Sustainability at MERGE4

Here at MERGE4 we aim to do the best we can for our communities and our planet. We work hard for the planet because it works hard to take care of all of us every day. Here are a few of our sustainable practices that we’re super stoked on and some crazy cool socks that we love: 

Mission and Goals 

We’re well into the 21st Century, where technology and environmental concern have smashed together like a jam sammich. The new revolution is producing products that are guaranteed harmless to human beings, puppies, kittens, unicorns and the environment. In addition to quality, style and comfort, environmental sustainability is one of our top priorities when developing new products. We aim to innovate sustainably by using responsibly-produced, recycled, and renewable materials for our socks.

Additionally, we plan to have 100% of our socks made with recycled or plant-based materials by 2023! 

We’re a Certified B Corporation 

 

Ethical Manufacturing 

We believe everyone has the right to a safe and supportive working environment. To ensure ethical business practices throughout our supply chain, we implemented a code of conduct including annual factory audits to verify BSCI certification as well as factories’ adherence to our standards for safety and wellbeing. We want everyone who is involved in making our men's socks, women's socks, children's socks, and socks for everyone in between to feel like family, so we do our best to treat them as such.

Sustainable Yarns, Fibers and Dyes 

Here are some of our (and the planet’s) favorite MERGE4 fibers and dyes that make our socks AMAZING: 

REPREVE® We transform recycled bottles into an amazing fiber, used by the world's leading brands to make apparel and more. Our process embeds moisture wicking, adaptive warming and cooling, water repellent properties at the fiber level. Every pair of MERGE4 socks is made of 2 recycled plastic bottles and we've helped recycle more than 28,000 plastic bottles to date! Not only are these socks comfortable and stylish, but they're great for the planet too!

 

BAMBOO Mechanically processed bamboo doesn’t require any harmful chemicals and maintains its inherently anti-bacterial properties. Environmentally friendly, bamboo-based yarn has a luxurious softness often compared to cashmere. 

 

TENCEL™ Lyocell and Modal fibers help to maintain environmental balance by being integrated into nature's cycle. The fibers originate from the most common renewable raw material- wood. The certified biobased fibers are manufactured using an environmentally responsible production process. The fibers are certified as compostable and biodegradable, and thus can fully revert back to nature. In other words, these socks are truly one with nature.

HEMP YARN Hemp is a great alternative to other wood or plant based fibers. It requires very little water to grow and 1 acre of useable hemp fiber is equal to about 4 acres of traditional wood or cotton fibers. Additionally, hemp doesn’t contain any residual chemicals that can be found in other fibers. All this makes these socks comfortable and great for you and the planet!

All our SKEO Textile sourced fibers are plant dyed and are committed to high-safety, high-value, and eco-friendly natural dyed textiles. 

IndiDye® is an eco-friendly dying technology based entirely on natural dyes and doesn’t use hazardous chemicals, heavy metals, mordants or salts. All this while significantly reducing water consumption. 

Plastic Free Packaging 

MERGE4 socks are produced and packed with extra care for our Mother Earth. We only use biodegradable paper for our hangtags and hangers, and each pair of socks is sewn with plastic-free thread. 

It doesn’t stop there! Every order from merge4.com is shipped in a 100% recycled poly mailer made in the USA, because we think using cheap, disposable shipping materials for short-term gain is a thing of the past. 

Carbon Neutral Shipping

MERGE4 customers now have the option to offset the carbon emissions of their online sock or face mask orders with EcoCarts. EcoCart maps your order weight, contents and shipping distance against empirically validated CO2 emissions data, and calculates the exact cost of offsetting the carbon impact of the order. 

Every carbon neutral MERGE4 order donates to The Garcia River Forest reforestation project in Mendocino, CA. 

The 23,780-acre forest has become a model site for demonstrating the important role forests play in addressing climate change.

In the last 12 months through EcoCart we have:

• Offset 143.1 tonnes of CO2
• Saved the equivalent of 31,786 trees
• Had 11.6% of our transactions EcoShipped

Pick and Pack Recycling Program

Over the last year our shipping department took a careful tally of the materials that we recycled while shipping out and receiving socks and here are some crazy numbers that we think are awesome!

Last year we recycled:

• 1,328 pounds of cardboard
• 124 pounds of plastic
• and 3.5 pounds of paper

Beach Cleanups

Every so often the MERGE4 team heads out into the community to pick up trash along the California coast line. We think the ocean and all of the organisms that reside there are awesome and deserve a happy and healthy place to live just like all of us who live on land.  

Here at MERGE4 we value our planet, our people, and our community and are committed to expanding our sustainable practice at every turn.