Our Sustainable and Ethical Practices
Do you ever wonder what to do with the packaging that your FLAB gear comes in? Is it really recyclable? Or just curious about our ethical practices?
We care passionately about the environment as we believe it’s important to always give back to the planet in any way you can. We have made and continue to make our best effort to be ethical and eco-friendly, to do our part.
Our Packaging
The majority of our packaging is recyclable and we’re working with our remaining suppliers to make sure it all is. We anticipate that from Spring 2022 at the latest, all of our suppliers will be using eco-friendly bags to package all of our kit.
The clear product bags are locally sourced from our various manufacturers and they are biodegradable, made from Polylactide which is a biopolymer from starchy plants like potatoes. This means that it's completely compostable, so stick it in your compost bin or take it to a commercial composting facility near you and in 6-18 months it will have broken down by hungry bacteria and made into delicious plant fertiliser! Find your local composting site by typing "composting sites near me" into Google.
The grey outer bags that we send through the post aren't biodegradable, but they are recyclable. We appreciate that they don’t have markings on to confirm that, so you may be unaware that’s the case. It’s important to note that these bags are not suitable to put in your regular household recycling bins, however most major supermarkets have collection points for this type of outer packaging to be recycled. Click here to find more information about recycling stations and where your local collection point is.
More importantly, we don’t duplicate packaging. The bags that the kit comes to us in are the same bags we send to you. Many well-known big brands that ship products to their customers in paper, having discarded the plastic packaging their stuff arrives in from their factories. We think this is pulling the wool over your eco-conscious eyes so, we don’t do that.
We have chosen not to switch to paper or cardboard packaging at this stage. The advice we’ve received (and sought out) says that it requires more resources to both manufacture it and to recycle it. However, we are constantly reviewing this to make sure we’re doing the best we can
Our Factories
Our Sportswear is handmade in Europe and the UK, by some of the world's leading, premium sportswear manufacturers using the finest technical fabrics and components.
Because ethics are important to us, we only use factories we have visited so we’re sure of their ethical credentials and know that their workforces are treated well and that they adhere to modern environmental standards. Of course, like most things nowadays, there are cheaper options, but cheaper is rarely better, and often means things aren't being done properly or ethically - that doesn't sit well with us. We also reduce the amount of pollution in shipping as our gear doesn't get produced beyond Europe so doesn’t have to travel too far to get to our warehouses.
We aren't lovers of fast fashion and don’t like the idea of throwing away gear after a few months. We want our gear to last as long as possible, so we make it using premium fabrics, to make sure we keep to this high standard.
With the dangerous impacts of global warming, coming as soon as 2030, it's important to make sure that everyone does their part to help the environment from collapsing, before it’s too late.