Conduct Policy

CeCe’s Wool, LLC

Pillow Manufacturing Center

4780 Duanesburg Road, Duanesburg, NY 12056

 

Responsible Business Conduct Policy

 

CeCe’s Wool makes GOTS certified pillows filled with GOTS certified organic wool or cotton. It is our policy to comply with all required GOTS certification standards and requirements.

 

All staff working on managing and tracking certification requirements will become familiar with relevant documents. These include:

  • GOTS Due Diligence Handbook for Certified Entities
  • Global Organic Textile Standard Version 7.0
  • OTCO’s web page and required forms listed

Relevant staff will be expected to review these materials upon hiring or when updated guidance is made available. Relevant staff are also expected to review OTCO webinars and slides when they are distributed by Oregon Tilth.

Staff are encouraged to raise questions to the Executive Director and Oregon Tilth staff if they do not understand a requirement.

Our Philosophy

CeCe’s Wool is committed to providing products to our customers that are sustainable, long lasting, and do not harm the environment in their production or in their lifetime. We believe that it is our responsibility to respect human rights, protect the environment, and prevent possible risks to ensure that we are providing the best products to our customers. This policy outlines our commitment to sustainable and responsible business practices.

Environmental Footprint

CeCe’s Wool is committed to reducing our environmental footprint and promoting sustainable practices throughout our supply chain.

  1. Sustainable Materials: We seek renewable, biodegradable and ethically sourced materials in our products. We only use GOTS certified organic fabrics in our pillow production. We use as much of our stock of fabric as possible and create new products using dead stock fabric.
  2. Energy Efficiency: We reduce our energy consumption as much as possible and use sustainable packaging as much as is feasible. We source our wool from domestic farms as close as possible to reduce travel time. We offer drop shipping to our wholesale accounts to reduce shipping of pillows; this also provides cost savings to our customers and reduces energy usage.
  3. Waste Reduction: We utilize dead stock and our leftover fabrics to create new products. We minimize the use of plastics in our shipping.
  4. Water conservation. We use only GOTS certified organic cotton in our pillow production facility. We recognize that organically grown cotton consumes less water.

Social Responsibility

We are committed to promoting fair labor practices and ensuring that everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

  1. Fair wages and safe working conditions. We expect our suppliers to provide fair wages and safe working environments. We know and visit our suppliers’ locations as much as possible. For example, we pick up our supply of organic cotton batting directly from the mill that manufactures it and have witnessed the milling of this product. We source our domestic wool from local farms and deliver it to the scouring facility while working directly with the staff engaged in this process. We do not hire children to perform work at our facility and expect our suppliers to follow state and federal labor laws.
  2. Diversity and Inclusion. We value diversity in our workplace and strive to create an inclusive and flexible work environment where everyone is treated with respect, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, disability, or background.

Animal Welfare

As purveyors of wool products, we believe in the humane treatment of all animals and are committed to ensuring that our wool products come from farms that treat their animals humanely. As such, we source our domestic wool from farms as close as possible so that we can confirm their ethical practices. We do not source wool from farms that practice mulesing.

Supply Chain Accountability

We believe that trust is built through transparency and that we must be accountable to our customers and stakeholders.

  1. Certifications and Standards. CeCe’s Wool adheres to globally recognized certification for organic cotton as described in the Global Organic Textile Standard Version 7.0 (GOTS).
  2. Supply Base. We work with a limited number of suppliers (three) that also adhere to the GOTS standards. We require transaction certificates to verify our purchases.
  3. Continuous improvement. We are committed to continued improvement and reviewing our practices to ensure we meet the highest ethical and sustainability standards. We educate our customers about our products and invite their feedback and questions.

Community Involvement

CeCe’s Wool is committed to developing local supply chains to support sustainable production of materials that support environmental conservation. CeCe’s Wool’s owner is a member of the Board of Directors of the Hudson Valley Textile Project (HVTP) that is actively engaged with the State’s Fashion Innovation Center to support the development of local supply chains to encourage textile manufacturers to utilize locally grown natural fibers such as wool and hemp.

CeCe’s Wool staff is engaged in education and advocacy around the use of natural, ethically raised or grown fibers and has developed a stuffing wool product from local sheep farms to replace polyester fill in craft products. We also speak to students at college level fashion schools regarding the use of locally sourced wool. We are also active on social media sharing the world of sheep farming and educating consumers about using ethically sourced products.

Compliance and Ethics

At CeCe’s Wool, we adhere to the highest ethical standards and ensure we comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

  1. Legal Compliance. CeCe’s Wool complies with all state, national, and international laws regarding environmental protection, labor rights, and trade practices.
  2. Ethical Conduct. We expect all of our employees, suppliers, and partners to conduct themselves ethically in all business dealings. We will not engage in any activity that falsifies information related to the supply change or engage in corruption, bribery, extortion or embezzlement. If any staff engages in any of these practices, they will be fired immediately. We will not engage with any supplier that does not have the same ethical standards.
  3. Governance and Oversight. We will keep accurate records of our work to comply with GOTS standards and provide relevant information for confirmation of that as needed. The ultimate party responsible for the oversight is our owner, Cecilia Tkaczyk
  4. Policy Review and Updates. This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure its relevance and alignment with current industry best practices and updated as necessary.

Respect for Employees

CeCe’s Wool is an equal employment/affirmative action employer and is committed to providing a workplace that is free of discrimination of all types from abusive, offensive or harassing behavior. Employees who feel harassed or discriminated against should report the incident to Cecilia Tkaczyk, the owner of CeCe’s Wool.

CeCe’s Wool prohibits any form of discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic. This applies to all aspects of employment, from hiring to day-to-day interactions.

CeCe’s Wool is committed to maintaining a workplace free of harassment, whether it's physical, verbal, or psychological. This includes sexual harassment and bullying. All employees must comply with the required NYS sexual harassment training.

Due Diligence

CeCe’s Wool utilizes specific practices in the daily operations and culture of our organization that reflect these policies. For example, all GOTS suppliers must be current GOTS certified companies and located in the United States.

We regularly review our risk assessment in the following categories:

  • Supply chain
  • Quality assurance
  • Transportation
  • Finance
  • Marketplace

CeCe’s Wool will develop risk assessments and address issues of concern as needed and in a timely fashion.