In our opinion, the responsibility for the products belongs from beginning to end to the producers of the products, in this case to us.
For us at Wølmark, it is important to build a supply chain where our product does not damage the environment ecologically or socio-culturally at any point in its life cycle. We feel that entrepreneurship is significant and meaningful when we are able to produce value for the different areas of our product's supply chain.
On this page, we have opened up how we carry our responsibilities and how the value we produce can be seen concretely in our operations. If you want to delve deeper into any of these topics, tell me from that to us. We are happy to help.
PRODUCTION LIABILITY
Our products are designed in Finland and many of the products are manufactured in Finland. Sweaters manufacturing takes place in Lithuania at the Garlita weaving mill. The Garlita family business from Kaunas has experience with knitwear since the 70s. The products are knitted with Stoll flat knitting machines, which enable shapeless knitting and thus almost no waste in production.. Designer Elsa Hietanen from the clothing industry has been responsible for the design of the sweaters. We are investigating the option of bringing sweater manufacturing to Finland.
Accessories such as beanies, collars and scarves as well as mittens are made in Finland. Nevil Oy and Agtuvi Oy are partners with us in product manufacturing and design. We carry out the design together with the factories and in the future we will also cooperate with other clothing designers.
We also get the washing marks and logos to be put on the products from Finland. The new leather label used on beanies comes from Pinpops Oy. The washing marks added to the products are delivered to us by Tuotenauha Oy. We use recycled polyester in laundry tags.
MATERIAL LIABILITY
Our products use 100% alpaca wool, which inspired our company. Over hundreds of years in the Andes mountains, alpacas have developed a coat that keeps the alpaca warm when the night temperature drops to 0°C. Alpaca can also do well in much colder conditions. During the day, when the temperature rises, alpaca wool keeps the animal dry and the skin breathable thanks to its fiber structure. You can read more about alpaca wool from here.
Alpaca wool has been researched to be a more effective heat insulator than merino wool and thanks to its fiber structure, it is very pleasant to the skin. Since the material is naturally lanolin-free (causing wool allergy), the yarn production process is less stressful on the environment. There is no cruelty involved in the spinning (like merino or cashmere wool) and most of the entire alpaca population lives semi-wild in the Andes mountains, where they are a natural part of the ecosystem.
Alpaca as an animal does not destroy the nature around it. In the hooves of sheep and goats, there are hooves with which they grind the ground, while alpacas have soft so-called töppös, which keeps the country unchanged. Also when the alpacas graze, they don't tear the plants from the ground with their roots, but eat the plant leaving the roots on the ground.
The yarn used to make our products is manufactured in Peru, where production and materials meet Fair Trade, GOTS and OEKO-Tex 100 certificates, which support the quality and responsibility of our operations and products. Currently, the yarn used in the products is purchased from a Michell Group supplier.
PACKAGING AND LABELING
Packaging waste is an internationally growing challenge and a significant environmental problem when it gets into nature. We don't want to be involved in this, even indirectly, and that's why we offer a carbon-compensated mail bag as a delivery option for sweaters ordered from the online store, which can be reused for returns, a Re-pack package and a cardboard envelope for beanies. The Re-pack packaging naturally comes from the Re-pack company and the other packages come from Napakka Oy.
From Re-Pack
Our products have also been awarded the Design from Finland label for sweaters and the Avainlippu label for accessories (excluding the Mössa beanie).
NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION
The Natural Heritage Foundation protects Finnish nature, primarily endangered forests. The foundation acquires natural areas for its ownership and guarantees them a permanent conservation in accordance with the Nature Conservation Act.
We want to make products that can be enjoyed in the forest. That's why we also want to make sure that we have enough forest to enjoy. We will donate €5 from each sweater we sell to the protection of Finland's old-growth forests. The amount obtained from one shirt enables the protection of an area of 10 m².
Natural forests have multi-level meanings for people, especially Finns, whose roots are still in the real forest. In a freely growing forest, everyone can continue the age-old tradition of forest walkers in their own way, for example by hiking, picking berries or picking mushrooms (note the rules for the protected area).
Read more about the foundation from the pages.
RESPONSIBILITY IN THE FUTURE
We honestly admit that we have room for improvement all the time in many areas. We are constantly developing every area related to responsibility. We are actively looking for better materials and implementations so that we can leave the smallest possible carbon footprint on the world.
If you know that you or someone you know can find a better solution. We are always ready to listen to suggestions. You can easily contact us take contact from the page.
