Our Ethics & Sustainability

How we make things in Jaipur — and why it matters.

Myyra began in 1999 with a simple belief: a textile is only as good as the hands that make it and the way it’s made. We are a women-led workshop, printing by hand, block by block. Here is how we work — plainly, without greenwashing.

The People Who Make Myyra

Every piece is made by skilled artisans, most of them women, many trained by us from scratch. We hold ourselves to the standards we believe every workshop should:

  • Fair wages — at or above the legal minimum, with equal pay for equal work.
  • No child labor, and no forced or bonded labor of any kind.
  • Workers are free to form and join a union.
  • Working hours stay within legal limits; overtime is voluntary and paid.
  • No discrimination by gender, caste, or religion — and no harassment or harsh treatment.
  • Safe, hygienic conditions: clean drinking water, sanitation, first aid, and proper handling of materials.
  • Regular employment on clear terms, with a way for any worker to raise a concern.

We don’t hold a current social-compliance certificate, and we won’t pretend otherwise. These are the practices we run by every day.

Materials & Process

The inks and the way we print haven’t changed since our GOTS-certified years:

  • GOTS-approved inks and auxiliaries — AZO-free, with no heavy metals or hazardous substances, on every piece we make.
  • Hand block printing cured dry — there is no washing step after printing, so our hand block process discharges no effluent water at all. (Only our digital-print line, Open Earth, involves washing; hand block is our focus.)

On cotton — the honest version. We work in both organic cotton and conventional cotton, and you choose based on your budget and needs. Most of our bulk orders are made in organic cotton because that’s what our buyers ask for. During our GOTS-certified years we worked exclusively in organic cotton; today we offer both, so good craft stays within reach of more buyers. Organic cotton is available across our range — just ask, and we’ll make it for you.

When you choose organic cotton, you choose cloth grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. (Cotton covers about 2.5% of the world’s farmland but uses 16–25% of its insecticides; organic farming avoids that, and most organic cotton is rain-fed, easing pressure on water.)

To be clear: we are not currently GOTS-certified. We let the certificate lapse, but we kept the supply chain, the AZO-free inks, and the option to make anything in organic cotton.

Zero Waste — Nothing Is Thrown Away

We work to a genuine zero-waste rule on the floor:

  • Offcuts become new cloth. The strips left over from cutting are given to our artisans to make again — woven into rag-style rugs (plain or random multi-color) or stitched square-by-square into checkered patchwork fabric, which then becomes bedcovers, cushion covers, and more.
  • Inks are used to the last drop. Leftover ink from one print run is mixed into deeper shades for the next, so no color is wasted.

Imperfection is our signature, not a flaw — and so is using everything we have.

Packaging

For bulk orders we pack mostly in reusable fabric pouches (for dohars, bedcovers, and similar). Where a plastic film is unavoidable, we use recycled, non-virgin plastic that meets environmental norms — never new virgin plastic.

After Its Life With You

Cotton is a natural fibre — biodegradable when untreated, organic or conventional alike. When a piece has finally served you, it doesn’t have to become landfill: it can be composted, or given a second life the way we do in our own workshop — cut into cleaning cloths or patchwork. We’re glad to share ideas if you write to us.

The UN Goals We Work Toward

We don’t claim badges we haven’t earned. These United Nations Sustainable Development Goals genuinely reflect how we operate:

  • SDG 1 — No Poverty: steady income and free skill training for rural artisans.
  • SDG 3 — Good Health & Well-being: non-toxic materials and a safe workplace.
  • SDG 4 — Quality Education: free training in hand block printing, stitching, and handwork for village women.
  • SDG 5 — Gender Equality: a women-led workshop with a majority-women workforce.
  • SDG 6 — Clean Water & Sanitation: our hand block printing discharges no effluent.
  • SDG 8 — Decent Work & Economic Growth: fair wages, safe conditions, no child or forced labor.
  • SDG 9 — Industry & Innovation: pioneering rare next-generation fibres (lotus, banana, peace silk, and more).
  • SDG 10 — Reduced Inequalities: direct-from-artisan, no middlemen, opportunity for rural women.
  • SDG 11 — Sustainable Communities: keeping a centuries-old craft heritage alive in Jaipur.
  • SDG 12 — Responsible Consumption & Production: zero waste, ink reuse, and slow, made-to-last goods.
  • SDG 13 — Climate Action: our organic cotton option is grown without synthetic chemicals and is largely rain-fed.
  • SDG 15 — Life on Land: choosing organic cotton supports farming that protects soil and keeps toxic runoff out of the land.

Made by hand in Jaipur, India. Questions about how we work? Write to us — we’ll always answer honestly.