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At Toad&Co, Choosing Sustainability Is The Only Route

Skyblue Overland may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article.

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Every day is an adventure at Toad&Co. Photo by Toad&Co.

I believe change happens through engagement and collective effort. To this end, I believe 1% For The Planet helps bring like-minded businesses and communities together to activate positive change.

Skyblue Overland is affiliated with a collection of brands that exist to make the world better.  How they do this can take many different forms. One of the brands we work with that are also members of 1% For The Planet is Toad&Co.

Toad&Co is a clothing company aimed at a larger goal than simply producing clothing. They aim to clean up a dirty apparel industry, educate people on sustainable practices, and inspire people to live their fullest lives. 

The company is headquartered in California but started right here in Colorado. After starting as a one woman show in Telluride, Colorado, Toad&Co has grown a lot. Their sprawl across the country allows them to do their part in being good neighbors, volunteering with local non-profits and creating opportunities for adults with disabilities. Aside from direct community involvement, Toad&Co work to find and sign petitions to support carbon caps, reduce fossil fuels and keep public lands public and safe from commercial development. 

Many companies make promises like Toad&Co, but the difference is that Toad has the numbers to prove it. In the last 20 years, Toad&Co has helped to fund 120 environmental protection organizations, employed around 400 adults with disabilities, and send around 500 people on once-in-a-lifetime trip to the great outdoors. They stay true to their mission and that is something that is so unique and wonderful about the company. 

Toad&Co’s spring catalog is live! Photo by Toad&Co.

Commitment to Sustainability

One of Toad&Co’s core missions is to withhold a commitment to sustainability efforts. For them, choosing sustainability is not the easy route, but it is the only route. According to their website statistics, the clothing industry is the fourth largest polluter of air and water on Earth. We are product driven beings and people want to buy more and more apparel. For Toad&Co, the only solution to this issue is to go sustainable, or go nude! 

They make a commitment to sustainability by minimizing their environmental impact and helping clean up the apparel industry. To do this, they have a few promises. They will always use 100% sustainable materials, choose sustainable packaging, and focus on the circular economy of renewing, reusing, and recycling. 

Toad&Co’s eco icon indicates clothing made from a minimum of 80% sustainable fibers and/or fabrics that are 3rd party certified for responsible manufacturing. Photo by Toad&Co.

Eco Materials

Their eco materials are made from a minimum of 80% sustainable fibers, or fibers that are third party certified for responsible manufacturing. Through this commitment to using only sustainable materials, Toad&Co reduced their emissions by 51 tons of CO2. For reference, that is enough to drive 150,000 miles in most cars. Their sustainable materials include organic cotton, recycled fibers, and other high-quality materials that are well known for low-impact growing and clean manufacturing. 

Another really cool part of Toad&Co’s company structure is not only their commitment to sustainability but also to transparency. On their website, customers can find an Eco Cheat Sheet, a downloadable chart that shows materials that are sustainable. This is meant to be used not only on their site but also other sites that you shop on. This way, you can take their sustainability mission to any other sites you might shop at. They also have a Restricted Substances List, which shows you what substances they refuse to use. Again this is meant to create transparency in their own production, but can also be used on any other sites you are shopping at. 

When you order something from Toad&Co’s website, select the “Reusable Shipper” option at checkout and your order will arrive in a reusable package. This package is made from vinyl recycled from billboards and lasts up to 10 years. Photo by Toad&Co.

Sustainable Packaging

Whenever you order something from an online store, it of course comes with a ridiculous amount of plastic and other packaging. This packaging plays a huge role in the apparel industry’s impact on the environment. Toad&Co allows you to choose the “Reusable Shipper” option at checkout and your order will come in a reusable package. 

They have paired up with LimeLoop to create a sustainable packaging option. It is a reusable bag that is designed to last for 10 years, it is easy to ship and return, it is lightweight, water-proof and comes with a secure zipper closure and a slip to insert the shipping label. These bags are made from durable vinyl that has been recycled from old billboards. After you get your items from Toad&Co, you simply insert the return label in the slot and ship it back to the company. 

This is an amazing way to both reduce your own impact on the environment, and to support a really awesome company. 

Toad&Co is partnering with thredUP to reduce their impact on the planet by extending the life of clothing. thredUP is the most convenient way to clean out your closet (and do good for the earth!). Order a Toad&Co x thredUP Clean Out Kit and turn your gently used clothes into Toad&Co shopping credit.

The Circular Economy

Consistent with Toad&Co’s commitment to sourcing the most sustainable materials, they are committed to using recycled materials to create their products. The circular economic system focuses on growth and steers companies away from using finite resources. It eliminates waste by promoting another use for that resource. 

In addition to creating new clothing with sustainable materials, Toad&Co has partnered up with ThreadUp, an excellent platform for reselling old clothing, to curate a vintage shop on their site. Here, you can find used clothing in great conditions that will last you a long time, look great, and reduce your carbon footprint. 

Sustainable companies often have a program that repairs their old products. For Toad&Co, this is their Renewal Workshop. Here, they will wash, repair and renew your old gear bought from Toad&Co. This keeps clothes out of landfills and reduces the production of new apparel. 

Again, Toad&Co has the numbers to prove that their strategy is working. They have renewed 2,658 garments since 2017, saved 2,228 pounds of textiles from landfills, offset 724 gallons of gas, and offset 8 Olympic sized swimming pools of water. 

Photo by Toad&Co.

Good Products

Central to their sustainability efforts, of course, is the production of great apparel that will last a long time. Every piece of clothing made by Toad&Co is woven with their intentions to support their communities, take care of the planet, and empower people to live their fullest lives! 

If you are interested in learning more about this great company, you can explore their website to check out what kinds of organizations and community service that they are involved in. They are transparent about all of their involvement and it is interesting to learn more about the organizations they have partnered up with.

About 1% For The Planet

1% For the Planet is a network of organizations committed to giving 1% of their sales back to the environment.  See the short film below to learn more: