Sustainability
Aurora is a small brand. We can't claim to be perfect, and we won't. What we can do is choose better where we can, tell you the truth about the rest, and keep going.
Our pieces are made to order, through a production partner in Europe. Much of what makes them responsible happens there — so on this page we're open about their practices, their numbers, and their limits, alongside our own choices. We chose this partner for exactly these reasons.
Why we make nothing in advance
The clothing industry has a waste problem most brands would rather you didn't see. Around 92 million tonnes of clothing are sent to landfill or burned every year. The equivalent of a rubbish truck full, every second. An estimated 21% of garments are never sold at all; in Europe alone, up to 594,000 tonnes of textiles are destroyed before they're ever worn.
Aurora is made the opposite way. Nothing is produced until you order it. No overstock, no unsold clothes, nothing destroyed because it didn't sell. Making on demand is the single biggest thing we do for the planet, it just asks you to wait a little longer.
The materials, and how we prove them
Every Aurora piece is organic cotton or recycled fabric. Recycled content starts at 65% and often goes much higher, and it's always stated on the product page. We don't take these claims on trust: organic cotton is certified to GOTS or OCS standards, recycled fabrics to GRS or RCS, and everything is tested for harmful substances under OEKO-TEX® Standard 100. The inks are water-based, vegan, and free of hazardous chemicals (OEKO-TEX Eco Passport).
Who makes our clothes
You should be able to ask who made your clothes, and under what conditions. Our pieces are made under an ethical Code of Conduct aligned with the United Nations Global Compact's ten principles, covering human rights, fair pay, safe conditions, and a firm stand against forced and child labour. The supply chain is independently mapped and monitored through Sedex, an ethical-trade organisation, and our partner is working toward auditing all of its suppliers for sustainability.
Our footprint, honestly
Making anything has a footprint, and we'd rather show you ours than hide it. In 2024, our production partner measured its full carbon footprint at just over 90,000 tonnes of CO₂e across its entire business. About 96% of that sits in the supply chain, mostly in the materials themselves which is typical for anyone making physical products, and something only a small share of fashion brands even measure. Around 39% of the electricity used in production now comes from renewable sources.
There's a long way to go, and we won't pretend otherwise: the goal is to reduce the carbon intensity of every product and to reach net zero by 2050, with reduction targets aligned to Science Based Targets. We'll be honest with you about the progress and the lack of it.
Water
The printing and embroidery of our pieces generate zero wastewater and use no water in the process itself, thanks to waterless printing technology. The harder truth: the biggest water footprint of any garment lies upstream, in growing the raw fibres, cotton especially, which is one more reason we lean on recycled materials and make only what's actually wanted.
Waste, and what we don't yet solve
Even made to order, some waste is unavoidable. Most of it is recycled or given a second life, leftover fabric becomes rags or furniture stuffing, and some of our smallest pieces, like the scrunchies, exist partly to use offcuts that would otherwise be thrown away. But we won't round the corners: around a third of production waste still ends up in landfill today, mostly because recycling options for some materials don't yet exist. It's one of the things still being worked on and we'd rather you knew.
Packaging & shipping
Orders arrive in packaging made from at least 70% post-consumer recycled plastic. And because most orders, around 86%, are made and shipped within the same region they're sold, there's less distance travelled to reach you.
One order, one tree
With every order, we plant a tree through One Tree Planted. A small thing, but it keeps growing long after your piece arrives.
(More on our why here)
Made better, not perfect
None of this makes us a perfect brand, there's no such thing. It makes us a brand that chooses the more honest option where it can, that measures what it can measure, and that would rather tell you the truth than sell you a cleaner story than the real one.
That, to us, is what conscious actually means.
— Rita Costa
Sources: The data on this page is drawn from our production partner's public reporting: Printful's Sustainability & Responsibility pages, Code of Conduct, and 2024 ESG Report.