Style Ethics
our sustainable production practices
Tempest + Bentley is committed to partnering with top American manufacturers that meet our high ethical standards. The materials used for our sweaters (yarn and buttons) and packaging (re-usable canvas shopping totes and recycled shipping boxes) are sourced in the U.S. Our sweaters are produced in California.
Tempest + Bentley sweaters are knit in Los Angeles at a factory that has been family run for more than 20 years. This facility has developed a unique design-to-production cycle which supports the highest level of quality control. The respect and trust we have built with our factory’s knitting team, with whom we spend many hours, is key to our ability to produce beautiful sweaters of the highest quality.
Our button supplier has manufactured metal buttons in the U.S. for more than 200 years. This facility sources all of it’s materials from the U.S. and any waste metal is sold back to their suppliers to be recycled.
The organic cotton fiber used for our garment labels is GOTS certified. The cotton is grown in Greece, the labels are woven in the UK and the printing takes place in Canada. While we were disappointed to find a void in the U.S. market for sustainable labels, we are proud to work with a family-owned-and-operated label manufacturer striving to set new standards in eco-friendly practices and products for businesses in North America. The business is based in North Carolina and Quebec, Canada.
Any paper we use for garment tags, marketing and other informational purposes is sourced from U.S. paper manufacturers that create the highest quality eco-friendly products. Our papers are recycled, acid free, lignin free and FSC ® certified. We work with local printing facilities that support our eco-friendly standards and utilize low and no VOC inks and non-toxic production processes. Our printing partners work with traditional and modern machinery, as well as hand made techniques, to support sustainable practices and to achieve the highest quality.
The facilities that wash, card, comb and spin our wool into yarn are committed to sustainability. Most are family owned and multigenerational. The U.S. has stringent regulatory and inspection policies and all of our partners are held to the highest ethical standards, having exemplary environmental records in regards to, but not limited to, air, water and chemical emissions. For example, the facility that washes cards and combs our wool continues to improve their practices and has reduced their emissions by more than 90% in the past 15 years.
Our dyehouse partner is a Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified dyehouse. As one of the only organically certified yarn dyeing operations in the country, they focus on environmental sustainability in conjunction with quality craftsmanship. The dyehouse works diligently to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible by reducing the usage of water, chemical dyestuffs and energy during the production process.
Our sweaters are packaged in totes woven of 100% organic cotton grown in the U.S. In the same way we value the long lastingness of our high quality sweaters, we want our customers to be able to use and reuse our packaging. Our totes are great for a day trip, visit to the market or for any other instance a light weight carryall is needed.
We are committed to using environmentally friendly packaging to protect your sweater as it makes it’s way to you. Our shipping packaging comes to us from a U.S. owned-and-operated-business focused on producing the most eco-friendly packaging available. Our 100% recycled boxes are made from a mix of 95% post-consumer waste and 5% post-industrial waste.
