Carter's

Carter's appears to heavily rely on high emissions and/or synthetic materials while also using some lower emissions materials. It appears to use primarily conventional cotton and virgin polyester. Some of its materials are certified by Oeko-Tex or BCI. It has plans to reduce its reliance on high emissions materials by moving 100% of its cotton and polyester to certified sourcing by 2030. It has reported on progress towards these goals within the last year - it's mostly on track for its cotton goal but is far off track for its polyester goal.

Carter's shares information on its energy strategy. It has started to incorporate renewable energy to power its corporate offices and storefronts, but doesn't provide clarity on what proportion of its energy use its RECs cover. Carter's has vague targets for expanding its use of renewable energy. It implements energy efficiency measures in its corporate offices and storefronts. It doesn't provide information on any renewable energy or energy efficiency at its production sites. Carter's sources and manufactures its materials globally, which is standard practice in the textile industry.

Carter's has made efforts to minimize the amount of material used in its packaging by reducing inserts and reusing cartons. It has made efforts to reduce virgin plastic in its packaging, but still relies on it.

Carter's doesn't offer repair services or support. Carter's doesn't offer a warranty. Commons couldn't find detailed care instructions for this brand.

Carter's has a take back partnership with Terracycle called KIDCYCLE. This program accepts any brand's clothes for downcycling, but Carter's doesn't promote the program to consumers at all, which severely limits its efficacy. Carter's doesn't share details on the efficacy of this program. We expect larger brands to share this information.

Carter's offers select products across multiple seasons but also releases new items frequently throughout the year.

Commons is still evaluating this brand's marketing emails.

Carter's doesn't appear to have a sustainability page or centralized source or information on its main consumer-facing site, and it doesn't link to the sustainability resources on its corporate site. It publishes a detailed annual report with a clear, impact-driven strategy and progress reporting on its corporate site. Its last annual report was published in 2023.

Carter's internally measures and publicly reports its company-level emissions in partnership with, or with auditing from, a third party. It includes a breakdown by scope and identifies its top driver of emissions. The last reporting period was 2023. In its most recent update, its estimated emissions footprint was 892,549 tons CO2e.

Carter's has SBTi-approved emissions reduction targets for the medium-term (5-10 years). However, its reduction targets are primarily focused on Scopes 1 and 2, the smaller portion of its footprint. It last reported on its progress in 2023, and was on track for all of its targets. Commons couldn't find evidence that this brand offsets any emissions.

Carter's publishes information about its supply chain partners, disclosing their names and locations across Tier 1 (final production manufacturing). It traces some of its supply chain, but doesn't provide transparency into its findings. It publicly shares a supplier code of conduct, which prohibits forced or child labor and ensures the right to collective bargaining. Its code of conduct doesn't disallow unauthorized subcontracting or ensure a living wage. Carter's conducts regular audits of its supply chain partners, including unannounced audits.