29 Sep We’ve Got a Lot to Celebrate, But There’s Still a Long Way to Go.

Over the last 14 years, we’ve been one of the most ethical brands in South Africa. But in 2020, we believe everyone should be held accountable. Ourselves included.

Recently, globally-loved figure Sir David Attenborough joined Instagram in yet another attempt to reach the masses to share this single message: “The world is in trouble.” Our commitment to the environment is born not out of a desire to appear to be better, it is born out of the desperate need to incorporate environmentally-conscious decision-making into our every day. To quote Sir David once more, “We know what to do about it.” There really is no excuse as to why we shouldn’t all be looking to make these steps.

From screening ingredients, the ability to filter and shop by values, to providing SA with the very first range of pantry products that leave no trace behind – we’ve been at the forefront of sustainable buying & living for the past 14 years. But with our planet’s vulnerability accelerating, we know that we and others can learn more and do more. So, we will – and we call on every business in South Africa to follow suit – because sustainability is no longer good business practice, it’s vital business practice. 

That’s why from today, we’re making these changes:

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Less Talk, More Walk. A portion of our marketing budget will be redirected to grassroots charity initiatives that align with our Human, Heart, & Nature pillars for activism – making a fuller, more meaningful impact. The idea is to empower people making social, health, or environmental impact. So far, we’ve teamed up with MOSAIC to combat the effects of GBV, the Sustainable Seas Trust and WAYSTD to reduce ocean waste, and EWT (Endangered Wildlife Trust) to raise awareness around illegal animal trafficking – and there’s still so much more to come.

99% Waste-Free. With help from the recycling experts at CurbCycle, all cardboard and plastic that enters our warehouse gets broken down, recycled, and sent off to waste stations per material type – making us 99% waste-free. Our 1% challenge is to digitize all warehouse documentation, eradicating the need for paper, and to find a solution for the sticker backing of waybills. 

Clearing eCommerce Landfills. We’re in the prototype phase of creating a returnable box for deliveries in order to confront a landfill resident coming from online orders: cardboard. We’d like to part ways and replace cardboard boxes with returnable ones. We’ve got some challenges to overcome, but we’re aiming to trial this exciting solution in Cape Town later this year – hopefully followed by a nationwide rollout. When we get it right, we’d like to share the designs and manufacturers of these boxes with the rest of the eCommerce industry – free of charge. Think of it as an invitation to sustainable business. 

Offsetting Carbon Emissions. Together with Professor Brett Cohen from The Green House, we’re exploring how to balance out the carbon footprint coming from our deliveries.

How many more calls for action do we need?

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Get your business on the right side of history, get in touch with these experts in their fields.

CurbCycle

The CurbCycle team are environmentalists through and through – they pride themselves in making environmental-consciousness accessible to all. Passionate about preserving our natural environment by reducing contributions to our local landfills, CurbCyle offers 9 years of experience in turnkey solutions for waste at home, the office, and beyond. For CurbCycle, it’s important to ‘put waste in the right place.’

Through this process with CurbCycle, we’ve found key areas to improve on – we’ve since installed CurbCompost buckets, managed by a nearby food garden, to further minimise any food waste from our kitchen & canteen areas. Looking ahead, CurbCycle will work with our teams as individuals to establish an understanding of where our waste goes, how to manage it responsibly, and become proactive about recycling. 

Find out more:

• Website: https://www.trashpirate.co.za
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curbcyclecpt/  
• Contact: [email protected]

The Green House 

The Green House is a sustainability consulting firm based in Cape Town, with more than 30 years of collective experience working on a range of energy, climate change and sustainability-related projects. 

Professor Brett Cohen is an experienced principal consultant at the Green House – has an undergraduate and PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from UCT – he’s also a C2 National Research Foundation (NRF) rated researcher, has published extensively in academic journals and presented at a number of international conferences. He has been appointed as a Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) sixth assessment report (AR6), has been appointed to the UNFCCC Roster of Experts on climate change matters related to UNFCCC activities, and sits on UCT’s pre-seed concept fund steering committee which provides support for commercialisation of research studies.

Find out more:

• Website: https://tgh.co.za/  
• Contact: [email protected]