Global Organic Textile Standard, or GOTS for short, is an internationally recognized certification with the vision that organic textiles become an essential part of everyday life, improving people's lives and benefiting the environment. Since 2019, NIKIN has also been certified by GOTS, but what exactly is GOTS?
Global Organic Textile Standard, or GOTS for short, is an internationally recognized certification with the vision that organic textiles will become an essential part of everyday life, improving people's lives and benefiting the environment. Since 2019, NIKIN has also been certified by GOTS, but what exactly is GOTS?
NIKIN aims to bring sustainable and fair products to people at affordable prices. Of course, this was not possible from day one (end of 2016) - because fair and sustainable production simply costs more to produce than a cheap product made in Asia. Continuously improving and becoming even more sustainable and fair was important to us from the very beginning.
We now produce almost exclusively in Europe - our textiles come from Turkey. Our producer is certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) - which ensures fair and sustainable production.
In January, we were also audited by GOTS - after a very thorough inspection, we received our certification with success and much praise. We have been GOTS certified since 2019, which makes us very proud and brings us even closer to our goals.
So we are now GOTS certified, but what is GOTS?
The abbreviation GOTS stands for the Global Organic Textile Standard. The internationally recognized standard guarantees ecologically produced fabrics and was introduced in 2006. The standard has since made a name for itself worldwide and is increasingly becoming a quality benchmark in trade and industry, as well as among customers. GOTS certification covers the sowing and harvesting of raw materials as well as environmentally friendly production. This includes not only processing and production, but also packaging, labeling and the trade and distribution of textiles containing natural fibres - and these fibres must be 70% ecologically certified or certifiable. This applies not only to clothing, but also to yarns and fabrics or home textiles. In addition to environmental compatibility, ethically and socially responsible production and processing is an important part of GOTS certification.
What does GOTS stand for?
GOTS was created to make the ecological, health and social quality of natural textiles measurable and is an internationally recognized standard. The special thing about GOTS is that the entire production chain is included in this certification. As all phases of production are checked, the requirements are high. This is the only way to guarantee that production is actually completely sustainable in accordance with the specifications.
The standards are also raised because the social benchmarks are high. The renunciation of child labor, appropriate wages that secure livelihoods and protective measures in the workplace are also reviewed.
What are the requirements for certification?
Certification according to the GOTS standard starts practically from scratch. Let's take cotton as an example - cotton is the raw material for half of all garments worldwide. GOTS certification begins with the ginning of the cotton. Organic cultivation in accordance with agricultural standards, such as the EU Organic Regulation, is required to be acceptable. An on-site inspection involves checking the entire processing and also the retail chain - all, really all companies involved up to the point of distribution to the end customer are inspected annually and on-site in order to be able to obtain and retain the GOTS seal.
Why is it worth getting certified?
The advantage for retailers is that once they have received the GOTS seal, they can use it for advertising purposes, although this is strictly limited to products that actually deserve this label. Other items may also be offered, but the distinction from GOTS-certified products must be clear and obvious.
For the retailer, certification is a sign of quality. Customers can be sure that they are buying sustainably manufactured products with a seal of quality. This makes producers and retailers who decide to take this step the first port of call for customers who value the verifiable sustainability of their goods.
In turn, the standard provides the customer with a selection criterion for purchasing. The certified companies can be viewed in the publicly accessible GOTS database!
Sustainability at NIKIN
So now we also have the white shirt on a green background - and that means we have made another step forward in our efforts to make the world a little bit better through sustainable products.
In addition, with every item purchased at NIKIN , our customers sponsor a Tree - planted by our partner organization OneTreePlanted!
