Leather Cord USA
Leather Cord USA, From Milan to New York to Paris and every runway in-between: Our leathers are chosen by major designers worldwide. All of our cording is made from the most superior skins available. Our dyes are exclusively made by BASF and Clariant; the world’s leaders in dyes and commercial coloring. All our dyes are certified 100% Lead-Free and meet all requirements of the German Goods Ordinance, REACH (European Union), RoSH (U.K.), and CPSIA (U.S.) which require consumer goods to be free of Lead, AZO’s and carcinogenic chemicals.
What are 2-3 Actual examples of things you are doing to be green?
Wow…a very involved question. First, we looked at our offices and checked things we could do for no cost….turning off lights when you leave an office; a few degree change in the thermostat; reduce unnecessary printing;
Then, small cost…..installed window tint on office windows; changed light bulbs in all lights.
Then, more cost but with good return…..having skylights installed in warehouse; changed out incandescent lights to fluorescent.
Going green has never been an issue for us. We are leather manufacturers/distributers. Most of our production takes place at our factory overseas, where environmental issues are not a major concern. But it has always been a concern to us. As everyone knows, leather tanning is one of the worst environmental problems in the world. But, we addressed that years ago in many ways. We invested heavily on changes to our process and sought to set the standard for what can be done, instead of what “might” be done.
1) All our products are veg. tanned instead of chromium tanned. This ensures no chromium salts enter the product or the environment.
2) All water used in production is filtered, cleaned, treated on site and is then re-used for irrigation of local crops.
3) All our dyes are AZO and carcinogen free.
What have been some of your biggest challenges about going green?
What have been 2-3 of your favorite GBB initiatives?
What positive results have you seen from going green?
Additional customers. Starting with our production, the expense of making the changes to our process was paid back in less than half the time expected because our customers not only supported our initiatives, but turned out we were years ahead of new international environmental laws that are now in place. When you are the only one who is in compliance (and then some), the customers seek you out.
We have seen a 15% energy cost savings since we began the assessments.
Experience with the GBB
Great. We have not utilized all the services that membership offers, as we just are not the type of company that tries to go out and praise ourselves like “look how good we are”, etc. We should take the time to utilize more of the services GBB offers.
We know what’s right and what’s wrong in our industry. We have seen the bad; the horrible; the absolute worst of the worst: The callous disregard for the environment, for workers or their families. We began with a simple theory….do it right…no excuses.
Our products cost more to make….way more. We know we are not the cheapest in our market, but we don’t want to be. We want to make the best, and we want to make sure that the product, the process or the revenue made is not at the expense of tomorrow.
