Etiko Says..."It's Time for Less Plastic More Love"

At Etiko, plastic has always been a big concern for us. That’s why we’ve done everything possible to avoid using it. You won’t find virgin plastic packaging*, tags* or labels* on any Etiko gear. And right now, we want your help to clean up the plastic pollution problem.

For a limited time, we’ve released a “Less Plastic, More Love ” Tshirt printed on GOTS Certified organic cotton, the sale of each Tshirt pays for a Plastics for Change waste collector to collect 10Kg of plastic from beaches.

Plastics for Change is the world’s first and largest fair trade plastic recycler. They work with waste collectors who scour the coastal regions of India picking up pieces of plastic. The plastics are then recycled into new consumer goods – like shampoo bottles.

“Plastics for Change has two major goals that align with Etiko,” says Plastics for Change Marketing Manager, Abhay Menon. “We are passionate about helping the environment, but the most important goal is to create more dignified and reliable livelihoods for people working at the bottom of our supply chain – those who collect plastics along the coastal belt of India and don’t have a monthly salary – they are paid by units.”

Plastics for Change currently has 20,000 waste collectors and thousands more working in sorting and manufacturing. They hope to increase the number of collectors to almost one million by 2030.

Etiko founder and director, Nick Savaidis says, “We aim to sell 1,000 of our ‘Less Plastic, More Love’ T-shirts. Those sales will fund the collection of 10,000kgs of plastic and support the work of Plastics for Change – an organisation that goes above and beyond to create real social and environmental change.”

With an estimated 33 double-decker busloads of plastic waste being either burned or dumped in developing countries every 30 seconds, the scale of the plastics pollution problem is hard to fathom.

 

To fix this problem, we need real change right here in Australia and across the world. That means refusing plastic wherever possible but also encouraging your favourite brands and stores to stop using it. Asking your MP for policy changes is also a big part of the solution – we need to turn the plastic-production tap off instead of just cleaning up the mess. But, until that time comes, we believe in supporting Plastics for Change because they empower some of the world’s most vulnerable workers.

So far we have sold 156 of these great looking T-shirts which equates to the collection of 1560 kgs of plastic.

Buy your “Less Plastic, More Love” Tshirt in our Brunswick store, at one of our retail outlets or online.

 

* Since 2018 we’ve been using shipping mailer bags which are made with 85% recycled plastic for all orders that we send out via Aust Post.

Since 2020 we’ve been using home-compostable packaging shipping mailers for all orders that we send out from our office. All Etiko t-shirts and hoodies are now packaged in the same material. This is made from 70-80% PBAT (a co-polymer that is completely compostable) and 20-30%PLA (which is a fancy way of saying cornstarch).

In a commercial compostable environment, it will break-down within 90 days. At home, it may take up to 120 days.

Since 2021 we’ve been using 100% GOTS certified organic cotton for all the tags/labels that we use on our garments.