Swegmark of Sweden was in 1998 the first company within the underwear business to be environmentally certified according to ISO 14001. A certification that helps us to ensure efficient use of materials, energy and waste disposal for minimal impact on the environment.

Ecologic sustainability is all about thinking smart, focus on what you can affect and act consistently. But it is also a question of quality - high quality products have a long life span and fewer garments get thrown away. We have therefore taken strategic decisions about what we can affect the most - transports, production and material waste.

All textiles and other materials are delivered by carefully examined and chosen European suppliers. By short transports from the suppliers to our production in Latvia we minimize our carbon dioxide emissions. As the products are made in our Latvian factory or by carefully chosen European subcontractors, also the transports of ready-made products to our central warehouse in Borås, Sweden, are kept short and efficient. To shorten the delivery times and to further minimize the effect on the environment, an increasing amount of the finished products are delivered directly from the production to the customer. Everything in our production chain is therefore close to us with as short transports as possible.

An important aspect of our ownership of the factory is that we can also maintain an efficient production with short delivery times controlled by the customers' needs and wishes. We can therefore work with small production volumes to prevent the risk of over-production. We also actively work with minimizing waste and optimizing our material efficiency. This we constantly do by checking the pattern parts when cutting and by working with limited numbers of different materials. From the waste of fabrics, laces and other accessories 100 percent are donated to design schools to be used by students and teachers in teaching and design projects. This way we recycle not just the materials but also contribute to ensuring the regrowth of important professions within our business.

We are also actively working to make environmentally good choices regarding materials and we are all the time looking for new smart materials. All our materials are tested according to Oeko-tex Standard ensuring they don't contain any harmful substances. We also use Fairtrade certificated cotton in most of our cotton garments and continually increase the use of organic cotton.

An important part in our environmental work is to co-operate with external specialists and innovators in developing ideas for the future. With the main office in Borås, Sweden, one of Europe's leading cities when it comes to fashion and future textiles we have great possibilities to work with the best. We have for example had workshops with Smart Textiles at the Textile University in Borås, where we work with issues like "Design to reduce the need to consume" and "Minimise waste". This co-operation resulted in a number of ideas regarding re-use, re-design, production and communication.

In 2014 we created an environmental policy to secure our environmental work. The policy is regularly revised and updated regarding any internal or external changes.