Green brands: Seasalt

Seasalt is a UK-based clothing retailer with some ambitious sustainability targets.

Its shoppers approve - 63% of those who had recently bought from the brand told us they considered it a sustainable choice in our survey. 

Which? carried out a survey in February 2023 into our members' perceptions of how sustainable certain brands are. We asked them tell us which brands they'd bought from in the last two years, rate how sustainable they thought that brand was, and give us their reasons why. 

We then took a further look behind the scenes at some of these companies to see whether the reality lives up to peoples' high expectations.*

The top reasons given for Seasalt’s sustainability were its durability and long-lasting products (43%), its environmentally friendly materials/non-toxic materials (42%) and because it is a UK-based brand (37%).

Why worry about the impact of our clothing on the environment?

It's a big question to answer, and one with a lot of factors to consider.

Fast fashion – the practice of creating cheap, mass-produced clothing that keeps up with the latest fashion trends – has a huge impact on our planet. The industry is estimated to be responsible for 10% of our annual carbon emissions.

Different textiles all have different impacts. This might be the water required in the manufacturing process, the hazardous chemicals used in producing clothes, the microplastics found in many synthetic fabrics that will end up in landfill or the natural environment. 

We associate much of fashion’s problem with synthetic plastic-based fibres. They use fossil fuels, are energy-intensive, shed microfibres and are difficult to recycle, so mostly end up in landfill or being incinerated.

But what's 'good' and 'bad' isn't a simple equation. Natural materials, though they may feel inherently a more virtuous choice, aren't necessarily always the answer. Leather, for example, has a large environmental cost and is associated with deforestation. According to Our World in Data, cattle rearing is responsible for 41% of global deforestation – mostly in Brazil. And leather's production can use hazardous chemicals that pollute waterways and damage workers’ health.

Some plant-based fibres come with environmental concerns, too. Cotton is a very thirsty crop and needs a huge amount of water to keep it growing, in often dry climates. Non-organic cotton is grown with the aid of significant amounts of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. 

Fabrics like viscose, although plant-based, often involve intensive chemical processing which can be polluting and hazardous.

Wearing your clothes for many years, repairing them and buying second hand are all good ways of reducing your personal impact. If you need to buy new items, it’s worth considering retailers who take their impact seriously and are taking steps to reduce it.

Seasalt: in summary

It's worth bearing in mind that despite all brands having some inevitable shortcomings, the companies featured in this green brands guide have been selected by members as being more sustainable within their markets. 

These are generally brands doing better than average in their sector and should be recognised as such.

Who owns Seasalt?

Found in many an English seaside town, with other stores dotted around the country (there are a few in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland too), Seasalt began in Penzance in 1981 as a store selling traditional workwear.

Now a men and women’s clothing brand, it is still a family business owned by the three sons of the founder.

Seasalt and durability

Respondents in our survey rated Seasalt highly for its durability and long-lasting products.

While they don’t offer a repair program for their clothes, they do have a take back scheme. You can get up to £25 for returning used items. If they can be resold they are sold on the Reskinned website or eBay.

Seasalt and materials

Seasalt uses a range of fabrics and textiles for its clothing and accessories. It has some ambitious green targets for its material use.

It has a target for all of its leather to be sourced from tanneries with Leather Working Group (LWG) gold or silver certification by the end of 2024 (currently 88.2% meets the target).

All its leather bags meet the criteria already. LWG certification minimises the damage associated with chemical use in tanneries, though doesn’t address the other environmental issues associated with the cattle industry.

It has a goal for all the cotton it uses to be both fully traceable and certified as organic by 2024. Its latest published figures show that 30.1% of its organic cotton products are certified by GOTS Soil Association, so there’s still some way to go.

Organic cotton is better environmentally than conventional cotton because it uses less water (healthier soil requires less irrigation) and doesn’t use pesticides that damage waterways and surrounding areas. Conventional non-organic cotton uses huge amounts of water and insecticides.

Seasalt is also targeting 100% Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) wool, another certification programme that focuses on the best practices of farmers and includes welfare standards for sheep.

Seasalt states that all wool used comes from sheep that are ‘non-mulesed’. Mulesing is a common but controversial practice that involves cutting strips of skin from around the hindquarters of the sheep without anaesthetic to prevent flystrike.

Seasalt uses some bamboo viscose and has a goal to source 100% closed loop viscose by 2024. Viscose that is not closed loop can involve intensive chemical processing. Closed-loop viscose is usually known under brand names Tencel Lyocell, Tencel Modal and Lenzing Ecovero.

All Seasalt's waterproofs are PFC/PFAS free. PFAS are a category of chemical used for waterproofs that are also known as ‘forever’ chemicals as they remain in our air, soil and water for an incredibly long time. Some have been linked to harmful human health issues.

You can find out more about them in our guide to the forever chemicals found in waterproof clothing.

Other sustainability information

Seasalt has calculated its carbon footprint for all its emissions (including its supply chain). Its emissions dropped by 28% from 2019 to 2021. It has plans to be net zero by 2040. 

It says it is currently developing detailed roadmaps of how to get to that point. 

Our research 

*The brands that survey respondents could answer on were preselected based on a previous Which? survey carried out in November 2022 asking members to highlight brands they considered sustainable. 

Other clothing brands rated highly by members in our survey were BAM (Bamboo Clothing) (91%), Paramo (84%), Patagonia (82%) and Rohan (66%).

Find out more about shopping sustainably: what supermarkets are doing about the environment, how to buy second-hand online, or what makes a green energy supplier.