Ethical and Sustainable – How We’re Striving to be Both

At ABLE, we have always sought to do good for people. As we move the fashion industry forward through ethical efforts, we realize we can’t fully do good for people without also recognizing our impact on the environment. The two truly go hand in hand.

And, while we have pushed our ethical efforts to the forefront in recent years, our team as of late has made significant effort to ensure that the sustainable efforts we’ve always run behind the scenes are just as apparent for you. We’ve formed an internal sustainability team, we have innovative recycling initiatives about to launch, and we are constantly updating our efforts so that you know exactly what we are doing, and our plan to get it done.

So, to celebrate Earth Week 2021, below we’ve outlined all of our current initiatives to support an ethical and sustainable ABLE, and exciting teasers to come. Read on, and stay tuned as we continue to move fashion forward ethically and sustainably for generations to come. 

Product Categories

The beautiful products you know and love come from factories, entrepreneurs and operations that truly uplift the environment – and we’ve made sure of it.

Leather – Not only is our leather a byproduct of the meat industry to minimize waste, but we also work intentionally with pure leather. In the current marketplace, the majority of leather substitutes classified as vegan are either chemical or petroleum based, and thus harmful to the environment. We are actively seeking to partner with industry innovators who are working to create plant-based leather alternatives with minimal environmental impact.

Jewelry – An in-house effort close to our hearts, we do all of the below right from Nashville:

1) We collect metal scrap for recycling, and send it off to a refinery that melts all of our scrap metal down and then processes it into new pieces of wire or sheets of gold and silver.
2) We’ve moved away from some of the harsher chemicals used in the jewelry manufacturing process to use natural solutions instead (such as citric acid for our Pickle instead of sodium bisulfate).
3) The majority of our sterling silver used is recycled silver.
4) We’ve reduced use of individual paper jewelry boxes

Shoes – From creation to delivery, we ensure our footwear comes from tanneries that recycle and purify the water back into the planet. For example, our box partner in Brazil plants trees to make up for the box material that is used in their manufacturing process. We also eliminate polybags as much as possible, and opt for recycling cardboard materials used for shipping.

Apparel – For the beautiful apparel you know and love, we focus on GOTS certified factories for production, and our sweater line is made from 100% organic cotton, to stay pure from seed to sew.

Denim – Our vendors recycle 100% of the water they use for all washing processes, and when they do release water back into nature, they run it through some of the most innovative cleansers on the market to purify it so that it is safe and clean to put back into the land.
They also recycle all scraps of denim from cutting and sewing, giving to the government to use for housing insulation.

Coming Soon –

100% recyclable packaging from ABLE – Later in 2021, we’ll be moving all of our packaging (polybags, boxes, etc.) to 100% recyclable packaging in order to do our part in keeping the earth clean and sustainable.

Additional recycling initiatives – We’re constantly evolving and challenging each other with new, innovative ideas to move the fashion industry forward. Stay tuned for initiatives you don’t want to miss.