When I started to move forward with an in-house apparel line for KINGHORN CO, it made me look at my impact on the natural land and what I do to give back. From 2014-2017 I saw the environmental impact of my work as a direct result of working with tourism boards.
I had seen Banff go from seeing maybe 60 people in the early morning at their most visited lake (Moraine Lake), to 200 people before 8am, all looking to copy the same lake shot I had copied from a tourist postcard in town and shot for Travel Alberta/Tourism Jasper 2 years before. I don’t think it was from just my work directly, but the 60ish of us influencers brought into the park that had done work that year, it was all for content used to get more traffic into the parks which obviously had worked, but without accountability to the environmental impacts of more traffic. I started to see foot traffic off paths, trash on the sides of trails, people neglecting Leave No Trace protocols due to blind ignorance of being somewhere they saw on instagram.
I started seeing the correlation of the many of us that created and made a living off of national parks and public lands, gentrifying them, and leaving the logistics of land maintenance up to the parks services that were constantly having their federal resources and funding cut.
I wanted to do something, but there’s not much one person can do to make a difference, or so I thought at first.
So I took to the internet to learn and see if there was a way I could help, a sustainable way I could create an in-house brand, or if it would be better for my carbon footprint to just not do it all together. Slowly as I researched, I learned the challenges were;
1. Finding a sustainable supply chain
2. Verifying that supply chain
3. Choosing a printing style that has no environmental impact
As I researched I learned a lot about industry practices and the effects we were seeing in our climate and water pollution due to these practices and what to watch out for. What I ended with now 5 months later is the ability to control sourcing, certificates of where the raw material is sourced, and most importantly, using organic cotton product or recycled polyester product.
So far all of my products are either 100% organic cotton or 70% organic cotton with the remainder recycled polyester from plastic bottles, (with the exception of my COVID relief masks, those are regular polyester/cotton composite), but overtime the product selection will grow and provide more.
I started to get to work creating pieces built from my experiences out in the nowhere towns that I had traveled through and the experiences I’ve had as an outdoor enthusiast along with the small jokes that come along from being in the outdoor community. All things that I want to bring into vlogs that can tell a better story of what it means to be out here. For now tho, this is a great foot in the door place to be at for my brand and a great way to start looking at how KINGHORN CO can help inspire changes.
How to be sure you're getting organic cotton
The Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX is a certification system that works with the Control Union that can help you determine whether or not the cotton used to make your clothing is truly organic by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). Products with this certification have been tracked and traced along the supply chain and contain 100% organic cotton fiber. OKEO-TEX also tests for harmful chemicals.
How can you see our cotton is organic?
How can you tell our dye is environmentally safe?
Why organic cotton is better for farmers and factory workers
In addition to being better for your health, organic cotton is also better for farmers and factory workers than conventional cotton. One reason is that organic cotton is often hand-picked rather than harvested with machinery, which means workers avoid contact with potentially toxic chemicals.
Another reason is the prevalence of Fair Trade practices. Although Fair Trade and organic aren't the same thing, they often go hand-in-hand.
First, a little background on Fair Trade practices: When you buy Fair Trade Certified™ goods, you can be sure that they were produced in factories where equipment and working conditions are strictly monitored to ensure workers' safety, and where manufacturers commit to providing sustainable livelihoods for workers and their communities.
Raw materials are also traced from their origins to their destination so that these standards are upheld during every step of the production process. Workers' rights and wellness are specific to Fair Trade, but environmental standards—like reducing waste and avoiding harmful chemicals—are aligned closely with the standards used in organic production.
WHY IS organic a big deal?
Well, cotton is grown one of two ways; Dryland or Irrigated. Dryland cotton relies on the natural rainfall during the summer months to grow, whereas irrigated cotton is grown with water pumped from rivers, aquifers, or other underground sources. According to the Water Footprint Network, 53% of the worlds cotton crop is irrigated and accounting for 73% of the worlds cotton production.
The International Trade Centre (ITC) notes that irrigated cotton is frequently grown in regions where freshwater is in short supply. Mainly in areas such as the Mediterranean and desert or near desert areas in Australia, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and the Western United States. It takes a lot of water to bring cotton to harvest: about 10,000 liters on average to produce one kilogram of cotton.
That presents a “significant Environmental challenge,” the ITC notes. Extensive Irrigation of cotton potentially contributes to ground water depletion, and if drainage isn’t maintained carefully, it can lead to a buildup of salt in freshwater sources. Then there’s the use of synthetic fertilizer, runoff from which can “increase the risk of contamination of surface and groundwater.”
How organic cotton is different
Like conventional cotton, organic cotton is water-intensive to grow—although whether organic cotton uses more or less water than conventional cotton is a matter of some debate. According to the nonprofit organization Textile Exchange, 70% to 80% of organic cotton is estimated to be rain-fed rather than irrigated. And, the organization notes, not all irrigation necessarily uses a ton of water—drip irrigation, for example, works by applying small amounts of water across a specific area. (Drip irrigation is more expensive, though, so it's not necessarily an option for all countries where cotton is produced.)
What's not in question is that organic cotton is non-GMO and contains fewer chemicals than it is conventionally grown counterpart. Cotton accounts for as much as 25% of global pesticide use, according to the Organic Trade Association. Conventionally manufactured cotton fabric can come into contact with a range of chemicals and potentially dangerous materials including petroleum-based products, flame retardants, ammonia, and formaldehyde.
These chemicals can lead to skin irritation, exacerbate other health issues, and cause damage to soil and water. The ITC explains that fertilization practices up the risk of soil erosion, and the spreading of residues from synthetic fertilizers increases the chance of contamination to groundwater.
Organic cotton, on the other hand, is grown without any chemical insecticides or synthetic fertilizers, meaning it's better for your health, and runoff won't have a negative impact on rivers and local water systems.
Keep in mind that how a crop is grown is only part of the equation. Even if a textile is made from organically grown cotton, how the item is produced—a process that includes dyeing and finishing—also can be a source of chemical contact and pollution. That's why many organic cotton products, specifically clothing, are undyed or made with environmentally safe dyes.
How organic cotton performs
For those with skin allergies or conditions like eczema, choosing organic cotton sheets is a no-brainer. Because organic cotton isn't treated with harmful chemicals, it's hypoallergenic and much less likely to cause irritation.
What's more, the Organic Cotton Initiative, a joint campaign between the Soil Association and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), states that organic cotton fibers typically produce better quality yarns than conventional ones, which may result in more durable, longer-lasting goods.
Because organic cotton hasn't been processed with harmful chemicals, you may notice that it feels softer and is more breathable than conventional cotton.
Where do we go from here?
After finding all this information, it became apparent that I need to sustain this supply chain and provide the downloadable documents that show where my cotton comes from, not just for me, but for others to hold accountability in transparency. That paired with 15% of all purchases going to the National Parks Fund, somehow I went from thinking there was nothing I could do, to now, working on educating people that purchase from me, and getting funds to support causes I want to make a difference in.
What is THE ROPE TEAm?
THE ROPE TEAM is a concept that I personally wanted to implement for a while now. It’s a basic business model used by many outdoor companies and foundations. Essentially just taking a percentage of your profits and using them to fund or donate to legitimized social causes.
Why focus on the outdoors?
Well, for the last 6 years I’ve been a part of a vastly ever growing community of outdoor photographers developing their brands and image on social media. I’ve first hand personally seen how the outdoors, local towns, and small area economies can be affected by gentrifying a location.
To put it simply, if you were to go out and visit a local park in your area, then post and tag the location, how many people do you think would go? Maybe 2-4 people?
Well as social accounts grow and more people start to become largely followed, the locations certain accounts post can garner up to hundreds of people going to that same location in a year, multiply that by how many new larger accounts are tagging that location, and it adds up to thousands of new people and larger impact of traffic coming each year.
Which is honestly AMAZING in terms of how many people get to experience being in the outdoors, but also has created a new problem of large impact on the environment that our public land management and national parks can’t keep up with. Not everyone in the outdoors is familiar with Leave No Trace protocols or know the basic dos and don’ts for impacting an ecological environment.
With the disbandment of the EPA and federal defunding of protection agencies for PUBLIC LANDS, it is imperative to protect these lands. As an individual making a living using these lands in my work, this is my way of giving back.
Ultimately THE ROPE TEAM is for KINGHORN CO to give some transparency in how much money gets donated. So that if you choose to purchase goods, art, and merchandise you’ll know where the money you spent has gone.
I’ve started the brand KINGHORN CO and my name is Kevin Kinghorn but I want to be much more than myself – I want this brand to create an impact and educate those new to the outdoor industry.
Together we can reach summit. Donations are 15% from prints, 15% from Merch, and 5% from Photo Jobs. (Unless specified to another cause). When a mountain is summited it gets flagged and crossed off.