The result was EarthPositive - a new brand which took direct action to combat climate change and address environmental, social and ethical issues. And today, more than a million T shirts later, the 100% organic brand has been well and truly embraced, accounting for a healthy 10-15% of the company's £30m global turnover.

While some might view the move as a cynical marketing ploy, spend five minutes with CCC's business development manager Mariusz Stochaj, and you soon realise that this carbon neutral company really does practice what it preaches.

Of course, admits Mariusz, the decision to launch EarthPostive was a "hard headed commercial decision".

"But at the end of the day, it makes you feel very good about yourself, so it's a great combination," he says. "We are not apostolic pilgrims going around the world trying to convert people to our way of thinking," he adds. CCC is simply offering a business solution for where they believe the market is heading.

A lot more work needs to be done, however, before the whole market moves in the same direction, he acknowledges.

EarthPositive are the cheapest organic T shirts on the market, but at just under £2, they are still almost twice as expensive as the cheapest conventional T shirt.

"There will always be cheap T shirts and people who think that what matters is only the price point," says Mariusz. "But we are trying to make people realise that there is a hidden cost. You can buy a T shirt for 40p, but how is it made? A T shirt for less than a piece of ciabatta?"

According to Mariusz, EarthPositive ticks all the boxes - hence the brand's distinctive "green tick" logo.

EarthPositive - certified 100% organic - is made by factories using renewable green energy and is manufactured under strict Code of Labour Practices, as verified by the Fair Wear Foundation.

The range comprises T shirts, polo shirts, hooded pullovers and zip-ups and an organic fashion tote bag.

While developing the range, CCC completed an ambitious program that has delivered a real reduction in the carbon footprint of EarthPositive Apparel by around 90% (without the use of offsets).

And this year, in an industry first, the Carbon Trust granted EarthPositive the first carbon label for a textile product - rubber stamping the brand's green credentials.

Initially, EarthPositive was aimed at the corporate market. "All large companies have to have a corporate social responsibility protocol in place," says Mariusz. "Greenhouse gas emissions and impact on climate are very much part of it, as is ethical sourcing, ethical supply chains, transparency and traceability.

"We wanted a product that would make sense, be unique, but most importantly, a product with a future; something that would still be interesting and current in five years time."

The company adopted a "holistic approach" to the brand's development. "We knew it had to be organic. That was non negotiable," recalls Mariusz.

CCC was all too aware of the impact that conventional cotton farming had on the environment and growers.

"The Pesticide Action Network estimates between 20,000 and 30,000 deaths a year as a direct result of applying chemicals onto the field," says Mariusz. "The chemicals are so precious that they are kept in the family home and often, there is just one room in which the family sleeps, eats and keeps the chemicals."

Labour conditions were also non negotiable in terms of basic standards, for example, minimum wages, says Mariusz. Then CCC started thinking about the future. And the biggest problem was "staring them in the face".

"It will be climate change," Mariusz continues. "Of course, there was no way we could have a commercially viable product made by hand. We could not get away from using electricity, so it was a question of how we were going to generate that electricity."

CCC explored everywhere where renewable energy was making sense... "but also making sense in conjunction with the rest of the supply chain," he says.

They settled on India as a manufacturing base. "The area has strong wind currents and they already have an established programme of developing wind farms under government licence," says Mariusz.

"We ended up with a fully integrated factory - in co-operation with local people who were established manufacturers for sports brands and other companies - who also wanted to move into sustainable products. They were well qualified to do it, but didn't have anything in place, so we joined forces and made it happen."

The factory is certified organic in India. "We have 30 turbines producing more electricity than we use," says Mariusz.

But for EarthPositive to stand up to scrutiny, the company needed to back up its claims. "The organic standard was easy. In our case, it's the Soil Association that is certifying the product under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)," says Mariusz. "In terms of ethical trading, we have the SA8000 and it is certified by the SGS, which is the global leader in auditing certification.

"Then it was a question of the climate change issue - and there wasn't an existing standard. There was nothing that you could benchmark against. At the time, there wasn't even an agreed way of calculating the effect on climate," he continues.

The impact of every part of the manufacturing process had to be calculated, from planting the seeds, transporting the cotton and analysing the dyes, to the footprint of the effluent.

"It was difficult to set the boundary," says Mariusz. "At what stage did we stop? Did we calculate the footprint of the sewing machine itself? Was that part of the product?"

"We wanted to know ourselves, what difference it made - the fact that we had all our electricity generated by renewable sources. Whether it was a worthwhile difference, or was it just a gimmick?"

CCC also wanted to communicate its findings to others. At that point, they joined the Carbon Trust's pilot programme. "They were developing the methodology for calculating the footprint of products and services in conjunction with the British Standards Institute and DEFRA, and they were piloting the footprinting of some products," continues Mariusz.

"There were only three products at the time ­ Walkers crisps, Botanics shampoo by Boots, and Innocent smoothies. All three were relatively simple products to calculate in terms of their life cycle. But a textile product has a lot more to it.

"So we joined that because rather than devising our own methodology we wanted to adopt something that others had already thought about.

"It was a case of ‘here are the boundaries and this is what you have got to calculate' - and as it happened the methodology was remarkably close to our way of thinking about it.

"Secondly," he adds, "we needed to independently verify our claim because we knew that if we brought a product to the market without solid credentials, there would immediately be others ­ copycats ­ who would launch something and make similar claims, knowing that there was no way of substantiating it."

Verification was important in terms of how much the product would impress itself on the new market, adds Mariusz.

"If we say ok, here is a product and it's 90% reduced C02, and the Carbon Trust have calculated it, it has a completely different dimension to it.

"The carbon footprinting was an incredibly important missing piece of the jigsaw. It wasn't meant to stand on its own. It was meant to complete the holistic approach."

Under the current British standard, the carbon footprint is verified once every two years. "To get re-certified, you have to show at least a 5% reduction. They have this policy of ‘reduce it or lose it'," adds Mariusz.

Because of the way their supply chain was set up, and because they have full control and transparency, Continental helped develop the methodology and based calculations on primary data collected in the field.

"So if we wanted to know the impact of the transport of the cotton from the fields to the factory, we knew the registration of every single truck that carried that cotton. We knew what make they were and what the emissions were," says Mariusz. "The main challenges were inputs that were outside of our controls."

Approaching chemical companies for data, CCC had to explain their rationale, and that there would be benefits to them as well.

"There would be lessons to draw from it. We would share the data with them, so there would be something in return, and basically we explained to them that this would be the right thing to do," says Mariusz. "And they all agreed."

Fujifilm even disclosed the full make up of all their inks, both water-based and discharge.

"It was very encouraging and everybody in the chain of processes involved in collecting the data was very enthusiastic, helpful and eager," recalls Mariusz.

Developing the range was one thing, but the other thing was what to do with all the information that was amassed.

"First, we footprinted the products, then we footprinted the screenprint which goes onto them, now we have completed and launched the final consumer label where we footprinted the user contribution to it - your washing, your drying, your ironing, your disposal and so on, to have a complete picture from cradle to grave.

"We know what makes a real difference and we know what the myths are. In a way, it would be completely unethical on our part to keep the information to ourselves.

"So we are writing a full report that will be useful to everyone involved, starting with the people who grow cotton, through garment designers, graphic designers, logistic managers, production managers - everyone throughout the chain, including retailers and consumers."

To make something truly ethical, Mariusz believes you have to look at it on balance. "You have to say: where are the trade-offs? Where are the choices? And by doing that, very often you break down myths and misconceptions.

"People are talking, for example, about food miles and this thing that the same applies to clothes," Mariusz continues. "But when I did our CO2 life cycle analysis, it turned out that really, in terms of clothing items, it is of no importance whether you produce your T shirt in Birmingham, in Portugal, or China. It really is negligible in terms of distances provided you don't fly it in, but you ship it by sea."

Sustainability, he argues, is not only about minimizing negative impacts but also about maximising positive impacts. "So your choices are not only about reducing the harm, but also to bring out as much good as possible and by doing that you can help local economies. You can help global economies ultimately.

"It's only about how you make it, rather than where you make it, and that is the bottom line."

The bulk of CCC's products are made in Turkey, with a small factory in China making sweatshirts.

 "The one common aspect and the starting point to sustainable manufacturing and ethical clothing is traceability. If you cannot trace your product all the way back to the field, you have lost your battle.

"We have full traceability of all our products in Turkey. We have completed the first stage of collecting data in the field to carbon footprint all our production. So by doing that, we know where the cotton comes from. We know some of the growers personally," he adds.

"We are fairly unique and the reason for that is in the way our supply chain is set up. We produce from one factory in Turkey with whom we have had an intimate relationship for many years. They only make for us.

Our business profile is such that we can produce at full capacity all the time, with very little fluctuation in the production volume, which is very very unusual for a clothing supply chain because there are always seasonal ups and downs."

Continental as a company is also carbon neutral, as it offsets 36 tons through the Sichuan province hydropower project which is local to its factory and a further 90 tons through the largest windfarm in Turkey, close to its Turkish factory. However, Mariusz plays down its significance, and rather concentrates on the actual reductions achieved in the manufacturing.

"The idea of offsetting is fine in the short term but at the same time it is very easy to misuse. It opens the door to so-called greenwash," says Mariusz. "A couple of new T shirt brands on the market say that they are carbon zero - in fact they are carbon neutral because they calculated the carbon footprint and they offset it.

"So, essentially, the key is not offsetting; the key is reduction. Because ultimately, we have to reduce, not offset.

"You really need to know what you are doing and do it for the right reasons, rather than to have just a piece of paper."

For more information visit www.continentalclothing.com

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