Vendors of T-shirts, jewellery and wool clothing—not to mention bananas, coffee and spinach—have been using product life stories for some time now to demonstrate their efforts at sustainability. Whereas most such efforts have been individual ones, however, Made-By offers a more central approach to transparency by tracking and documenting the efforts of all participating fashion brands.

Dutch nonprofit Made-By aims to expand the market for environmentally and socially conscious fashion by facilitating sustainable production processes and then giving brands a way to share their product stories with consumers. Made-By begins by advising participating brands on how to clean up their manufacturing process where necessary and—together with fair-trade NGO Solidaridad, which launched Made-By back in 2004—it helps develop production chains in which a garment can be manufactured in a sustainable manner from start to finish. It can advise companies on getting an organic cotton supplier certified, for example, or refer them to its network of trusted sustainable suppliers in Latin America, Africa, Europe, China and India. Member brands use organic cotton and work with sewing factories that have a social code of conduct; to proclaim their participation, they identify their clothing with a small blue button placed near the care-instructions label.

Perhaps even more interesting, however, is Made-By's Track & Trace database system, which allows consumers to see the product story of their clothing online. Developed in collaboration with Organic Exchange and UK IT company Historic Futures, the database gets populated when each link in the production chain enters information about its production processes—how many bales of cotton were received, for example, and whether an organic certificate was included. Made-By verifies that every party enters the relevant information and also keeps all supplier pages up-to-date with photos and comments. Participating manufacturers then include a unique code on the label of each item of clothing they produce. Consumers can enter that code into the Track & Trace system to see who was involved at each step in the production of their garment; a link to Google Maps shows the location of each factory and plant involved in just a single click. Made-By also publishes scorecards online and in its annual report each year to show the proportion of each brand’s collections that are produced sustainably.

“I can tell people that Komodo is a fair label, but will the consumer believe me? Made-By is like a certification for us, and proves to consumers that we are a fair label," explains Mark Bloom, director of participating brand Komodo UK. It's all about turning transparency tyranny into transparency triumph, in other words, which is what happens when you make the most of being under the spotlight. Shrink from scrutiny and you're sure to wither; boldly proclaim your credentials (after making sure you have some, of course), and you'll certainly shine! ;-)

Website: www.made-by.nl
Contact: info@made-by.nl

Spotted by: Chris Rollason

It's a sobering fact that a full 40 percent of the world's population—some 2.6 billion people—lack regular access to a toilet. Add to that the fact that one child dies every 15 seconds from water contamination, and it's not hard to see the motivation behind the Peepoo bag.

One of the UN Millennium Development Goals, set in 2000, is to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to drinking water and sanitation, but so far progress has been minimal. With that in mind, Swedish Peepoople created the Peepoo bag to serve as a personal, portable and low-cost latrine for all the many people who don't have one. Designed for use sitting, squatting or standing, the single-use, biodegradable plastic bag measures 14 by 38 cm and is lined with a urea-coated gauze layer that disinfects all waste. Used bags are odour-free for at least 24 hours and are safe for burial underground. Within two to four weeks after use, however, their contents get converted to high-quality fertiliser—something that's also rare in many areas and so could become a source of income and further enrichment for an individual or village. Following field tests last year in Kenya and India, the Peepoo bag is scheduled to begin production this summer.

Along with such efforts as distributing free insect nets to children in malaria-ridden areas and abolishing fees for school uniforms in poor countries, the Peepoo bag qualifies as a quick-win project that could rapidly improve the lives of many people. One to get in on, help out with, or be inspired by!

Website: www.peepoople.com
Contact: info@peepoople.com

Spotted by: Robert Olzon

For socially conscious entrepreneurs, implementing a "buy one, donate one" matching program is an easily communicated way of being generous. TOMS Shoes gives away a pair of shoes for each pair sold, for example, and LJ Urban's Good matches domestic home sales with funds to build homes in Burkina Faso. Recently, one of our spotters alerted us to a similar initiative by Picture it on Canvas.

In operation since 2007, Picture it on Canvas aims to turn favourite photos into keepsakes by printing them on canvas, endowing them with an artistic texture like that of a hand-painted piece along with UV protection. At the end of April, the California-based company announced its intent for the rest of this year to donate the equivalent of one 8-by-10 gallery-wrap canvas print to a charitable cause for every canvas print purchased via its online store. Specifically, for each canvas print purchase Picture it on Canvas now sends a gift certificate for USD 35—the value of such a print—to the nonprofit of its choice.

Bob McKeon, president of Picture it on Canvas, explains: “We’ve completely changed our business model. We are embracing the conscious capitalism business model in use by TOMS Shoes and other companies. I know this may sound trite to some, but in a small way we want our company to help make a change in people’s lives.”

So far, Picture it on Canvas has donated to Operation Love, the San Diego County Adoption agency, Friends & Family Community Connection and local fund-raisers for needy projects. Need more convincing? Check out our sister site's Generation G briefing. Corporate generosity won't be an option for much longer; soon, it will be hygiene. Start brainstorming now!

Website: www.pictureitoncanvas.com
Contact: custserv@pictureitoncanvas.com

Spotted by: Gary Miner

While watching the coverage of the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, hair stylist Phil McCrory was struck by how rapidly otters' fur absorbed oil. He soon began testing how much oil he could absorb with the cast-off clippings from his salon, and voilà, the Oil Spill Hair Mat was created. McCrory teamed up with the environmentally-driven fiscal sponsor Matter of Trust, and set up shop in a San Francis warehouse. Following the hair mat's inception in 2000, thousands of hair salons now donate their excess hair to Matter of Trust to be recycled into absorbent mats. And with salons collecting on average one pound a day, that's a lot of hair mats.

Hairdressers signing up as donors are asked to cover shipping costs, compensated by the happy knowledge that they’re helping clean up oil spills. The program also accepts other natural fibres such as dog fur from groomers, horse hair, waste wool, and even nylon stockings that can be filled with hair and used to contain spills.

Not-for-profit Matter of Trust is developing other ways to reuse man-made and natural surplus, too: since launching the hair mats a few years ago, they've worked with McCrory to explore the use of hair as a natural fertiliser. While the concept might not be entirely new, its combination of eco-action and corporate generosity is definitely of the moment, as is the organisation's focus on creating green collar jobs. (Related: Garbage into gold, via worm poop.)

Website: www.matteroftrust.org
Contact: team@matteroftrust.org

Spotted by: Wendy Rosenoff

Making it as straightforward as possible for young people to get checked out, a London council has initiated a new Chlamydia testing system. The service, offered by NHS Hounslow in West London, lets residents between 16 and 24 go online to request a free self-testing kit by post. In their own time and space, users provide a urine or swab sample and post it off to a laboratory. The results are delivered by text message or post, depending on the user’s preference.

The service began in February 2009, announced using less high-tech systems: 19,000 of the borough’s residents aged 16–24 received a letter announcing the scheme. Despite such wide reach, the text messaging service will not be automated. Real people will write the initial text messages and will provide text responses to queries, giving users the personalised advice and information they need without the awkwardness of speaking to someone over the phone. By choosing less engaging types of communication, the council expects to engage more users. Which is a smart example of tailoring your approach to your audience's needs. One for others to follow, in healthcare and beyond?

Website: www.tdlpathology.com/hounslow

Spotted by: The Register via Judy McRae