Eco label No Nasties plants a tree for every purchase

Indian organic and fair trade clothing label No Nasties not only talks the talks but proves with its latest initiative that it walks the walk too. To offset the impact of its production, packing and shipping, the label decided to start planting trees - its own grove in fact, in Odisha, India.

To date, a total of 3,321 trees have been planted by the company but on the occasion of World Environment Day - which is today - No Nasties announced in its newsletter that it is pledging to plant a new tree for every online product sold, for every every new email sign up and for each day the company has been in business.

Since its inception seven years ago in Mumbai, No Nasties has been doing their part to make apparel production more ecological and fair: "Our farms are rain-fed and there are no toxic pesticides and fertilisers used; there are no heavy metals in our azo-free dyes and plastisol-free inks; we use organic cloth bags for packaging and our paper hang-tags are made of up-cycled organic cotton fabric waste; our shipping boxes are made of recycled cardboard," explains No Nasties on its blog.

Every online purchase and every new email sign up will plant a tree

However, the label was still worried about the ecological costs for production, packing and shipping: "All goods, even sustainable goods, have an ecological footprint," says the label. "Even though we don’t use plastics, cardboard and paper don’t exactly grow on trees...oh, wait," adds the label. Plus, orders are shipped to 61 different countries, deepening the ecological footprint.

True to its philosophy of wanting to do more, No Nasties thought what it could do and decided to plant trees with partner Grow-Trees for the Trees for Tribals project in Koraput, Odisha. The project started in April of this year and will run through 15th April 2019. The goal is to plant 10,000 trees.

Having planted 3,321 trees already in the No Nasties Grove in Koraput, Odisha, the label explains how the number came about: "We've counted up all the days we've been in business, all the wonderful online actions from #7yearsofnonasties, and all of the new email signups from April and May! And beginning today, 5 June 2018, we will also count every online product sold", explains the label.

And those customers and fans who did plant a tree or trees will receive a certificate from partner Grow-Trees to confirm the planting in the No Nasties Grove. In addition, the label will provide monthly progress updates.

No Nasties' name is a consciousness raiser, inspiring talk about a supply chain that contains absolutely no nasty stuff like genetically modified seeds, synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, child labour, price exploitation or farmer suicides. Founded seven years ago in Mumbai, No Nasties then moved to Goa and has been steadily increasing its reach and customer base, as well as its product range, which includes casual organic clothing for men, women and children.

Images: No Nasties