Transparent information for customers who want to make responsible choices

In order to be able to compare products and make real choices, you need information – such as the what the product is made of and where it was made. At VAUDE, we think it is important to provide our customers with as much information as possible.

There are a variety of legal regulations and guidelines for labeling products by means of sewn-in care labels. These regulations on product labelling must be observed in order to prevent unfair competition and ensure consumer protection.

According to the Textile Labelling Act, product labels must indicate the fiber content and all materials of animal origin. All VAUDE products are subject to this labelling law.

Additional information such as organic or recycled content is only permitted if the proportion is 100 % and must otherwise be placed on the product in another form, e.g. as a goods label.

In addition to the Textile Labelling Act, our textile products have a care label in accordance with ISO 3758, an international standard for care labeling of textile products.

For some products Conformity according to EU safety law is necessary. We label these products with a CE label. These include clothing components with UV protection or products that should provide better visibility in road traffic, such as our reflective cuffs.

We provide the following information for our products:

• Fiber content
  
• Care instructions
  
• Country of origin
  
• Date of manufacture
• Materials of animal origin
• CE conformity
  
• Green Shape
• Grüner Knopf
  
• Fair Wear Leader Status
  
• Other ecological and technical benefits
  

We offer our customers additional valuable information on product hangtags. These hangtags provide information about environmental and technical aspects as well as information on our system suppliers such as PrimaLoft ®, Polartec® and Sympatex®, sketches and photos of the product as well as information on the what activities the product was designed for and any awards or patents it may have.

We also provide detailed information about the product to our dealers so that they can use it in their own online shops. By using the link to the Loadbee platform, for example, more in-depth technology and material information can be displayed in their online shops.

In addition, we label those products that fulfill our strict criteria with the VAUDE Green Shape label. We use the Green Shape label directly on product hangtags as well as the product itself on a discreet sewn-in label, and also in our purchasing documents for our specialist retailers and in the online shop. More details on the Green Shape Standard here

Almost all VAUDE Green Shape products are also certified with the Grüner Knopf and therefore also bear this logo. More information about the Grüner Knopf here.

For years now, VAUDE has been earning the "Leader Status" award from Fair Wear. Only brands with this award are allowed to display the logo of this organization for high social standards in textile production directly in their products. More about our responsibility for the people who make VAUDE products here.

VAUDE products that have a special ecological added value are additionally marked. For the paper hangtag, we select only the most important items so as not to use up paper unnecessarily and not to overload our customers with information. It goes without saying that we only use recycled paper.

Online in the webshop we show all ecological advantages that the product has.

This also applies to products that do not meet the strict Green Shape criteria.

As of the Summer Collection 2016, we also began labeling products that consist of at least 30 % recycled materials or at least 30 % renewable materials.

We want to make it even easier for our customers to recognize eco-friendly products and make informed purchasing decisions, even if the product does not yet meet all Green Shape criteria.

However, to avoid creating a "label jungle" on the product, we have established a hierarchy of labels. VAUDE products carry only one of the following eco-labels:

However, to avoid creating a "label jungle" on the product, we have established a hierarchy of labels. VAUDE products carry only one of the following eco-labels:

In addition to Green Shape products, we also label products that offer one of the following environmental benefits:

1. Recycled Materials – when the primary material consists of at least 30 % recycled materials.
2. Biobased Materials – iwhen the primary material consists of at least 30 % renewable materials
3. Sustainable Technology – when the product is made using sustainable technologies or by a sustainable manufacturing process

We always select only the most important feature in the hierarchy shown above for the printed form for this label as well.

We want to make it even easier for our customers to recognize more environmentally friendly materials in our products and to make a conscious purchase decision.

Our customers can recognize the ecological value of a product right at the point of sale.

Technical products – child carriers, panniers and tents – are given additional product-specific instructions on use, assembly, maintenance and special safety instructions. All instructions can of course also be found on our digital support and help center.

We work very closely with our material suppliers to label our products properly. They provide detailed information on the fiber composition and provide us with the specific care instructions.

In our Product Data Bank, this information is stored in a separate workflow that includes control loops so that we can reliably manage queries and labels. 

We make sure that our care instructions are as eco-friendly as possible and recommend, for example, washing at low temperatures and air drying whenever possible.

In each season, we check all labels to ensure that the material composition and care instructions have not changed.

In 2019 there were no violations of labeling regulations.

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