Being Eco-Friendly: Act Local and Think Global
At Bella Notte we pride ourselves on being eco-conscious and resourceful. We take measures in each step of the manufacturing process to reduce our environmental impact—doing our part as a local business in the beautiful California Bay Area, and helping our customers to feel even better about our products.
Low-impact fabrics. We do our best to use textiles that have a minimal impact on the environment over their entire life cycle—including raw material selection, production, usage and disposal. For example, Organic Cotton (a textile used in our line) is grown using a production system that replenishes and maintains soil fertility, reduces the use of toxic pesticides and defoliants, and builds biologically diverse agriculture. And by far, the crop with the most potential for eco-friendly textile use is hemp, which comprises a large percentage of our Celeste fabric. Hemp plants grow very quickly and densely making it difficult for weeds to take hold, eliminating the need for herbicides and artificial fertilizers.
Garment dyeing. We only dye ready-made garments (reducing the dying of scraps). Using low-impact non-toxic dyes provides us with a diverse palette of vibrant colors, yet creates less waste, and uses less heat, energy and water. And our Dye Guy is right around the corner keeping the process local, which reduces both transportation and the use of shipping containers.
Local labor & production. From the beginning, we have used sewing contractors in San Francisco, less than 30 miles from our operation. Local production and long lasting relationships are extremely important to us and help us to keep an eye on quality.
Shipping. Our 6-8 week ship times gives us the opportunity to ship whole orders together in one box instead of multiple packages. We also provide customers the option to bag items separately in smaller bags or all together in one large bag to reduce waste.
Patchwork. Two of our most popular collections, Gwen and Sophia, utilize our end cuts to enhance the patchwork patterns. They are often comprised of fabrications that are no longer in our current line but work beautifully in the patchwork medley, thus up-cycling discontinued fabrics into the current collection.
Charity. We do our part to give back to our local community whether it’s monetary gifts to food banks and community clinics or product donations to senior centers, animal shelters, or youth clubs.
E-vironment. Unlike other visual and or tactile businesses, the majority of our communication is achieved online from emails to forms, reducing traditional mailings and throwaways.
What all of this adds up to is the finest, locally manufactured textiles delivered with the least environmental impact. When you buy items from Bella, you are supporting all of our eco-conscious efforts.
