SFP 173: Sustainable Fashion for Kids [with Brendan Synnott of Pact]

When it comes to kids, buying more sustainably can feel intimidating. If you are unsure of where to start or how to prioritize, we are chatting more about this today. Our guest is Brendan Synnott, the CEO of Pact, and he's bringing us insight on the sustainable fashion industry, organic cotton, and what he's doing with his own family.

*This episode is not sponsored by Pact and does not contain affiliate links*

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Sustainable Fashion for Kids - Episode Transcription

Denaye Barahona:

Hi, it's episode 173 and today we're talking about sustainable fashion. Thank you for tuning in. We are talking with Brendan Synnott, who is the CEO of PACT | ORGANIC. Many of you might be familiar with PACT, some of you may not. My husband and I have both been wearing PACT for probably six or seven years now. But we haven't dabbled in their kids' line and I'm talking today with Brendan a little bit more about sustainable fashion and kids. Honestly, I don't feel like there are a lot of good, affordable resources when it comes to buying sustainably for our kids' clothing. Today Brendan is going to teach us about the organic cotton industry and some things to look for when we're trying to shop more sustainably for our kids. We're also chatting a little bit more about what life looks like living sustainably with four kids in his house. 

Denaye Barahona:

Hi Brendan, thanks so much for chatting with me today. 

Brendan Synnott:

Hey, thanks for having me. Look forward to it. 

Denaye Barahona:

I've been looking forward to talking about this for quite some time. I know that many members of the Simple Families audience are interested in sustainable fashion and I think first and foremost, we don't even really know what that means, when we say sustainable fashion. And it can be really confusing, especially when we're thinking about shopping sustainably for our kids. So when I say sustainable fashion, particularly as it pertains to kids, what does that mean? How do you define that? 

Brendan Synnott:

Yeah, I mean sustainable is a journey and there's nothing perfect about it. It's so much for us and I think the bigger idea around it, is just having more consciousness to understand the clothes that you put on your body, the sheets that you sleep in, the towels that you use, the fabrics that touch your skin day in and day out, who made them and where did they come from? And then there's 1,000 degrees of sustainability kind of beyond that. What we do at PACT is really focus in on two things that we think is really important. 

One is cotton and using only organic cotton because we think it's pure, it has less toxicides and it's better for the planet overall and it just makes better product, more importantly. And then a fair trade certification that says the people that made our clothes or country, equally the people that wear them. So we want to make sure that the factory workers that actually cut and sew the product are treated to the best possible way within whatever country they're in. And ours are particularly in India. 

Denaye Barahona:

So how long have you been at PACT? 

Brendan Synnott:

We have had PACT for nearly 10 years we've been working at it. The company was founded in 2009 and founded exclusively with this idea that we ...