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1. Matt Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 6:26 pm

   I would like to know about your factory conditions. Specifically in China. And especially if you have s system for independent and unscheduled spot-checks on the facilities.

   While I enjoyed your feature on China in the last catalogue it didn’t delve into any actual concerns. Sending a mate over to there to create a feature for your catalogue and say that he was “surprised” is not the thoroughness that howies’ customers expect from the company’s commitment to being a good company.

   david hicks Replied:
   July 13th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

   Matt,

   As part of the improvements we’ll be detailing how our factories are audited, the standards they are judged against and have features with the people doing the assesments.

2. dave Says:
   July 6th, 2009 at 8:23 pm

   I love Merino, me. I’d love to know moer about the merino process, where you get your wool from, who processes it. I know you guys have been working on cutting down the travel my lovely merino takes, tell me about it!

   david hicks Replied:
   July 13th, 2009 at 3:37 pm

   Also in the pipeline, we want to show you exactly where your merino comes from, all the way back to the sheep stations high up in the Southern Alps. As a start check out http://www.zque.co.nz, all howies merino is certified through this process.

3. Griff Says:
   July 7th, 2009 at 12:42 pm

   I’d like to know more about the shipping process. Any product generally creates more in the way of emissions in it’s shipping across the planet that it does in it’s production cycle. I’d like to know more on howies long term goals in shipping raw materials and finished products to and from places such as China, New Zealand, Portugal, etc to the UK and what steps will be taken in reducing emissions and producing locally.

   david hicks Replied:
   July 13th, 2009 at 3:40 pm

   Griff,

   Transportation actually contributes a very small amount of the total emmission of a product; washing, dying, drying etc…has a greater emissions value and something that we’re looking to focus our attention on to give the complete picture.

4. Loop Says:
   July 7th, 2009 at 8:51 pm

   I would like to know why all the howies bumpf I have (and care labels) still advise washing at 40°c rather than 30°c?

   david hicks Replied:
   July 13th, 2009 at 3:47 pm

   The care labels give the limits of what you can do with the garment, you can wash our stuff at 30C, but we need to tell our customers that washing at 40C will be fine. But I take your point, we’ll look into labelling for upcoming seasons

5. Tim Says:
   July 8th, 2009 at 7:56 pm

   Well done for doing this, but I would like to second Matt’s comment – exactly my thoughts on the China feature. And there are a range of UK-based NGOs that you could contact to help you develop a policy and system, and put you in touch with labour organisations in the countries you produce in e.g. Labour Behind the Label, War On Want, No Sweat etc. You may well already be doing this, but if not, these people could certainly give you some useful advice.

   david hicks Replied:
   July 13th, 2009 at 3:58 pm

   We do have a Code of Conduct policy in place and a structure that all our factories are audited against, we just haven’t told anybody about it. Over the next few weeks we will.

6. P J Says:
   July 11th, 2009 at 12:16 am

   Hi there,

   I’m glad that you are giving people the opportunity to express themselves and give their opinion as I have a few suggestions. To be honest, I’m really confused regarding your ethical policies:

   => I don’t understand how having your products made in China is ethical. You are obviously getting them done for cheaper than you would have done if they were made in this country and you charge a ridiculous amount of money:
   With the prices you charge for your product, I’d expect them to be made in the EU, especially the merino… you guys are in Wales, where there are more sheep than people… there must be a better way!

   There is nothing ethical about having things made in China, where political prisoners and young children work side by side in factories where they are overworked, abused and underpaid so that companies like Howies can make more profits. Your products have a big carbon footprint, that’s a shame for a company like Howies, who tries to appeal to Green minded customers.

   Having your products made in China is supporting what’s wrong and ugly in this world. Modern slavery, the west exploiting the East, and keeping them under the poverty line so that the big division between the two stays the same… cheap products for you, big profit for you, long shipping by plane… human suffering, big carbon emissions… :(

   => Leather. What is environmentally friendly about leather? That’s one of the materials that creates the most pollution during its production process. Leather being dead skin, it needs heavy duty chemicals to keep it from decomposing. How is that ethical or ecological? By selling leather you are supporting an industry responsible for massive amounts of pollution…

   => Just a suggestion: maybe if you were reusing fabrics from all the other clothes manufacturers’ previous collections that are going to waste (by buying them from bulk auction sales for example), then that would actually be more ethical and green. Reusing already exiting material could be a good idea no?, rather than producing more new things and generating more pollution? Organic cotton made in and shipped from China is no longer eco friendly I’m afraid :(

   I used to be a Howies customer, back when you were one of the first ethical clothing companies in the UK, and back when your T-shirts had really good message with a real meaning. Now I find that it’s completely diluted – sometimes a bit pointless – and it’s not enough…

   Sometimes it feels like you spend too much time going on about energy efficient light bulbs, or saving water when brushing your teeth, and avoiding actually doing the best YOU can do. Setting an example to follow and being the best ambassador for what you are talking about should surely be top priority. Of course saving energy and water is important, but it’s not enough anymore. Today, an ethical and eco friendly company is expected to promote more than that, and to instigate real changes not just scratching the surface of things without going too deep.

   Anyway, I hope you will find my comment useful and take some of it on board,

   Thanks,

   PJ.

   david hicks Replied:
   July 13th, 2009 at 4:34 pm

   PJ,

   Thanks for your comments above, we will be dealing with the various issues that manufacturing in China raises.

   As a quick note I think it is fair to say that a country cannot develop in a vacumn, by trading with China and other countries in a responsible way that encourages the development of standards the “West” can help move workers rights and standards forward. And I can catagorically state that none of howies factories use child labour. Our assessments are done to make sure that workers are treated fairly and without discrimination.

   On making a big profit I’m not sure if you saw the brainfood post that David Hieatt did a couple of months back, with a picture of a list that defines what makes a howies product. “Does it make money?” was number 13, of 13. We need money to do business, but it’s not our reason for being in business.

   I hope you will look out for the changes to the howies website over the coming weeks and months, we’re already doing quite a bit that we just haven’t told anyone about. But we know we can always do more and we will. If you want more information drop me an email at davidhicks at howies.co.uk

7. Whitehall Webby Says:
   July 14th, 2009 at 7:05 pm

   Purely presentationally, it would be great if you could map the various production locations around the world on a google map – together with links to photos, info etc for each – so that users could calculate the exact distance a product takes to get to their door. You could then mark on each product page which points on the map it passed through (thinking of that crazy journey for merino products that David blogged about a few months back).