Conversation tool · Textiles & apparel
An environmental conversation about your product
An internal conversation tool from MERK, designed to help you put words to a product's environmental and production conditions across eight themes. The tool does not provide a definitive answer, but a shared starting point for an internal dialogue about where you stand and where you would like to go.
The tool and its results must not be used in the company's commercial communication, for example in marketing, sales material or branding.
This tool is an internal self-assessment instrument developed by MERK to help companies create an overview of, and an internal dialogue about, the environmental impact and production conditions of their products. The results are indicative, are based on the company's own information, and must not be used as official certification or as a marketing claim.
This tool has been developed by MERK as an internal self-assessment instrument for the fashion and lifestyle industry, with the aim of creating a clearer overview of a product's environmental impact and production conditions.
The tool is designed to make it easier for companies to identify strengths, challenges and opportunities for improvement at product level. The model is based on a number of selected criteria and priorities, with a focus on the product's materials and manufacturing.
This also means that the tool is not a life cycle assessment and does not cover all aspects related to a product's total climate and environmental impact. Among the parameters deliberately excluded are:
- resale and second-hand
- consumer behaviour and usage patterns
- lifespan after purchase
- washing and maintenance by the consumer
The result should therefore be seen solely as an indicative internal assessment based on the information the company itself enters into the tool.
The tool must not be used as certification, documentation or an environmental claim in marketing towards consumers, authorities or business partners without further verification and documentation.
MERK accepts no responsibility for:
- the accuracy of companies' data
- companies' use or interpretation of the results
- any legal, commercial or marketing-related consequences of using the tool
MERK furthermore reserves the right to update the criteria, the point allocation and the basis of assessment on an ongoing basis in line with new knowledge, legislation and developments in the industry.
The tool has been developed as a practical industry tool intended to support transparency, reflection and product development, and to make it clearer for companies to work in a structured way with their efforts across products.
Indicate any certifications that apply to the product or the company. Ticking a box is for documentation only and appears in the result. It does not change the score, which is based solely on your answers below. Each certification has its own colour. When you tick a certification, the answers it typically supports are marked with a border in that certification's colour. If several certifications support the same answer, several colours are shown. You still choose for yourself.
Not answered
Select an answer in each category to see your overall score.
Position on the scale