… And PACT is here to prove it!
PACT is the brainchild of two unlikely business partners who joined forces in the most unlikely of places. Jason Kibbey is a born-and-raised Berkeley leftie who started his own land conservation non-profit, drives a Prius, and loves his bike(s). He also likes business, he helped start a few, and oddly began his career at Bain & Company. Jeff Denby, on the other hand, was told that he was “too artsy for business school” when he showed up with multi-colored hair. A Facebook, texting, and Twitter addict who personifies young, fabulous, and broke, this wayward Canadian has shopped his way around the world and he definitely owns a television.
Jason and Jeff met at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley during the first year of their MBA program. Jeff was telling anyone who would listen that he wanted to start an underwear company. While most people thought he was a pervert, Jason was intrigued. Brought together by their belief that business has an opportunity to have a positive impact on the world, they spent the next two years examining every aspect of the apparel industry, and developed a new kind of business model that would combine design, sustainability, activism, and internet technology. And so PACT was born…
PACT´s designer is the talented Yves Behar. Yves Behar is the founder of the San Francisco design studio fuseproject. Yves is focused on humanistic design and the “giving” element of his profession, with the goal of creating projects that are deeply in-tune with the needs of a sustainable future, connected with human emotions, and that enable self-expression.
PACT is your everyday underwear. It´s made with the 95% of the highest qualitysoft, organic Turkish cotton, with 5% elastane for a perfect stretch. The farmers and cotton pickers involved in the growing and harvestingof the organic cotton are paid a fair price for their product and allfabric is dyed and printed using dyes and inks that are low-impact andfree of heavy metals. While some underwear is 100% organic cotton, these garments tend tolose their shape quickly and have shorter lifespans – meaning more ofthem end up in landfills. A garment containing 5% elastane is stillconsidered organic. PACT may be stylish and sexy, but it´s designed to be comfortable foreveryday living and is the best choice for the sustainably-mindedconsumer.
Each pair of underwear is packed in its own reusable fabric bag.Typically, each pair of underwear would be shipped from the factory inits own individual plastic bag. Some of the fabric bags, however, areproduced from off-cuts (excess fabric), so PACT eliminates tens ofthousands of plastic bags. And you get to keep and reuse the fabric bagfor whatever you want! Use them for your glasses, jewelry, iPod,computer cords and chargers, or whatever.
Why Organic Cotton?
Some people have already asked why PACT doesn´t make underwear out of bamboo or soy. Don´t they know that cotton, even organic cotton, uses alot of water? One of the most important things that Jeff and Jason havelearned in developing the PACT brand is that everything has atrade-off. If you want to change the products people buy, they stillhave to want to buy them. The founders know that organic cotton is not 100%environmentally friendly, but it is much better than conventionalcotton grown with pesticides – and that is the cotton they want toreplace. The overwhelming majority of underwear sold around the worldis made with conventional cotton. PACT wants their customers to stop buyingconventionally grown cotton underwear and replace them with a beautifulpair of their organic stretch cotton underwear.
Furthermore, while growing bamboo is generally quite environmentallyfriendly, the downside is that the fibers are quite tough. As a result,strong chemical solvents are required to process the material into softfabric, raising both health and environmental concerns. And, while soyis a naturally soft material, the fabric is less durable, so yourunderwear would deteriorate more quickly and have to be replaced moreoften, which has its own negative environmental impact.
This is why liveeco loves PACT and their underwear as they are giving their customers the opportunity to take an easy step toward a more sustainable lifestyle without giving upwhat they feel comfortable wearing. And this is one reason that change starts with your underwear!
Creating A Social Movement
The purchase of PACT underwear is participation in a social movement: when you buy PACT underwear, you are supporting and encouraging organic cotton farmers, responsible labor practices, and businesses that form partnerships with non-profit organizations dedicated to positive change in our world. 10% of each sale goes to one of their chosen causes.
Shop online on their very cool, interactive website where you can shop by Cause, Fit or Print.
The liveeco team
