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Everything You Demand to Know About Ownership Ethically Sourced Downward Products
A growing number of brands are prioritizing the welfare of the birds that supply the feathers blimp into items like jackets, comforters, and pillows.
There's aught quite similar down—it's a natural, incredibly warm, and breathable insulation that we stuff into winter jackets and sleeping numberless, couches and blankets. No wonder ducks look and then comfy paddling around ponds on sub-zero days.
Yet the manner some farmers harvest this fluffy material might make birders uncomfortable. The vast bulk of the 270,000 metric tons of commercial down produced each year is a byproduct of goose and duck meat industries in Asia and Europe, where the birds might exist live-plucked or force-fed for foie gras before heading to the shambles. Animal welfare advocates consider these brutal practices that they want to see eliminated from down'south circuitous supply chain.
Concerns about downward sourcing spurred Taiwanese artist Sheng-Wen Lo to sidestep the unabridged down manufacturing process: In 2017 he decided to collect goose feathers and fill a coat himself. So on summer mornings he pedaled to parks, ponds, and forests in search of loose down and small feathers left behind past geese.
Squatting and picking up each private plume was a meditative procedure. And a time-consuming ane. Gathering down is a tradition that native people in the Arctic and farmers in Iceland and Norway have adept for hundreds of years if not longer, but Lo was new to the method. It took him almost ii months to collect the iii,000 downward feathers that he washed and stuffed into a coat he'd gutted—less than half of the eight,000 typically found in a down jacket. On an art fellowship to the Arctic, which spurred the project, he used thermal heat cameras to certificate his downwards glaze's insulating ability. When he wore the glaze for just xxx seconds, his surface torso temperature rose past about 4 degrees Fahrenheit.
"People don't call back about the source of their purchases because it's all too convenient," says Lo, whose piece of work concentrates on homo-animal relationships. "All of my recent work is almost fighting this mentality, fighting taking things for granted."
Conscientious consumers don't have to become to the extremes Lo did to observe products filled with ethically sourced down—today there are several standards that rail the supply. The effort started in 2010 when Four Paws, a Vienna-based animal welfare group, asked companies to prove that their down was ethically sourced. The task was complicated because companies simply weren't certain where the down was coming from, says Bryan Mortensen, audits and certification manager for the International Down and Plume Laboratory (IDFL), a grouping that tests and certifies down feathers and textiles. "They couldn't trace it dorsum [to the source]."
Companies including Patagonia, The Due north Face, and others quickly got to work tracing the textile used in their products through the supply chain. They developed standards for ethically sourced downwards, putting in identify traceability measures that at present require on-site audits at the parent farms where egg-laying birds are kept, weather under which birds alive, and where they are killed. The list of brands using these standards, which have go stricter since 2010, is growing. (While down bedding accounts for roughly one-half of the feathers harvested each year, outdoor bedding brands lag backside outdoor apparel companies in obtaining certification.)
"The whole manufacture has changed for the meliorate and really progressed," says Melanie Lary, a campaigns officer for 4 Paws.
The Scientific discipline of Down
Down feathers grow beneath stiffer exterior feathers. Each down feather is a 3-dimensional sphere consisting of a network of filaments that co-operative into barbs that co-operative into barbules. The complex structures, which are the size of dandelion blooms, trap air close to the pare, keeping waterbirds' core temperatures toasty when the mercury plunges. (Feathers that cover down have quills with branched filaments that repel water and help birds fly).
"Down gives amazing amounts of thickness with very, very little weight—that's the key to its warmth," says Matthew Fuller, a downwardly adept and project engineer at outdoor gear company Mountain Equipment. Information technology isn't just about providing warmth; downwards is remarkably durable, lightweight, compressible, and springy. "Information technology'southward the perfect combination of mechanical properties."
So even if a hiker smooshes her downwardly sleeping bag into a pack, the textile recovers its shape chop-chop. That ability to bounciness dorsum lasts for decades, crush later on squash afterward squeeze.
All of this makes downward one of the best insulating materials in the world. The main drawback, from an insulating standpoint, is that it doesn't retain oestrus when it gets soaking wet, as moisture causes the structure to collapse. Manufacturers are addressing this quirk past treating down with a hydrophobic mixture that helps it repel water. (Ducks and geese have a congenital-in h2o-proofing system: They smear a waxy substance produced by a preen gland at the base of operations of their tails over their down, dispensing the stuff as they clean and comb their feathers into place).
Most down products are a mix of down and feathers. In the Us, a down product has to exist at least 75 pct down in order to exist chosen a down production. The higher the down-to-feather ratio, the better a product's insulating quality, just that often means a college price tag, too.
Sourcing and Animal Welfare
No birds are raised solely for down product. While some comes from wild eider ducks, most comes from geese and ducks raised to meet the demand for Christmas geese in Europe and Peking duck dishes in Asia, for instance. Betwixt 2009 and 2013, farmers raised an estimated 653 million geese and 2.7 billion ducks for food, according to the International Down and Feather Agency. Equally much as 90 percent of all downwardly comes from Asia, and the majority of that is from China, due in part to increasing wealth leading more people to swallow meat. At least 75 percent of the world's supply is duck down. Here are the nigh mutual down sources:
Eiderdown
Eiderdown comes from wild Common Eider ducks that live in northern climes including Canada and Iceland, and it is some of the nearly coveted—and expensive—down in the industry.
All commercial eiderdown comes from females. Hens pluck their own chest feathers to line the nests they build on rocky shores, and rarely get up during the nearly four-week incubation period, largely relying on their fatty stores to go them through. Some are then defended to their duty that they starve to expiry.
Eiderdown's reputation as the warmest down may exist warranted: A comparison of goose to eiderdown revealed that, in the latter, barbules end in hooks that hold the down together. That means that if a hen gets upwards to drinkable water, her difficult work won't wing off in the wind, and it makes the insulation even warmer by trapping more air.
A master upside is that no birds are harmed during drove. What'due south more, the purchase of eiderdown can support habitat conservation, as information technology does on Canada'due south Lower St. Lawrence Islands. And in Iceland, where eiderdown collection is a multimillion-dollar manufacture, farmers protect nesting colonies so they tin can collect the downwards once the chicks fledge. The downside is price: Since eiderdown is paw-collected, it is by far the about expensive downwardly; comforters can command price tags of upward of $16,000 and a jacket might go for $2,000.
Goose Downward
Goose downwardly is considered a superior insulator to that from ducks, a quality quantified by fill up power—a measure of volume. The college the number, the more than infinite, measured in cubic inches, thirty grams of down can capture. Though many factors bear on how warm a coat or comforter will continue you, generally speaking the higher the make full power the warmer the product.
Farmers usually harvest goose down after the birds are slaughtered for meat, and most geese are killed about 15 weeks subsequently hatching. But farmers may also pluck the feathers when geese are still live, a painful process akin to someone ripping out human being pilus, animal welfare and advancement groups say. This ordinarily happens to egg-laying geese, which tin alive for up to five years, on parent farms. Though geese and ducks naturally molt once and twice a year, respectively, farmers may pluck the feathers more often to become the most down they tin, a process that can happen up to xvi times in a goose'due south lifetime, says Iv Paws' Lary. And larger, older birds grow larger fill clusters, which can trap more than air.
Though information technology's unknown how much downwardly comes from live plucking, parent farms produce, at most, 13 percent of the global supply, says Matthew Betcher of Allied Feather and Down, the leading supplier for downward for apparel. "It garners all the attention because it'due south shocking," he says. (Lo's net search for information on alive plucking in Mandarin yielded a number of tutorials.) The China Feather and Downward Industrial Association condemns the exercise but has non outlawed information technology. The European Union prohibits live plucking, making some goose down from in that location ethically harvested. Live plucking isn't the merely ethical concern; some geese are also strength-fed to produce foie gras.
While goose down isn't as pricy equally eiderdown, information technology is expensive, and consumers can look to shell out hundreds of dollars for a coat.
Duck Down
Domestic ducks raised for meat in Asia and Europe provide the largest percent of down used today. These birds, oftentimes the Pekin breed in People's republic of china, may as well be alive-pluckedand force-fed to produce foie gras.
Most ducks only alive for roughly 10 weeks before they're slaughtered; during the last two weeks is when some farmers strength-feed them to engorge their livers to create foie gras. Birds that can sustain this treatment have evolved over millenia to fatten upwards speedily, a trait that likely allowed their predecessors to build up fuel stores to sustain them during migration.
The huge need for duck meat means there is a lot of down byproduct available, which in turns makes this fantastic insulator more affordable than its competitors.
Standards
In the by decade, as the down manufacture has come up under closer scrutiny, several standards accept been created for ethically sourced downwardly. Certifying bodies at present evaluate all parts of the supply chain: parent farms, hatcheries, raising farms, slaughterhouses, processing facilities, and manufacturers. Each standard has its ain label, and Allied Plumage and Down likewise adult Track My Down, which allows consumers to search the company'south database using a lot number on a product tag. Here are the standards, from near strict to to the lowest degree.
Global Traceable Downwards Standard
Created: 2013
Certification requirements: No GTDS-certified down can come from alive-plucked or strength-fed birds, and all animals must have access to the Five Freedoms of animal welfare: freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from hurting, injury, and disease; liberty to limited normal and natural behavior; and freedom from fearfulness and distress. Tertiary-party certification groups visit each facility in the supply chain to investigate the conditions.
Requirements for maintaining certification: Certifying groups audit each facility along the supply chain every three years to ensure that it's following the certifying criteria and that certified down is not mixed with not-certified downward.
Shortcomings: Few brands are certified to the GTDS, presumably because it has been the strictest standard.
Actress stuff: This standard, adult by Patagonia and and then transferred in 2015 to NSF International, a production testing, inspection, and certification organization, applies to apparrel, household, and commercial products. (Detect certified brands here.)
Responsible Downward Standard
Created: 2014
Certification requirements: No RDS-certified downwards can come from alive-plucked or force-fed birds, and farms must also comply with the five freedoms. Third-party certification groups visit each facility in the supply concatenation to investigate the conditions. Equally of this year, that includes parent farms.
Requirements for maintaining certification: Each facility is audited every twelvemonth to ensure that it's post-obit the certifying criteria and that certified downward is not mixed with non-certified down.
Shortcomings: Parent farms, where birds may be live-plucked, was an optional, not a mandatory, part of the certification until last yr.
Extra stuff: This is the about popular certification, with 150 committed brands and retailers. (Its popularity is likely due, in part, to the fact that parent farms previously did not take to exist certified). The certification was first launched by: The Northward Face; Cloth Exchange, a nonprofit focused on sustainability within the material industry; and Union Control Certifications, a group that inspects and certifies supply chains, with help from Centrolineal Feather and Down. Downwards standards likewise led Textile Substitution to develop standards for wool, mohair, and alpaca. (Find certified brands here.)
Downpass
Created: 2011
Certification requirements: The group requires that no Downpass certified downwardly come up from live-plucked or force-fed birds. Farms besides have to abide by a list of animal welfare requirements, which are reviewed past independent auditors.
Requirements for maintaining certification: Mystery shoppers around the world help to verify that down used in products with a Downpass characterization is what it says it is. These shoppers send the feathers to a quality command institute that analyszes the feathers to ensure that the label accurately states the feather type and makeup of material. The terminal report is confirmed with a notary. Certification lasts 2 years.
Shortcomings:Downpass was originally created by the bedding manufacture in the 1970s under a different proper noun, but the standard did non accept animal welfare requirements. In 2011, the grouping began working with certification groups to evaluate farms and exclude those that live-plucked from certification. Certifying parent farms is optional, though the side by side update, which could exist released as early as 2022, will likely make doing so a requirement.
Actress stuff: The number of companies certified to the Downpass standard has grown significantly in the by decade, increasing to 99 from 9.
International Downward Standard
Created: 2008
Certification requirements: The International Downwardly and Feather Laboratory (IDFL), which certifies suppliers for GTDS and RDS, also has its own down standard, which requires traceability and no live-plucking or force-feeding.
Requirements for maintaining certification: Facilities are audited every 12 months.
Shortcomings: Brands don't demand to go all the way back to the parent farm to obtain certification, and the standard does not require independent testing once the feathers are in a product.
Extra stuff: IDFL also tests down for composition, performance, and cleanliness.
Downwardly Alternatives
For consumers who would rather avoid ownership down birthday, at that place'southward a plethora of constructed options that attempt to mimic downwards or provide insulation in situations or circumstances when downward might not.
Critics of synthetics say that the materials aren't equally environmentally friendly as down because they don't last as long, are oftentimes made from polyester, and can shed microfibers when done. They usually don't breathe as well, either. In 2019, the International Down and Feather Bureau commissioned a lifecycle analysis of down compared to polyester fill up and reported that the environmental affect of downwardly compared to polyester fill is upward to 97 percent lower.
But synthetic substitutes do have their upsides: They can perform when wet or compressed, for instance. And thanks to technological advances, several synthetic fillers rival down in terms of warmth and breathability. They're oft cheaper, too.
A number of companies, including Rab and Columbia, accept their own proprietary synthetic downs. Some avowal breathability, some stretchiness. Other brands use NASA-adult aerogel; Smashing Auk Outfitters uses it in its down-less parkas.
Here are a few of the pinnacle performers and innovators.
Primaloft
Adult by the U.South. Army more than than 3 decades ago as an culling to down, PrimaLoft, with its lite weight and high compressibility, is one of the best-performing down alternatives. A range of brands, including 50.L. Bean and Athleta, use the product (and its kin, similar PrimaLoft P.U.R.East., and PrimaLoft Active). The downsides are that it has only a 3rd of downwardly's insulating ability, and it is made from polyester and will non interruption down naturally. Earlier this yr, the company released PrimaLoft Bio, a biodegradable synthetic downwardly alternative made from 100 percent recycled material.
Thinsulate
3M developed Thinsulate in the 1970s. Information technology's another popular downward alternative, used by Spyder, Carhartt, and other companies, that keeps insulating when moisture. The company also created an insulating material made from 100 percent recycled plastic bottles.
Polartec
Polartec beginning made its synthetic insulating cloth for the U.S. Special Forces and invented modern constructed fleece in 1981. The company's various downward alternatives are breathable, allowing the material to maintain its insulating ability during drastic temperature shifts. Brands from Arc'teryx to Marmot use Polartec insulation.
Innovations in Down
Despite down alternatives, there's yet high demand for the real matter. Some brands are now creating or using existing downward and synthetic hybrids that perform better in damp conditions and often reduce the cost of a jacket or sleeping bag. Some brands as well utilise down and wool hybrids, which they say stay drier than down alone and conduct less heat, making them preferable in warmer climates.
One style that brands are dealing with the ethical issues related to down is by using a growing corporeality of recycled feathers. Five-twelvemonth-one-time visitor Re:Down, for example, treats recycled down from bedding and has partnered with NaturTex, a company that makes comforters and cushions. And Patagonia has committed to using eighty percent recycled down in its products.
For Lo, the experience of making his ain downwards coat made him want to bear witness others how hard, and rewarding, it can be, so he created a guide for others to brand their own coats. He's also running a contest on social media. The commencement person to collect enough down feathers to make a coat wins the ultimate prize for whatever serious bird nerd willing to brave frigid conditions: a free trip to the Arctic.
| Home (pillows, bedding, furniture, etc.) | Outdoor (sleeping bags, blankets, etc.) | Apparel (jackets and other habiliment) | |
| GTDS Certified | None | Patagonia | Patagonia |
| RDS Certified |
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|
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| Downpass* |
|
|
|
* Most companies certified by Downpass are international.
Source: https://www.audubon.org/news/everything-you-need-know-about-buying-ethically-sourced-down-products
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