Sports label scores

By Jane Barraclough
FERNTREE Gully is home to a sports label with a difference – Etiko.
Fair trade and sustainability are the bottom line at Etiko where workers rights and environmental impacts are factored in to the production of every hoodie and soccer ball on the shelves.
The four-year-old business was recently chosen as a finalist for one of the prestigious Banksia Environment Awards.
Etiko is one of four finalists in the running for the Business Sustainability Award which recognises environmental initiatives made by business.
“Of course, we were stoked and proud to hear the news,” Etiko founder Nick Savayidis said.
“Awards like this are great for raising the profile of fair trade and getting our name out there.”
He said profits were not just gauged but environmental and social impacts had to be considered as well.
Etiko clothing is a non-sweatshop label, which means all workers in Australia and overseas are protected by workers rights such as award wages and worker’s compensation.
Mr Savayidis said Etiko works with like-minded organisations like Oxfam to ensure these conditions are upheld.
Etiko has taken up initiatives with Oxfam to raise awareness of fair trade.
Mr Savayidis has just returned from a trip to Pakistan following a fundraising initiative where for every soccer ball bought in Australia, one would be donated to a child in Pakistan.
Etiko has previously been recognised for its efforts to stop the use of child labour in the production of sports balls.
This year Etiko won the Premier’s Sustainability Award for small business was runner up in the business category at the World Environment Day Awards which were held in Melbourne last month. The business also produces eco-friendly sports balls that use alternatives to the cheap polyvinyl chloride of the mainstream market which is a source of harmful dioxins in the burning of household waste.
Unlike conventional business, environmental and social considerations were Etiko’s sole reason for operating, according to its founder.
Award winners will be announced at the Banksia Foundation’s gala dinner at the Melbourne Convention Centre this Friday, 18 July.