Sustainable & Eco Friendly Clothing On Demand

When you are developing your brand there is an inherent desire to go about things “the right way” on behalf of your customers and the rest of the planet. Apliiq’s platform for delivering premium quality apparel products was built and refined with sustainability in mind.

It’s important to recognize that, unfortunately, the clothing industry does not have a good track record with regards to waste, water usage, pesticide usage, farming practices, and labor practices. As participants in this economy, Apliiq has to acknowledge these shortcomings so that it can take them into consideration as it plans and builds services and offerings for your brand.

The good news is that by using Apliiq to manufacture your brand’s apparel many of these deficiencies have already been solved or mitigated. Apliiq openly admits that while it has made many steps towards sustainability, there is always more that it can do. Apliiq’s pledge to sustainable practices is an ongoing commitment. Apliiq looks to its brand partners for ideas, inspiration, and help to craft products in a way that makes customers delighted and also creates a better world.

On Demand Production Is Sustainable Production!

“Unless all sources of waste are detected and crushed, success will always be just a dream.”

- Taiichi Ohno, lean manufacturing thought leader

Waste comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. Knowing which type of waste you are combatting is key to understanding how to move the needle to improve sustainability. It's not just the products you produce, it's the business practices you use to operate your business.

With regards to sustainability and clothing, over production unfortunately is still the norm. Various environmental watchdogs report that between 20% and 30% of all apparel items being produced will never be sold. Overproduction happens when apparel brands order clothing in bulk. Brands tend to produce huge quantities of products in pursuit of the cheapest possible price, massive scale, or inaccurate demand forecasts. The sad reality is that if products are overproduced they will likely end up in the landfill.

The best way to fight overproduction is to use on demand manufacturing. The cornerstone of on demand manufacturing is to only produce the exact products you need at the exact time you need them. For this reason, on demand manufacturing is also referred to as just in time production, and it’s a great business strategy to power new and growing online stores.

It may sound difficult to only create the products you need when you need them, but thankfully nothing is further from the truth. Using technology like the Apliiq Print on demand shopify app allows you to point and click and immediately integrate your online store with Apliiq's boutique on demand manufacturing services. Combine financial benefits and a sustainable approach to making your products on demand.

Get Better Materials & Better Products

Nowadays, consumers are more aware and caring than ever before about the materials that are used to create their products. And the products people care about the most are the ones that go on and in their bodies, like food and apparel products, so it's important to keep these consumer preferences in mind as you are sourcing and creating products for your audience.

This curated collection of sustainable products features materials that consumers will love to wear and feel proud about owning.

• Organic Cotton is loved for its commitment to no pesticide or synthetic fertilizer use and more responsible farming practices. Of course products made with organic cotton also have the benefits of traditional cotton like softness and breathability. For consumers with skin allergies or strong preferences towards natural products, organic cotton is a great fit.
• Recycled Polyester, also known as rPET or recycled polyethylene terephthalate, is any plastic that is made from recycled sources instead of new virgin plastic. By using recycled materials for your brand's products, you are helping to remove waste plastic from the environment and turning it into your products. That is a powerful one-two punch for sustainable fashion brands. Keep an eye out for rPET in athletic wear suppliers like Sportek, because it is popular for these polyester based products. rPET is also a common ingredient in sustainable fleece, used in hoodies and sweatpants, which is typically blended with organic cotton.
• Hemp is fast growing, requires little pesticide use, and significantly less water usage than cotton. While hemp products are popular in the cannabis industry, it also has immense benefits for clothing production. It is far stronger and more durable than cotton, so hemp products last longer. It also resists bacteria growth so it's naturally odor fighting, while having similar breathability to cotton, making it ideal for outerwear or strenuous activity. As hemp clothing is washed it naturally becomes softer over time. Of course hemp is also a biodegradable material and does not add any microplastic to the environment. With all these benefits, the only downside to hemp is that it is not readily available in as many products as we would like.

As you can see, using the right materials to create your products is a great way to build sustainability into your brand and your business.

Use Sustainable & Eco Friendly Packaging For Shipping Your Orders

Building towards a sustainable brand doesn't just involve creating sustainable products, there are also opportunities to improve your business's environmental footprint by shipping and packaging your products using sustainable packaging. Sustainable packaging can range from paper mailers to recycled poly-mailers. By using sustainable packaging you are demonstrating to your customers that your brand is taking all available measures to reduce the amount of plastic and non-biodegradable material it is contributing to the environment.

For sustainable brands, including pack-ins within your orders that inform your end consumers about the benefits of your brand’s sustainable approach to doing business will surely help to build long term customer relationships. But these are just a few ideas to get you thinking about how you package your products, there is limitless potential to package and finish your products to highlight the sustainable nature of your brand.

Source Globally And Act Locally: How To Produce your products right here in the United States

Apliiq curated a selection of sustainable products sourced from global providers that are known for their responsible and ethical production. This global approach to sourcing gives your brand a great variety of options when it comes to selecting the perfect garments for your brand and taps into the manufacturing expertise required to create a broad range of products with top quality.

The magic really starts to happen when you receive an order from your store for a sustainable product. The Apliiq factory will begin work on transforming a blank wholesale product into your amazing branded product. All of the printing, embroidery, sewing, and fulfillment work that Apliiq does on your brand’s behalf is done right here in the USA, in accordance with local, state and federal laws. These laws are in place to protect workers and the environment, and producing your finished apparel products within this highly regulated environment is a sure fire way to ensure your products are made with the highest standards of quality and ethics.

How To Get Faster Shipping With Less Cost & Less Pollution

The faster you want something shipped to you, the more expensive & wasteful the shipping is, right? Well, not always, there are ways to plan your business infrastructure to reduce pollution and shipping times. Apliiq has created 2 factories closest to the largest population centers within the United States. Pairing on demand manufacturing with distributed manufacturing, not only can you make only the products you need, you can also make those products as close as possible to your end customers.

Apliiq’s technology will automatically route your orders to the closest available factory to your end customer, taking into consideration the production times at each factory and its shipping distance to your end customers. This digital intelligence automatically routes your orders to save time and reduce pollution caused by shipping products further than necessary.

Apliiq’s Los Angeles facility can 1 to 2 day ship to an estimated 23,000,000 American consumers and can 3 to 4 day ship to nearly 50,000,000 American consumers. It is strategically located to fulfill orders on the West Coast and is centrally located near the highest population density.

Apliiq’s Philadelphia facility can 1 to 2 day ship to more than 40,000,000 American consumers and can 3 to 4 day ship to over 100,000,000 American consumers, making it the ideal location to fulfill orders on the East coast of the United States.

Here’s How To Put Your Brand First With Sustainable Products

Probably the best part about the Apliiq platform is your ability to privately label sustainable products, so when your customers receive them, they think your brand actually made the product. Private labeling is a process where your branding is added to an existing product typically to replace the branding of the original manufacturer. This process is completely legal, in fact, it is the intended use of most wholesale products that are available.

By labeling sustainable products as your brand, it allows your brand to take credit for the product in the eyes of consumers and leads to increased perceptions of brand value.