As a Certified B Corp, it is imperative for us to consider every aspect of Aldea and how we impact our community, consumers, and the environment. One opportunity involves how we source our apparel as we look to find durable, comfortable, and sustainable options. Although thrifted apparel may seem unconventional, there are many ways it impacts not only Aldea as a whole, but also the Earth.
Our Conundrum: Clothing involves a lot of waste and damage to the environment.
- Did you know that it takes around 2,700 liters of water to produce a single T-shirt? By utilizing thrifted clothing and reselling it as part of the Aldea brand, we will greatly reduce the amount of water used in our supply chain.
- Did you know that only approximately 20% of clothing Americans donate to thrift shops are sold to consumers? There are many lightly used, fashionable, and perfectly viable articles of clothing just waiting to be found and given a second chance under the Aldea brand.
- Furthermore, our approach of bringing thrifted items onto our racks gives us the opportunity to provide a variety of original pieces, which is very difficult when sourcing new items from clothing manufacturers.
Our Solution
This solution was inspired by Elly, who is an experienced thrifter in her own life. She purchases most of her clothing second hand, reducing her environmental impact and lowering the cost of clothing while finding unique items. So she thought, why not apply the same idea with Aldea’s apparel?
How It Works
1) We hand select unique, thrifted pieces, and some of the items we find are brand new!
2) We wash them at our warehouse in Muskegon Heights.
3) We send them off for printing to our friend Chris at Grow Up Awesome in Grand Rapids.
4) We put them on the rack so you can find a piece that speaks personally to you.
What Will You Find?
At both of our cafes you can find a rack of thrifted sweatshirts that Elly & Brittany thrifted just for you. Items will change with the seasons, so be sure to check back regularly. We look forward to sharing this initiative with you at both our Muskegon and Grand Haven locations. We may even go live on Instagram from time to time if you’re not a local resident.
Other Things To Know
Along this same line of thinking we are starting a new program. If you have gently worn Aldea gear at home, bring it back to us and receive 2 free drink cards for you and a friend. We will take it from there and return it into our apparel stream as described above. You may drop your items with a barista at either cafe. For those of you who are more interested in purchasing new attire, stay tuned for part two of our solution to solving our apparel problem in an email coming next week.
*World Wildlife Fund - https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-impact-of-a-cotton-t-shirt#
* Treehugger.com - https://www.treehugger.com/clothes-you-donate-dont-always-end-peoples-backs-4863686
