At Super Yogis our T-shirts are organic, sustainable and fully traceable. Here is a little more information about our partner Rapanui®.
Rapanui started in a shed on the Isle of Wight. Rob & Mart, brothers, had £200 and decided to build a business that made a difference on sustainability and solved their “youth unemployment” problem at the same time. If you can’t find a job, make one.
Organic Farm
Organic cotton is better for the producers and the ecosystem in which it is produced. Instead of more toxicpesticides and fertilisers, co planting and insect traps are used along with t
he special ingredient – cow poo. It encourages biodiversity and leads to the extra soft feel of our products.
Less inputs also means less water, but even organic cotton is still a thirsty crop. The fields that grow the organic cotton for our products are in the North of India, where the monsoons fill reservoirs that supply almost all the water needed.
- Rain water, co planting, insect traps and cow poo
- GOTS certified organic
Processing
Organic cotton lookslike a little bit of cotton wool bu
rsting from a dry flower. The petals and seeds need to be removed before it can be spun. The gathered bolls of organic cotton
are trucked from the farms to the ginning house where they are separated out into the useful fibres which are sent to be spun. The waste seeds are pressed into cakes which is used for cow feed and vegetable oil recovered is used for food products.
Cotton farmers get a price for their cotton which is guaranteed by the government. Great quality batches get higher prices as ginners compete for the best stuff.
- Energy in
- Cow food out
Water
Wastewater from dye house effluent is a major source of pollution in the clothing industry. Our products are dyed in a recirculation system where waste water is settled, filtered and then cleaned to be used again. After settling and skimming the water is filtered in the most active part of the process, reverse osmosis. This is basically sucking up water through really fine sand over and over.
At the end, the water coming out of the filters is crystal clear – and rather than be poured away, it is then used at the input for the next batch. It is a closed loop.
- REACH compliance
- Recirculated water
- ISO14001
Renewable energy
Throughout our supply chain renewable energy is used. In the UK we own a solar farm and power our entire manufacturing operations with renewables. In India, the factory owns two wind farms and a 150kw PV array.
Within our factory we use machine-to-machine communications technology which allows us to dynamically turn equipment on and off only when it is needed.
If you want to know more about Rapanui visit their website – https://rapanuiclothing.com
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