We decided to grow our own corporate responsibility right next to our original hat warehouse in St. Augustine, Florida. This food forest is a place for people to see Permaculture principals in action, a place to learn about food security, regenerative agriculture and more. The site was designed by world renowned permaculture designer Geoff Lawton.
On April 22nd, 2015 (Earth Day) we added 15KW (58 solar panels) to our St Augustine warehouse. Currently this is powering 100% of our electric needs. Powering business by the sun is a dream come true and because of you we were able to achieve this.
check our solar output here.
Ditching single-use plastic is one of our primary goals at all levels of Conner Hats. Americans use 1500 plastic water bottles every second. For us, this really drives home the fact that we need to do our part to limit the production of plastic.
Reducing single use plastics is important for many reasons. Huge amounts of plastic end up in our waterways and ocean. Birds and sea life mistake it for food and many die from ingesting or choking on plastic. It also breaks down into very small pieces which are eaten by fish. We then eat the fish and the PCB’s, dioxins and other toxic chemicals can end up in us.
Things we can do to help might seem small, but everything helps. Choose products that use no or minimal plastic packaging. Recycle everything you can. Say no to plastic straws. Use Reusable bottles and cups. Use reusable grocery bags. Let your favorite take-out restraint owner know that there are cheap alternatives to plastic and petroleum foam.
Besides a whole new line of hats made from recycled plastic bottles we have also stopped the use of single-use plastic connectors to connect our hang tags; we use a biodegradable string instead.
We asked our Conner Hats metal emblem supplier to stop individually bagging each tiny emblem in a plastic pouch, instead they are sent flat on sections of cardboard. This alone stops the production of thousands of tiny single use plastic pouches.
All of our packaging is single use plastic free including our new biodegradable backing tape.
Clothing/Hat garment labels are generally woven synthetic material that will last 1000+ years and pollute. We have recently chosen to use organic cotton printed with vegetable dyes for our inner labels, even our inner size labels ore now made from paper. These labels will eventually turn back into soil. We have been thinking about the end of life for our hats. After they have been used for many years and if they are made from biodegradable material like organic cotton, hemp, raffia straw or wool they could be composted and turn back into healthy soil for your garden. Stay tuned for a video on this soon. So now we are excited to sell many hats from biodegradable materials, no single use plastic, compostable tags and labels and even new biodegradable tape for our boxes, all of it will eventually and turn back into healthy soil!
It’s our job to care about what touches your head, that’s why many of the sweatbands and linings are made from third party tested organic cotton and are AZO dye free. All of our deluxe stretch terry hat bands have been third party tested and do not contain AZO dyes or Formaldehyde.
Further details on some of our hat materials:
Cruelty Free Wool
Starting March 2018 we will be changing our wool hat production to Cruelty Free wool. This means that we went back into our supply chain and only source wool from farms that do not practice Mulesing. Mulesing is the removal of chunks of skin on the buttocks of the sheep to stop a disease called Flystrike. Over 20 million Merino lambs are Mulesed in Australia each year. Hopefully by educating people on this topic Australia might consider the alternatives to this cruel practice.
Hemp
Hemp is very easy to grow and is three times stronger that cotton. Hemp crops don’t require much water and can be grown without herbicides, fungicides or pesticides.
Organic Cotton
We third party test our organic cotton to confirm OCS certified 100 and AZO Free.
Leather
We test our leather to confirm No Organic biocides, Azo Dye-Free, No Prohibited Metals, No Flame Retardants, Formaldehyde-Free, No Chromium (VI)
Some people may have a problem with leather for environmental or humane reasons. We use leather because it’s an excellent hat material. It’s extremely durable and some of our leather hats are still in use over 40 years later. Look for a link to our blog here on this subject in the near future.
Organic Raffia
The Raffia palm found in Madagascar has the longest leaves in the plant kingdom and can grow to eighty feet long. No need for water or pesticides, just cut the leaves needed and they grow back.
Paper
Toyo was originally made in japan from shellacked rice paper. We use 100% recycled paper with a non-toxic waterproof resin to keep them protected. It’s a machine made material made in China and hand woven into beautiful hats.
Repreve® Recycled Plastic
We use Repreve material for our recycled hats and they contain about 5 recycled plastic bottles worth of plastic. The fabric is light weight, UPF 50+ and waterproof. More importantly it’s made from recycled plastic bottles, straws and other single use plastics that could have ended up in our environment. It uses 70% less energy and 90% less water to produce our recycled fabric verses a virgin material.
That’s right, most of our fabric hats have Bloom Algae Foam inside of the brims and some crowns. So instead petroleum based foam we use Bloom Foam that is made from cleaning algae blooms that pollute fresh water and turned into usable foam for many types of products including our hats. You may not see it, but it is there and goes with one of our slogans “ It’s what’s on the inside that matters”.
>> You can find out more hereHats made with Algae
Our safety standards are guided by the question:
“Is the hat safe enough for a baby to chew on?”
All of the dyes and paints used to color our hat materials are third-party tested, nontoxic lead free
Our USA wool felt hat production meets our non-toxic standards. The stiffener is made from food grade shellac and the color dyes are safe for the environment, all exhausted waters used are put in the public sewer for normal treatment.
Our wool hat production in China has been third- party tested and no Azo dyes are used and no toxic chemicals in the hat bodies. We trust our factories to keep our high standards but just in case we do third party tests from time to time to confirm both in USA and China.
Our packaging has recently improved with new biodegradable packing tape so all of our packaging is fully compostable and nontoxic.
First of all, it’s important to realize that the difference between organic and conventional cotton isn’t just the lack or use of pesticides and insecticides in the farming process. Conventional cotton is also subjected to numerous chemical baths and treatments when the fabric is loomed and prepared for cutting. Additionally, conventional cotton uses dyes that sometimes contain heavy metals. We use only nontoxic dyes in our organic cotton.
Conventional cotton farming takes a huge toll on our planet, being responsible for a full quarter of the insecticides used worldwide. Some of the most toxic pesticides are also used on cotton, and people consume those pesticides in foods containing cottonseed oil.
Choosing organic cotton helps to support organic farmers and gives motivation to conventional farmers who are trying to convert to organic practices. Spreading the word to friends and family also helps to raise global awareness about the benefits of choosing organic cotton. Hopefully, over time, this can reduce the amount of chemicals consumed by conventional cotton farming and help contribute to a healthier planet.
Byron Bay is the home town of our founders and it’s famous original Australian hat brand, BC hats. Bill Conner, after a very successful 50 years decided to close his factory and retire to spend more time in the surf. His son, Will Conner still designs Conner hats from Byron Bay and both Will and Bill are very much involved in the local community. Bill planted 2000 native Hoop Pine trees on his 20 acre property nearby as a carbon credit for his business. He stayed true to an Australian made product and his hats are loved worldwide and landed on famous customers from Michael Jordan to Olivia Newton John and many more. His hats are sure to become collectors items as no new hats will be available after the last one sells.
>> Shop BC hats
We offset a percentage of our carbon footprint by planting and maintaining 2000 native hoop pines on our family owned property about 35km from the factory.
Our factory is a fume free zone. We use only nontoxic glues in our manufacturing. Australia is a very worker friendly country and we all have lots of fun creating shade for people.
Our small, family run operation uses mostly Australian and New Zealand raw materials.
We have received a Declaration of Conformance for all of our leather used:
Customer: B. C. Leather Pty Ltd
Bovine Leather suitable for Hats
Safety Standards: EC DIRECTIVE 91/173(CHLORINATED PHENOIS)
EC DIRECTIVE 2002/61 (AZO DYES)
No banned substances have been used in manufacture, and the leather shall not contain the following, including: Organic biocides (PCP or TCP) from fungicides Aromatic Amines from Azo Dyes Sensitising Disperse Dyes Prohibited Metals Arsenis, Nickel, Cadmium, Mercury or Chrome V1 (Hexavalent Chromium) Flame Retardants (Brominated) Formaldehyde
