Pants to Poverty Condom Pocket Pants Full Review
Posted: 28 April 2008 by Rikke Bruntse-Dahl
Some companies struggle to integrate a sustainable or ethical aspect to their established business, or they complain about the difficulty of changing supply chains and spend vast amounts of energy and money on showing us how hard they're trying. But Pants to Poverty does everything that everybody else seems to find too difficult, and these Condom Pocket Pans are as close to perfect as we've seen in terms of being ethical and eco-friendly.
Born out of the Make Poverty History campaign, Pants to Poverty doesn't exist to make money as such, it exists to create awareness about poverty and poverty-related issues in the world. It supports grass-root organisations and funds itself in the most green and ethical ways possible, and believes we can't fight poverty without fighting HIV.
And it works. These pants are made from certified organic and Fairtrade cotton -- albeit with three per cent lycra and an elastic band, which is made in a factory in Gujarat in India. All cotton is sourced from within 100km of Pratibha Syntex, the Indian factory that manufactures the knickers. It's based in Indore in the Madhya Pradesh province, and according to Pants to Poverty's Ben Ramsden, who recently visited, the factory is striving to be the world leader in organic and Fairtrade-fibre production. Besides producing organic and Fairtrade garments, it also boasts a women's empowerment programme, it recycles 95 per cent of the water it uses, it manages its waste sustainably and all staff are paid above the minimum wage.
Pants to Poverty doesn't use any packaging and only ever ships its products. It's in the process of getting a complete environmental audit of the entire production chain -- with help from The Carbon Trust. When the audit has been carried out and analysed, Pants to Poverty wants to develop recommendations for the different areas of the supply chain on how they can become as environmentally friendly as possible.
These Condom Pocket Pants have -- as the name might give away -- a small back pocket complete with a fair trade rubber condom from the French Letter Condom Company slipped inside. This in itself is a nice and practical touch. For every pair of Condom Pocket Pants sold, Pants to Poverty donates £1 to The Treatment Action Campaign, a grass roots organisation in South Africa that works to educate and help people with HIV. At £12 these pants give you a lot for your money.
So are these super-pants super to wear? Well, yes they are. They're good quality and we like the tomboy design. They're not the epitome of sexy lingerie -- unless you get turned on by fighting poverty -- and although we washed them at 40 degrees Celcius as recommended, the black colour did turn more grey after only a few washes. If you buy them online, we recommend you pick a size bigger than you normally would as they're tight around the thighs and, understandably, you won't be able to return them.
Being true to its roots, the company also actively campaigns for the eradication of chemical pesticides and child labour in the cotton industry, and wants to challenge other brands to expose their supply chains for public inspection. Watch out greenwashers, Pants to Poverty is the real thing and is not to be messed with.
Quality
Value
Ethics
Green
