Be honest. Ethical shopping can be exhausting and expensive. It’s a worthwhile mission that can sometimes come at the cost of our sanity and our wallets.
When we set out to create an eco-conscious brand 5 years ago, these were the two biggest barriers customers told us that deterred them from shopping consciously.
When a customer sets out to purchase a product, sometimes it’s difficult to find a retailer who can demonstrate how that product was made, where the materials were sourced from, and how the workers who created that product were treated. As sustainability is becoming a bigger conversation, it’s easier now than ever before to start finding answers to these questions in every industry. Still, however, eco-friendly products can come with a price tag several times higher than a similar non-eco-conscious option.
This is something we felt needed to change. Brands do a lot of work behind the scenes to make buying easy for customers, so this is one of those big behind-the-scenes areas we felt we could lend transparency towards.
Traditional retail products are marked up many times from what the product costs to make. The sale price typically needs to cover the labor and materials to create it, a profit for the company whom the worker makes for, shipping costs, a profit for the shipper, taxes and duty (if imported from overseas), a profit for the US receiver, shipping to the retailer, and then a profit for that retailer. This could take a product that costs $5.00 to produce and give it a $50 (or greater) retail price. Not cool.
Our model cuts out more than half of the bloat typically seen with traditionally-priced retail products. That means the majority of the profits are going to the people who make the product and the customer can buy an item at a reasonable cost while feeling good about the impact of their purchase.
We exclusively use materials that are abundant in the regions in which our makers work. This eliminates the need to ship in raw goods which doubles the positive eco-impact we have in those markets. At every possible point, our goods are then shipped in bulk by sea (instead of by air) ensuring we’re being cost-effective and eco-friendly at the same time.
The next time you make a purchase, don’t be afraid to ask questions. An informed consumer can make the best decision for what matters to her. Take a look through our website (our Mission page is a great place to start!) if you’d like to know the story behind how our styles come to life.
