the raw materials Redwood Classics Apparel consumes is knit within a 100-mile radius of its factory in Toronto.
• By producing locally in Canada, the supplier is able to minimize shipping emissions and material waste.
• Redwood Classics Apparel uses landfill-destined deadstock and turns it into upcycled fabric, creating circular solutions.
• The supplier has also worked to reduce waste and conserve energy. In 2019, Redwood Classics recycled 100 cubic meters of cardboard. Its upgraded steam boiler reduced water use by 6% over the past two years.
• Redwood Classics also developed a sustainable all-over print (SAOP) process, a digital technology that eliminates the need for multiple steps of pre- and post-press treatments, saving on energy, water, space and labor.
• Currently, 69% of the factory’s procurement spend is with women- and minority-owned businesses.

Though the report is primarily focused on the 2009-2019 time period, Redwood Classics also included information from its COVID-19 response in 2020, including the pivot to offering PPE and its commitment to donating tens of thousands of reusable masks across Canada.

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