Sustainability
Sustainable Leather, Crafted Without Compromise
Garrett Leather believes in practicing responsible behavior to improve the Earth today and protect the environment for generations to come. We commit to the highest standards in creating quality products, maintaining sustainable business practices and choosing like-minded partners to help us in our pursuit.
Partnerships With Purpose
As a privately owned, family-run business, Garrett Leather partners with Italian tanneries whose values align with ours. These tanneries have been passed down for generations, and they employ those who live in the surrounding areas. Our partners desire to follow responsible production practices for themselves, their families and their communities.
Our Italian tanneries meet the following qualifications
- REACH compliant
- ISO9001 certified
- ISO1400 certified
- Audited members of Leather Working Group
Our partner tanneries in Italy adhere to the European Union's strict environmental protection guidelines, helping to make tremendous progress in the sustainability of modern tanning
- Process for hide preservation reuses salt to minimize waste
- Tanning is done with either naturally occurring chromium salts or vegetable tanned using plant extracts.
- Virtually 100% of dyes are absorbed into the leather and water-based finishes are used to complete the production process.
- Use of sophisticated water purification systems that return clean, drinkable water to the environment
- Treatment of many of our products during the tanning process to pass industry flammability tests
Leather That Looks Good—And Does Good
Genuine leather is a rapidly renewable natural resource, both 100% post-consumer recyclable and 100% biodegradable. The intricate, densely packed collagen fiber structure of natural leather provides high flexibility and incredible strength. The ultimate sustainable material, leather keeps waste out of landfills and instead provides a durable product that lasts up to five times longer than other upholstery materials.
Benefits of choosing Garrett Leather's quality and non-toxic products
- Our leather does not contain toxins such as conflict materials, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), bisphenol A (BPA), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), or plastics, heavy metals or phthalates
- Many of our products offer antibacterial protection, as well as stain and water resistance, requiring little maintenance and eliminating the need for harsh cleaning chemicals
- Our products may contribute to LEED and BIFMA Point Qualification
- We fabricate Wall Panels and Cast Panels using no added urea formaldehyde (NAUF) MDF to protect the health of those handling and living with our Wall Panels
- GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified, our signature leather smells meet stringent VOC emission standards
- We use salt-based and non-toxic flame retardants to treat hides at our corporate headquarters, and our flame-treated products meet FAR regulations, California Technical Bulletin 117 and California Assembly Bill No. 2998, as well as other industry-standard requirements
- We’re a member of Mindful Materials, a resource library for designers to find sustainable products for their projects
- We make Welt Cord and Rug Binding seams using water-based, GREENGUARD certified adhesive
Ethically Sourced, Naturally Conscious
When you choose a Garrett Leather product, you creatively reuse upcycled hides, transformed into a beautiful, durable product that would otherwise end up in landfills. We carefully select our European leather hides that are a natural byproduct of the meat industry. The European Union leads the world in passing legislation that protects farmed animals from cruel treatment, banning artificial growth hormones and prohibiting the use of GMO grains. Animal farmers also follow and record the place of birth, the parents, location raised and vaccinations received for each cow to ensure full traceability. These animals grow at normal rates and graze on natural grass in spacious, open fields. Under these natural conditions, the integrity of the fiber structure is stronger and intact without any damage caused by unnatural growth rates, barbed wires or brands.
Efficient, From Start to Finish
You’ll see Garrett Leather’s dedication to high-quality standards from production to fulfillment. Coordinating with our partner tanneries and shipping companies, we ensure our products arrive in an efficient manner and meet our quality inspection standards. To minimize our environmental impact, we work to keep costs and material waste as low as possible.
We maintain the following sustainable operational practices
- Generating up to 90% of electricity at our corporate headquarters from zero-emission sources
- Recycling or reusing paper and cardboard packing materials
- Reusing metal A-frame horses from dyelot shipments to store hides at our corporate headquarters or to ship large orders on to our customers
- Recycling and donating wooden pallets
- Cutting product samples at our corporate headquarters to maintain high-quality standards and minimize waste
- Using scrap leather for small leather goods or donating materials to schools and other charitable organizations
- Engineering shipping boxes to fit specific hide sizes, minimizing empty space and keeping shipping costs to a minimum