Sustainability

Imse provides practical and reusable hygiene products for women, and at the same time aims to contribute to increased transparency and knowledge about menstruation. The products are gentle on skin and for the environment, and their washable nature means they can be used many, many times. At Imse you will find period underwear, sanitary pads, panty liners, tampons, menstrual cups, washcloths, cleaning pads and nursing pads. With a focus on function and feel, we challenge the industry's range of short-lived disposable products, where the goal is for sustainable consumption to be the norm, not the exception. Imse is a Gotland brand and part of Bare Collective.

Care for people. Planet. Period.

Our sustainable work

Sustainable solutions are the foundation of business concept, and we have 30 years of experience in developing practical, reusable and high quality textile products - made with care for people and the environment. Design and material selection Imse and Vimse represents quality, function and durability. When you buy one of our products, you're buying a product that can be used, washed and reused for a long time.

We understand that the longer a product can be used, the fewer resources we need to take from the earth to make new ones. All our cotton products contain 100% organic cotton. With consideration for the workers in the cotton fields, as well as the wildlife and nature, we choose certified organic cotton. Products containing cotton are labelled 'Organic Cotton' and contain 100% organic cotton.

Made with care

One of our core values is the concept of authenticity, caring for children and our shared environment. This attitude permeates everything we do - from design and material selection to manufacturing and transportation.

Our production is mainly done in Latvia and Turkey. For us, low purchase prices are not the most important thing, we take into account the distance between Imse’s central warehouse and the geographical location of the manufacturer, as not having long transport distances can save the earth's already strained resources and contribute to an improved global climate.

Our flannel textile products are made in Turkey. It might seem a bit odd at first that we don't manufacture in Sweden, when considering transport issues. The fact is that the organic cotton we use is grown in Turkey, which is why we have chosen to manufacture it locally. Unfortunately, since the cotton cannot be grown in Sweden, we can't avoid the transportation.

Most of our products are made in Latvia - in a factory we've been collaborating with for over 20 years. We strive to build close and long-term relationships with our manufacturers and set high standards for their competency and professionalism, as well as their social and environmental responsibility. This means ensuring that the criteria in our Code of Conduct are met so that we can take our shared responsibility for good working conditions and a safe working environment in our factories. That's why we visit our manufacturers annually via personal visits, but also conduct third-party audits under the Sedex Member Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA), which is an international standard for working conditions, health and safety, business ethics and environmental responsibility.

Transport between our manufacturers and our central warehouse is by land by lorry and by sea by boat. When it comes to transport between our central warehouse and our customers, we ship either with PostNord, DHL or UPS. All shipments are transported by road in Europe. Something worth mentioning, linked to transport and deliveries, is that DHL has an emissions calculator. All our customers whose orders are shipped by DHL receive their individual transport and logistics environmental footprint report. The calculator computes transport-related emissions for almost all delivery sizes and transport modes - helping our customers to understand and reduce their environmental impact.

At the local office in Visby, we run on 100% renewable energy from solar, wind and water. When travelling for work, we try as far as possible to choose a more environmentally friendly means of transport, such as train instead of plane. We are opting to hold meetings via telephone/video conferencing instead of travelling to physical meetings, which helps to reduce our overall carbon footprint. We have digitised our invoices and replaced printed material sent by post with digital mailings, such as catalogues, press releases and newsletters.

Health and environment

Our aim is to offer non-toxic products - that can be worn safely next to the skin. Chemicals are needed in the fabric manufacture process. In some areas of production, such as extraction of raw materials and dyeing of fabrics, it is very common practice to use chemicals that can unfortunately be hazardous to the environment and health. Reactive dyes approved by GOTS are used to dye our material. We send all products to independent test labs where they are tested and certified according to STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®. All our STANDARD 100 products are certified free from harmful and toxic substances.

Product marking

A large aspect of our work is to increase the demand for reusable products and the consumption of organic textile products. Today, most of our products have a label. By labelling our products, we want to make it easy for you to make a difference. When you select our products, you contribute to reducing the amount of waste from single-use items, it doesn't have to be any more complicated than that. The labels we work with have different aims, but all of them contribute to a better future for present and future generations.

Circular business model

We aim to extend the life of our products. We believe in the quality and function of our products! We already have a minimum two year to ten year warranty on all our products, depending on the product purchased. We want to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of our products. For us, it is important to consider that nothing is waste, but instead is a material with multiple uses. A transition to a circular economy is crucial if we are to meet the global goal of reducing consumption. Instead of making, buying, using and then throwing things away, in a circular economy you use everything you've made for as long as possible. Once the items are used, as much as possible is reused and recycled over and over again - it will minimise the use of the earth's resources and our waste.

Organic cotton

Pesticides & emissions - cotton makes up a very small part (about 2.5%) of everything that is grown on earth and despite this, cotton farms account for a whopping 25% of all emissions of pesticides against insects. Of the total cotton cultivation, organic cotton accounts for less than one percent. Chemical pesticides are harmful to animal and plant life and also to those who work with them. It also leaks into the drinking water and poisons the soil. Organic cultivation - in order for the cotton to be called organic, it must be grown without any chemical pesticides or artificial fertilizers whatsoever. To avoid depletion of the soil, the farmer must switch between different crops from year to year. This makes the soil more fertile and reduces the risk of insect infestation. The land on which the cotton is grown must also have been free of chemicals for at least three years. Growing organically can produce poorer yields and requires a greater work effort. It can be good to remember when comparing prices and thinking about why there is a difference in price between organic cotton and cotton grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Another problem with cotton, unfortunately, is that it takes enormous amounts of water to grow cotton, both organic cotton and cotton grown with pesticides. There are examples of lakes that have almost disappeared due to the irrigation of cotton fields. Our cotton comes from suppliers who are all controlled and certified according to Control Union Certification. Control Union Certification is an organization that follows criteria for organic production according to two established programs; GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and 'Organic Exchange Certification'. In order for the cotton to be classified as organic, it is therefore required that it must be produced without chemical pesticides and artificial fertilisers. The land where the cotton is grown must have been free of chemicals for at least three years. Cultivation must be varied with other crops. Organic cotton must be certified to be called organic.

Plastic and recycling

Reducing plastic use is one of our priority areas. We are developing a new packaging concept where we continuously work to reduce the amount of plastic in packaging by replacing existing plastic packaging with FSC-certified paper. We want to contribute to increased recycling of textile materials, and are working to facilitate the disposal of products by reducing the amount of mixed materials in our design and product development. We try to use and develop waste and leftover material from production into new products as much as possible. Some of our Cleansing pads models are part of the Zero Waste category, where the products are developed from waste and leftover material in production.