Fair Trade

Clean Slate embodies the socially responsible business model by ensuring that all our garments are produced following fair trade practices.  This includes paying producers fair prices, ensuring good working conditions, promoting rural development and by committing ourselves to long-term relationships with suppliers.

Our high-quality school uniforms are all made from 100% certified organic cotton, by a non-profit organisation run by a group of nuns in India.  Many of the workers are disadvantaged and disabled women, who through the training, support and employment provided, can be rehabilitated into mainstream society.  Moreover, any surplus they generate is then used to fund social projects, such as schools for children with disabilities, orphanages, and nursing homes.

Clean Slate Fair Trade Policy

*     Improve the livelihoods of our producers by improving market access, strengthening producer organisations, and paying a fair price.
 
*     Ensure above average working conditions such as good lighting and ventilation, observation of national holidays, social security payments and pay a living wage.

*     Establish long-term trading relationships with our producers.  We also provide financial credit to our producers, paying 100% in advance of production.

*     Provide work for Indian women and assist women with disabilities into productive work, enabling them to integrate into Indian society.

*     Enable our producers to implement community development programmes from extra income generated.  Our producers currently support three schools in the local community.

*     Encourage the use of resources and production methods, which are environmentally sustainable and appropriate to the region. This includes the use of fair trade and organic cotton in all of our garments.

*     Produce garments that are free of additional chemicals such as those used in conventional easy-care school uniform and to raise awareness of the potentially harmful effects of these chemicals to our health and the environment.

*     To raise awareness of fair trade and environmental issues within schools through the provision of fact sheets which tie in with the national curriculum.   We also aim to raise awareness through talks and campaigns on relevant issues.