Scottish underwear company Bawbags was founded in 2007 and born from the idea to sell quality underwear with fun designs while raising money for charity. Throughout the last decade and change, Bawbags have raised over £50,000 for charity and continue to give a portion of their profit to charitable organisations such as Orchid or Medical Detection Dogs.

They’ve recently taken the next step in their journey by making some sustainable changes to their products and packaging. All packaging for their underwear is now made of FSC certified sources cardboard and fully recyclable.

For the Bawbags team, it was important to have an FSC certification ensuring that raw materials were acquired from well-managed forests or verified recycled sources. When sourced from FSC certified forests, wood, paper and cardboard materials are renewable, reusable and recyclable – three key points when it comes to sustainability.

As the packaging is fully recyclable, this helps reduce the amount of waste going to landfill each year (which in the UK is around 14m tonnes). The materials used for the underwear packaging also require less energy to be recycled compared to other materials such as steel or aluminium.

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Customers will also be pleased to learn that all packaging is now plastic-free. Plastic has been becoming a major environmental concern over the last years, particularly for the oceans, and companies like Bawbags have been keen to play their part by eliminating plastic from their packaging.

But the team didn’t stop there. They were also looking to find sustainable solutions to manufacture Bawbags underwear while retaining the same high quality and performance standards. Their range of original men’s boxers and women’s underwear are now made with organic cotton and are distinguishable by the logo ‘it’s Bawganic!’, staying true to the brand’s beloved banter.

While cotton is a natural material, it is often processed used chemicals. Organic cotton does not allow the use of chemicals, meaning that the soil doesn’t absorb potentially toxic substances. It also requires 62% less energy and 88% less water to be produced – a no brainer for the Scottish brand looking to reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact.

For their Cool de Sacs range – a premium range with moisture-wicking technology – the company needed to find a sustainable alternative other than cotton. The range is now made of recycled plastic bottles and bamboo, two great materials for sustainable underwear. Giving plastic bottles a second life is a great way to use what otherwise would be single-use plastic. Bamboo is another fantastic material and one of the most sustainable natural options for clothing. Bamboo grows to full size in a matter of months and does not require any pesticides or insecticides – it also requires less water to grow and absorbs more carbon dioxide than trees.

The brand plans to keep working on making its products more sustainable and roll out changes to all underwear over time. In the meantime, you can find their sustainable range in fun and colourful prints that have always made the brand stand out.

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