Green is the new black

It began with Mitch Dowd walking Melbourne’s Chapel Street. The then 24 year-old artist hoped to sell his hand-painted boxer shorts to fund an upcoming art exhibition, little did he know that within a matter of weeks both Myer and David Jones would place orders for 5000 pairs of boxer shorts respectively. From such beginnings an innovative underwear and sleepwear business was born.

Now, more than 20 years later, the innovation continues. “Mitch Dowd has always had a strong focus on design and innovation, continuously searching for new fabrics and designs to ensure our collection is modern and original”, explains Mitch Dowd’s National Retail and Marketing Manager, Rebecca Coomes. “We were always challenging the use of traditional fabrics which lead to the development of the Mitch Dowd ’Green’ range.”

After extensive research on eco-friendly fabrics, this years Mitch Dowd Green range replaces standard cotton with organic cotton and instead of man-made polyester bamboo. They have even used, soybean, Tencel or even recycled PET bottles in previous seasons fabrics.

It’s something the team feels good about says Rebecca, “We’re supporting farmers by choosing their organic fibres, which helps grow their business each year. Using organic fibres is beneficial for the land, the farmers and the consumer. At the end of the garment’s lifecycle, there will be less chemicals going back into the ground if they end up as landfill“.

Though the Mitch Dowd Green range was initially developed to just use organic fibres the team felt they could do more. Rebecca goes on: “This led to the full lifecycle of the garment being assessed and the carbon emissions calculated. This analysis has allowed us to offset the greenhouse gas emissions generated in the production and transportation of the garments . . . At the moment we only offset our Green range however we’re currently reviewing the opportunity of using organic fibres in the rest of our collection, as well as offsetting the carbon across all ranges developed by Mitch Dowd.”

Mitch Dowd chose Origin to purchase their carbon offsets because Origin source carbon offsets from verified projects that reduce or prevent emissions, so we can be confident that for every carbon offset bought, one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions is reduced at a carbon project.

Does Rebecca have any advice for other businesses, and fashion retailers, thinking about reducing their impact on the environment? “Any business wanting to implement sustainable initiatives and strategies must have a clear and concise mission that everyone believes in. It shouldn’t be done on a whim or because everyone else is doing it . . . Consumers are becoming sceptical of green claims so it’s important that any changes are made for the right reasons and are legitimate.”

But when it’s done right? “We’ve received some wonderful feedback from customers who congratulate us on our initiatives and welcome the introduction of organic fibres to the underwear world. People are often surprised at how soft and luxurious organic fibres feel, which is important when you’re wearing them next to you skin.”

Origin has developed a Go Green Calculator and the Sustainable Events Program which enable businesses and individuals to estimate their emissions and access tips and hints on how to reduce and offset their environmental impact.

• the Mitch Dowd Green range offsets the carbon generated in the production and transportation of its garments
• the Mitch Dowd Green range replaces standard cotton with organic cotton
• the Mitch Dowd Green range replaces polyester with bamboo or soybean, minimising environmental damage by replacing a petro-chemical based product with naturally occurring material
• the Mitch Dowd Green range replaces polyester with Tencel - Tencel is natural, 100 per cent biodegradable and non-toxic to the environment
• the Mitch Dowd Green range replaces polyester with recycled polyester. It’s made from recycled polyester yarn using 100% recycled plastic PET bottles and scrapped polyester textiles. (It’s similar to using recycled paper - turning waste into useful things.)
• recycling all hangers to reduce the amount of plastic waste.