Why we don't participate in Black Friday.
Every year an extraordinary amount of greenhouse gas emissions are generated over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, caused by the increase in online shopping and subsequent home deliveries.
We understand that running a business and selling products increases our environmental footprint, we work to reduce this where we can by investing in green initiatives such as our partnerships with City Harvest and Trees for Cities, and our membership to 1% for the Planet.
10% of any sales made this weekend will be donated to these charity partners.
It is our mission to create products which have a genuine place in the world, that meet a real need, and that are designed to last.
We know that Black Friday can be a great way to get a deal on something you already had your heart set on and it can make buying better quality products more attainable, but we cannot ignore the environmental implications of this mass consumption event. So if you are going to participate this weekend, try to stay conscientious and shop with purpose.
We're all in this together.
We are proud members of 1% for the Planet
The membership to 1% for the Planet commits us to donating one percent of our total annual sales to non-profit environmental causes.
We’re conscious that we won’t solve the huge environmental issues by making more products. Our hope is the designs we do produce, go someway to helping encourage people to live more sustainable lifestyles. Taking your own food and drink with you can greatly reduce food waste and single use packaging. We build our designs to last and if used regularly they will help you do your part and every effort helps.
1% for the Planet is an international organization whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual sales to environmental causes. Their mission is to build, support and activate an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet. Members assist non-profit organisations that protect land, forests, rivers, oceans and also encourage sustainable methods of energy production. It was originally founded by Yvon Chouinard and Craig Mathews in 2002 and have certified more than $250 million in support to approved environmental nonprofits.
Our chosen charities
City Harvest puts surplus food to good use in a sustainable way. In a city as affluent as London, it is shocking to find that thousands of people go hungry each day. At the same time, it is such a waste that safe, healthy and usable food is being disposed of. City Harvest collects this nutritious surplus food from all segments of the food industry (including restaurants, grocers, manufacturers, wholesalers, hotels and caterers) and distributes it to the needy (including homeless shelters, soup kitchens, children's programs, centers for the elderly, and refuges for women experiencing domestic violence). They divert food from landfill where it would release greenhouse gases that lead to climate change. To date, they have redistributed food valued at more than £20 million, free, to their partners and offset over 27,000 tons of greenhouse gases.
Find out more about City Harvest here and why food waste has such a large environmental impact and how you can do more to combat it, here.
Trees for Cities are the only UK charity working on a national and international scale to improve lives by planting trees in cities. They get stuck in with local communities to cultivate lasting change in neighborhoods – whether it’s revitalising forgotten spaces, creating healthier environments or getting people excited about growing, foraging and eating healthy food. To date, they have planted more than 1,117,899 trees with over 6000 volunteers, and educated over 16,000 school children in 26 cities.
Find out more about Trees for Cities here.
We understand that by nature, creating more products does increase our environmental footprint. Which is why we ensure all our products are made to the highest quality with the best materials, designed to be used over and over again. Buy once, buy well.
