Sustainability Spotlight: Humphrey Law

It’s so easy to pop a pair of lovely woollen socks on our feet and head out the door without thinking about how our socks are made. 

Who are the people who make them? Where do they make them? HOW do they make them? Where do they source the materials from? What are the impacts on the environment for having my socks produced?

When it comes to making high quality socks while also managing to keep our beautiful country in mind, Humphrey Law is the cream of the crop. This wonderful family business has been manufacturing socks for 75 years in Melbourne, passing knowledge and expertise down through the Law family since their launch in 1947.

Along the way Humphrey Law have continued to upgrade and enhance both their factory and their production practices, not only to provide you with some of the finest quality socks made in Australia, but also to reduce their environmental impact. 

At the Humphrey Law factory they:

• Have installed 357 solar panels on the factory roof, which generate 100 kW of electricity which means that every second sock they make is using electricity directly from the sun. 

• Reuse cardboard boxes and plastic yarn cones, alongside recycling paper, plastic, glass and metal.

• Have reduced the knitting room raw material waste by installing a low energy climate control system that works without the need for refrigerated air-conditioning, accurately controlling humidity.

• Recycle as much of the waste from the sock making process as possible.

• Have installed a new state-of–the-art dyeing machine which uses less water, uses less energy, uses less chemicals and reduces their waste. They also only use dyes that conform to European Standards because they produce cleaner waste, reducing environmental footprint. 

Outside of the factory Humphrey Law are also expanding their efforts to care for the environment by:

• Offsetting their non-solar electricity and gas residual emissions by planting 20 hectares of Eucalyptus trees (amazing!)

• Purchasing their fine merino wool from reputable graziers and their agents, who they believe are more than sensitive to animal welfare issues.

The Sockery love how Humphrey Law is conscientiously making an effort towards being as sustainable as possible, and we also really love their socks! 

Click here to see the full range of Humphrey law socks we sell.