Sustainability and Responsible Manufacturing for Pug Life products

Pug Life strives to work with materials, creators, suppliers and manufacturers that live up to our ethos of low impact to both the environment and workers. Our suppliers aren't nasty sweatshops and we're real people based in Seattle, Washington!

Made to Order
We try to hold as little excess inventory as possible and choose to produce Pug Life products on demand to avoid waste. When possible we use fabric scraps to create new products to further reduce waste.

Reject Fast Fashion
Pug Life products may be more expensive at times, but we have chosen to use materials made from sustainable sources whenever possible. For our man-made fabrics, we've chosen products that use more environmentally friendly processes for creation and dying--from less water in manufacturer to utilizing recycled goods. Whenever possible, we choose sustainable natural fabrics and environmentally friendly dye and printing practices. We don't want our products to be worn once and thrown away. Even with out kitschiest and silliest clothing pieces, we want them to last wear after wear and wash after wash. If you ever find our products don't live up this quality, please contact us immediately so we can remedy this for you and for everyone going forward. 

Responsible Manufacturing
We work with suppliers who commit to responsible workplaces and processes, trying to avoid importing goods from countries known to have sketchy humanitarian and environmental records. We don't simply say something is Made in America and pretend that makes it a better product or supplier. Instead we choose suppliers and partners who are committed to our ethos. We celebrate locally made, high worker conditions, and eco-friendly production, which means our non-US suppliers all use locally made to them supplies. 

  • Handmade in US - These products are made by hand in the US by artisan crafters who work with Pug Life or one of their suppliers. These range from our vegan soy and coconut wax candles, which are hand poured to our eco-resin products that are made in the home craft room of our founder. 
  • Made in America - Pug Life marks products "Made in USA" only if they are made completely in the US from materials that can all be tracked directly to a responsible supplier in the US, Canada, or Europe. Most are made in the USA from materials made in the USA. We always provide as much information as possible, so you can make informed decisions when shopping with us. 
  • Made in Canada - We work with two Canadian suppliers, one for clothing and one for skateboards. The skateboards are made from pressed wood in Canada before being printed in the United States. Our Canadian clothing partner is as committed to sustainability and low-impact as we are, with many of their fabrics made, printed/dyed, and sewn in their Montreal facilities. They only work with fabric suppliers who follow suit. Many of their fabrics are eco-certified, and they choose eco-friendly manufacturing when when certification is not available. And rest assured, the working conditions for their employees are absolutely amazing.
  • Made in UK - Our UK supplier is committed to reducing landfill through responsible end-to-end production, while maintaining sustainability & eco-friendliness of all their fabrics and finished products. They also go above and beyond to reduce water used in production of materials and dying of fabrics. Like our Canadian partner, our UK partner maintains only the highest standard of worker conditions and product responsibility.
  • Made in Vietnam - Our laser cut products are made in Vietnam using sustainable or recycled wood, and recycled acrylic. Our Vietnamese partner offers a safe and ethical work environment. 

DOG PRODUCT AND CERAMIC ALERT: Some of our dog products are made in Hong Kong with a supplier that we work with closely to ensure they meet environmental and work standards. We limit our Chinese production as much as possible and will continue to look for a US supplier. In addition, some of the ceramic blanks used for products are made in China or other global locations. These blanks ar ethen printed and finished in the US. This is limited to our blank tiles and a few of our coated mugs--we've chosen to limit our offerings of these items.

Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle
We do the hard work of reducing waste while creating and manufacturing great pug products that should last a lifetime. While not all of our products are packaged for mailing in completely reusable materials, we encourage you to reuse boxes, our eco-friendly packing materials, and twine whenever possible.

For our products packed in plastic film mailers, please consider joining Ridwell if it's available in your neighborhood. Ridwell collects plastic film and other waste directly from your home! They are currently making pick-ups in Seattle, Portland, Denver, Twin Cities, Austin, and East Bay areas, and adding more areas all the time.

And definitely reuse and repurpose our products. We encourage you to recycle our products and packing materials whenever possible. A few of our shirts can be recycled and we'll be happy to take them back and handle them appropriately in exchange for a 10% discount on future orders. Contact us for more information. We hope to expand our fabric recycling program in the future.