“Responsibly Grown, Beautifully Made"

Making eco-friendly hats is about much more than a slogan.

If you’ve browsed our website, chances are, you’ve seen the words, “responsibly grown, beautifully made” But to us, it’s much more than a string of words. It’s a motto that compels us to keep asking tough questions about every aspect of our business model. 

Promising responsibility from the start means that we are constantly seeking solutions to minimize our social and environmental impact, even if those answers don’t yet exist.

The Wake-Up Call

In 2009, our founder, Will Conner, took part in the TransparentSea kayak trip with Dave Rastovich and others. At the time, he didn’t know it would transform his perspective on life and business.

For 36 days, his group paddled in open kayaks down the east coast of Australia, from Byron Bay to Bondi Beach in Sydney. The trip covered 500 miles of some of the most pristine shorelines in the world. But between sailing with Humpback whales and other breathtaking ocean life, they found themselves cleaning mounds of washed-up plastic off remote shorelines

The amount of human-made trash in these should-be untouched places made Will realize that he was part of the problem. Upon returning to land, the work began to eliminate single-use plastic from Conner Hats products and packaging.

The Work

As Will and the Conner Hats team set out to solve their single-use plastic issue, they were surprised to find that many solutions were rooted in common sense. The simple switches needed were already available– but no one had asked for them.

Invisible Updates

Some of the first changes made weren’t flashy, and in fact, you might never know they happened.

That’s because much of the plastic problem that Conner Hats faced occurred long before customers came into the picture. For example, one of the first plastic-free updates was changing how the Conner Hat emblem was shipped. Traditionally, each emblem was shipped in a small single-use plastic bag. After a discussion with the supplier, they found an easy solution. Now, the prongs that attach emblems to the hat are used to secure them onto sheets of cardboard for shipping instead.

Other swaps are so small, you’d struggle to notice them. Like removing all single-use hang tag attachments and using biodegradable string instead.

Updates like these might seem small, but as the Conner Hats team found out, they’re some of the easiest and most impactful commitments to being plastic-free that a company can make.

Materials Matter

Once the most obvious ways we were contributing to plastic pollution were solved, it was time to dive deeper. For us, it was all about the materials.

We learned that while Conner Hats has always prized durable, quality materials, that didn’t necessarily mean they were good for the planet. We wanted to learn exactly where the problems lay. So, we hired a third-party company to test all of our materials for harmful chemicals.

Since then, we've transitioned to organic cotton and responsibly sourced wool, use Bloom algae foam instead of petroleum-based foam in many brims and some crown tops, and use recycled plastic in some designs.

Not all of our materials are perfect, but sustainability is, and always will be, an evolving task. As better technology and alternatives become available, we will continue to update our products and the ways we make them.

Our Certifications & Materials

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is the leading certifier for international standards of organic textiles. Conner Hats uses GOTS-certified organic cotton for the labels and sweatbands inside our hats. This third-party-verified certification ensures that cotton is grown without synthetic pesticides. It goes beyond that, promising fair and safe working conditions and traceability for the fibers it covers.
Wool is one of the most multi-functional and durable natural materials- and it’s biodegradable! But for it to be a truly sustainable option, sheep and the land they use must be managed ethically and responsibly. That's why we're proud to source wool from a factory that buys RWS (Responsible Wool Standard) wool.
You’ll find the Repreve (a bluesign®-approved material) logo on many of our products. Bluesign®-approved materials are screened for chemical safety in production. bluesign®-approved materials are screened for chemical safety in production.
We’re committed to making even the smallest details sustainable, which is why Bloom algae foam replaces petroleum-based foam in many brims and some crown tops. Algae is a renewable resource free of the harmful impacts of deforestation, and invasive algae blooms can actually harm ecosystems. Bloom algae foam replaces petroleum-based foam in many brims and some crown tops.
We’re saying goodbye to fossil-fuel-derived neoprene. Yulex is the first plant-based replacement for neoprene. All Yulex is sourced from PEFC or FSC-certified forests that are deforestation-free.
The Forest Stewardship Council is leading the charge for responsible forest management, and we’re proud that all our tags are plastic-free, printed with plant ink, and made with FSC-certified 100% paper. Our tags are printed at a certified FSC print house and sent out to each of our factories.
When natural materials aren’t suitable for a design, we use Repreve recycled fibers. Repreve is a bluesign®-approved recycled material. The resulting fibers are traceable, durable, and are made into hats that’ll last for years to come.

Growing Our Own Corporate Responsibility

Too often, businesses are far removed from their impacts, good and bad. We’re changing things up by bringing ours right next door. At our original warehouse site in St. Augustine, Florida, you’ll find one acre that holds our warehouse. And next to that? An acre of raw land where we’re growing our very own food forest.

Why A Food Forest?

You already know that plants are the lungs of the Planet- absorbing carbon and releasing fresh air for us to breathe. A food forest takes the regenerative benefits of forests one step further by building a permaculture ecosystem of fruit and nut trees. 

Want to learn more? Get an inside look at our food forest progress in our latest video.

Can We Make The World A Better Place? We’re Going To Try.

At Conner Hats, it’s about more than making hats. We exist to show other businesses that there just might be a better way to do things.

We believe that if we can make hats from responsibly sourced materials, with quality work, and at an affordable price, we can convince other companies to make a few changes, too. And that can benefit us all.