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fashion.ready for the futurecoast with conscience
As part of our mission to make the world a happier place, we've pledged to do our bit for the Earth. We're facing up to the future doing more for our clothes, our suppliers, our communities and our planet in order to be at the forefront of sustainable fashion. That means keeping an eye on our ways of working every step of the way, and making better choices wherever we can, from the big stuff to the little stuff.
We've created a plan, with a focus on three important areas:
| focus areas | clothes made smarter | suppliers on better terms | our business taking action |
|---|---|---|---|
| our ambition | Making our clothes in a smarter way - with better materials, more sustainable design and less waste and packaging. Read more > | Doing more for our suppliers – transparent supply chains, improved standards and management and a long-term commitment to those that work in fashion. Read more > | Running our business responsibly – strong governance, responsible marketing, tacking climate change and a role in communities we can be proud of. Read more > |
We've created a plan, with a focus on three important areas:
CLOTHES MADE SMARTER
Making our clothes in a smarter way - with better materials, more sustainable design and less waste and packaging.
Read more >SUPPLIERS ON BETTER TERMS
Doing more for our suppliers – transparent supply chains, improved standards and management and a long-term commitment to those that work in fashion.
Read more >OUR BUSINESS TAKING ACTION
Running our business responsibly – strong governance, a great place to work, tackling climate change, responsible marketing and a role in communities we can be proud of.
Read more >
For the planet:
We donate over 100,000 sample garments each year to charities.
We're members of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Textiles 2030 and the Microfiber Consortium, and are always striving to make our products better for the environment.
We're working with our suppliers on collections that use recycled or organic materials.
We create small quantities of each garment to gauge demand and avoid wastage. If a design is a big seller, we can make more quickly, knowing it won't end up in landfill.
Products we can't sell are donated to charity or our recycling partners. These partners recycle thousands of pieces a month so they don't go in the bin.
Our dispatch bags are made of recycled material and are 100% recyclable. We're also working with our partners to reduce the environmental impact of the rest of our packing.
We only buy renewable energy across our sites.
All our returns are paperless.
For people:
Unlike many other retailers, we source a large proportion of our clothes in the UK and we firmly believe that 'made in Britain' is a label of pride.
We're setting up a Garment and Textile Community Trust to support workers in the garment industry in Leicester
We're developing and launching a state-of-the art manufacturing facility in Leicester to demonstrate best practice in manufacturing and worker engagement.
We're passionate about diversity and inclusion. Our D&I forum works to ensure representation for all, both internally and externally.
We believe people of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds should feel represented by Coast.
We're committed to this through the content we create and the ambassadors we work with.
Each day thousands of items of clothes are left in landfills - and it's time for it to stop. Do your part for the planet and recycle unwanted clothing using the reGain app. Not only will you be reducing landfill waste, you'll be saving money on your next purchases, too.
Just follow these steps below:
1. Download and register on the reGAIN app.
2. Place your unwanted items in a box or bag. Print your free shipping label and take your parcel to a drop-off point
3. Receive your discount codes.
*Available on the Apple app store or Google Play. Minimum send of ten items. Your code will be activated after 30 minutes from the drop-off time.
The 411 on the fabrics we use and how they're better for the planet.
Leather, wool, and feather & down: We’re working towards sourcing our animal-derived products following industry best practice. This means wool and feather & down is certified to high animal welfare standards, and leather is sourced from tanneries working to reduce their environmental impact.
Organic cotton: Organic cotton is grown using less water, with greater care for the soil and biodiversity. It’s created without chemical fertilisers and pesticides, creating a lower environmental impact than conventional cotton. We’re also looking into other, even more sustainable, cottons, which we’re looking to introduce soon.
Recycled fibres: Recycled fibres can be used for a number of materials, including polyester, cotton and acrylic. They use less energy, land and water than virgin fibres and are often derived from products that would otherwise have gone to waste.
Responsibly sourced viscose: Viscose sourced from responsibly managed forests, using responsible production practices.
Surplus textiles: Tackling textile waste is a priority, so we’ll be looking for ways to use textiles that could otherwise have gone to waste, including vintage, surplus and rescued fabrics.
Our wash it well guide will help keep your clothes looking fabulous for longer, as well as look after Mother Nature.
LESS IS MORE.
Wash your clothes only when they need it. Most of us are guilty of overwashing, but leaving longer between loads will prolong the life of your items.
FULLY LOADED.
Washing a full load results in less friction between the clothes and saves on electricity bills.
COOL THINGS DOWN.
When you wash at low temperatures, you’ll help reduce the release of microplastic fibres in your clothing, which in turn reduces CO2 emissions.
IN THE BIN.
If you’re giving your dryer a clean, throw lint in the bin and never down your drains.
SPEED THINGS UP.
Long periods of washing can cause more friction between fabrics, so it’s always best to avoid long washing cycles.
CHECK THE LABELS.
Some of the chemicals used in washing detergent can have a negative environmental impact, so try and look out for eco labels when you shop.
air it out.
Save energy and money by air drying your clothes when you can.
- Our Sustainability PLAN /
- Clothes.made smarter
up.front
fashion.ready for the futureCLOTHEs.MADE SMARTER
To lessen our impact on the planet, we’re focusing our efforts on the areas in which we think we can make the biggest difference and allows us to craft more sustainable clothing: materials, design, waste, packaging and product longevity.
Our goals:
all our polyester and cotton will be recycled or more sustainably sourced.
more sustainably sourced includes organic cotton, Better Cotton and Cotton Connect.
over half of our synthetic cellulosics will come from more sustainable sources.
all our leather, wool, feather and down will be sourced in line with industry best practice.
all the materials we use will be more sustainably sourced.
In 2021, Our the READY FOR THE FUTURE icon, which you’ll see across the site, indicates any garment that’s composition includes 20% or more ‘better materials’, summarised below. Most of our garments will be made of 50% or more.
We’re starting with a lower threshold of 20% to support suppliers who are new to using sustainable materials, ensuring we drive improvements across the industry as a whole. These thresholds will increase each year towards our targets and we’ll regularly report back on this progress.
More sustainable alternatives
Recycled Fibres
Recycled fibres can be used for a number of materials, including polyester, cotton and acrylic. They use less energy, land and water than virgin fibres and are often derived from products that would otherwise have gone to waste.
Better Cotton (BCI)
We are proud members of the Better Cotton Initiative. Better Cotton is not traceable to end products. However, BCI farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those we source. This will not appear on product until 10% of all cotton is sourced through BCI.
Responsibly sourced viscose
Viscose sourced from responsibly managed forests, using responsible production practices.
Leather, wool and feather and down
We’re working towards sourcing our animal-derived products following industry best practice. This means wool and feather & down is certified to high animal welfare standards, and leather is sourced from tanneries working to reduce their environmental impact.
Surplus textiles
Tackling textile waste is a priority, so we’ll be looking for ways to use textiles that could otherwise have gone to waste, including vintage, surplus and rescued fabrics.
Through trialling alternative materials and using more recycled content, we’re working to make our packaging more sustainable and eco-friendly. Currently, our dispatch bags are made with over 80% recycled material and are recyclable. We’ve also gone paperless with our returns.
By 2025, no waste will go direct to landfill in our own operations or our UK supply chain. We already work with recycling partners and charities to make sure our samples and returns are given a second life, and soon direct off-cuts will be sent for upcycling and recycling, too.
We’re committed to tackling textile waste by looking at our resale and recycling offers, which extend the life of our products. Download the ReGAIN app to give your old clothes a new lease of life.
- Our Sustainability Plan /
- Suppliers.On better terms
up.front
fashion.ready for the futureSUPPLIERS.ON BETTER TERMS
It’s important to us to create strong relationships with our suppliers, in turn providing our customers with stylish products of the utmost quality, while lessening our impact on the environment. We’ve built a dedicated team to work with our network of UK and international suppliers. This team ensures we have a clear map of every factory producing our clothes, as well as making sure each adheres to our procedures and standards, protecting both the workers and the quality of product.
Here are our commitments to change:
Disclosing our factory lists and purchasing practices
Setting up, and donating £1 million to, an independent Garment Workers’ Trust in Leicester so that any worker can get advice and access to grants if needed.
Launching a centre of excellence in Leicester to share best practice across the industry.
By now we’ll have mapped our supply chain through to the raw material source for our key fibres e.g. the cotton fields.
- Our Sustainability PLAN /
- OUR BUSINESS.TAKING ACTION
up.front
fashion.ready for the futureOUR BUSINESS.TAKING ACTION
We’re passionate about fashion, our business and the role we play in managing our environmental impact.
We’ll be looking at tackling climate change, becoming one of the most sustainable clothing brands, providing great careers and caring for the welfare of our people. We’re also dedicated to helping you make more sustainable choices, as well as doing our bit for the local community. Here are our commitments to change:
Publishing our social impact strategy to support local communities.
Achieving carbon reduction across our value chain, aligned with science-based targets equivalent to a 52% reduction in emissions relative to our growth.*
*Achieve a 4.2% absolute reduction in operational emissions each year, and 7% reduction in value chain emissions each year relative to our growth.
Our charity work
At Coast we believe in giving back to the communities and countries in which we do business. Our charity work consists of three elements:
Fundraising: supporting our people in raising money for the issues they care about.
Awareness raising: using our reach to celebrate events like Manchester Pride.
Ad-hoc giving: Responding to the needs of communities, whether donating 250 laptops and 40 iMacs to help children learn from home during lockdown or donating cash to the brave firefighters tackling the wild fires in Australia.
As a global business, our programme already reaches people in all corners of the world but we want to do more. That's why we're working behind the scenes to develop an even bigger charity programme. We're aiming to launch this in the second half of 2021 so keep an eye out for more details.
We are going to make it easier for our customers to make sustainable choices with us. Look out for our READY FOR THE FUTURE clothes across the site.