A blog post in light of the webinar I presented in October 2021.
If there is anything I have learned about building a business, it is that your expectations, your aspirations and reality are not always matching. When I started working on my profile on a networking website for sustainable fashion related businesses, it made me fill out all my long- and short term goals about sustainability, and that is when I decided to do a full review on my own work and share the process with you. Sustainability is a process that is highly individual for each business and person, be it a solo working artist or a small company, so I am only giving my personal guidelines as a framework.
When I say 'sustainability', it is important we are on board about what that means. I have taken the following definition by Brundtland:
Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
(Brundtland, 1987)
I understand that in my work I have relationships with customers and suppliers, I am receiving and giving. My wish is to make these relationships as long term as possible. I have no interest whatsoever in buying or selling without any added value and I wish to take responsibility for doing the best I can in my part of the circle.
The goal of this blog post is to set clear core criteria to ensure that the conditions of production and trade of all products and services are both socially and economically fair, as well as environmentally responsible.
(On a side note I want to talk about keeping sustainability sustainable. It can be exhausting and can be very costly (making it very hard) to be a 100% sustainable business, especially when the chap, mass produced alternatives are available on every corner. I highly recommend looking for holistic solutions and small step increments that will keep you motivated for the cause. You will also learn things as you go, and you will adjust accordingly. There is no point beating yourself up about past mistakes or misconceptions, we learn and move forward with new insights.)
What is sustainability for you and your business? .
Each business has their home base which we simply will call 'business', be it that you are an artist, or a hobby dyer attending the annual Holiday Market or if you are a supplier like me.
Each business has their supplier, and they make products with those supplies, that then go to customers. You will need to define for yourself what what part of the puzzle you are, different relationships require different solutions.
Example: a hobby dyer will buy scarves and dyes from me, make a scarf, and sell that to a local fashion store. I provide the dyer with a Fair Trade scarf and organic dyes, the dyer makes sure they are using as little water as possible and does not waste any dye. The fashion store is using eco friendly packaging to wrap the scarf for their final destination.
You see that each one in this chain of events is a business, but also has a product, and also is a customer. Each participant is taking responsibility for their part of the circle. Sustainability talks about the long term relationship between all of these.
Picking your suppliers.
Taking fabrics as an example, I have hundreds of suppliers that I can pick from. So how do I define who I want to work with?
For DekelDyes I will always prefer suppliers who:
have at least equal representation of women along the supply chain.
represent an artisan partnership and not a large enterprise.
Advantage the disadvantaged. Example; I work with a fair trade weavers collective who train and employ different-abled and one who works with single mothers in India.
These criteria weed out most of the major mills in the Far East.
On top of this DekelDyes can function to bridge the gap between high skilled, rural artisans and a global market with high demand, and because I believe that relationships are always a two way street we offer mentorships to artisans who express an interest in improving their online presence. This makes the collaboration much more interesting and mutually invested.
Fair Trade and GOTS Labels.
Products may or may not have a Fair Trader GOTS certification label, and while these labels make sure you are buying with good conscience, it may not always be feasible for a supplier to have the label as the process of applying is expensive and time consuming. We can still use the Fair Trade label guide lines to help us decide;
Producers receive prices that cover their average costs of sustainable production
Additional Fairtrade Premium to be invested enhancing social, economic and environmental development
Enable pre-financing for producers who require it
Facilitate long-term trading partnerships and enable greater producer control over the trading process.
I highly recommend making a list of core values that may be important to you.
This list obviously depends on the field you are working in, I will share the one I made after a night of brainstorming the subject.
Animal welfare. ('Peace' silk, mulesing-free wool)
Supplier Sustainability (Fair trade relations)
Low Impact (Organic Production, no pesticides, organic fertilizers, use of eco friendly sizing. Reduced water use during production)
Climate Positive (Climate positive crops. Crop rotation programs)
Renewable sources
Regenerative agriculture (Regenerative agriculture through crop rotation and biodiversity)
Being sustainability = conscious in your own business;
Look for local resources (supporting small businesses). example; we use handmade soap from a local soap maker instead of store bought.
Advance women and disadvantaged along YOUR supply chain.
Offer Mentorships.
Use checked and certified suppliers, that offer products aligned with your principles.
If you are a textile artisan;
Use low impact methods with less water.
Recycle water or develop some kind of closed water system.
Use carefully measured amounts of mordants and dyes, being mindful of resources.
Make small samples instead of large ones, save up multiple pieces that can be dyed/printed/heated at once which will save electricity.
Packaging Solutions (for product based companies)
Conveying your values and business practice through packaging is fun and easy.
Cardboard mailers vs compostable mailers vs polymailers.
Finding the right packaging for each products depends on: destination, weight and shape. Not all compostable mailers are sturdy enough for all products. Finding a balance is important.
Not all compostable mailers are as compostable as they say they are, beware of greenwashing (making a product appear more eco friendly than they really are). Read this eye opening article about packaging.
Try using recycled paper for labels
Eco Printers; Re-use iron blankets by sewing bags for your products from them.
Hemp strings for everything, they are cheap, available and eco friendly.
The low impact office;
Even if your business is service based, you can make small changes that will make your workplace more sustainable.
Review ways of travel to the office (close vs far, public transportation vs car).
Co2 compensation for office and travel (We use ecologi for this).
No more use of one time plastics or disposables in the office (we bought a few mugs and said goodbye to our paper coffee cups, and went from coffee pods to organic coffee in a French press).
Using recycled paper for printing.
Soy ink for your printer.
In-house Recycling.
Brand identification: as much as you want to be low key about your sustainability, for your customer it is important to recognize that you differ from other companies.
This can be done through:
You, as a sustainable business (small or large) have your responsibility towards clients, that means you have to be transparent in values, goals and implementations. That means clear messaging on your website and flyers. If something is organic, say it. If you are committed to recycling, let it be known. If you have goals that you have not implemented yet, talk about that.
Packaging: you packaging should reflect your message. Brown paper says 'sustainable' more than any sleek, black, glossy box ever will. The same goes for your social media accounts and website.
Community building, this happened rather by chance when I made the Botanical Print Facebook Group, but it has been an amazing tool to carry the goals and message I want to be heard. You too can create your Whatsapp group, email listing or whatever works for you. This is the platform where you can share your knowledge and be of service to others.
It is obvious to me that these choices come at a cost. Sometimes the extra expense is a surprising non-issue such as finding compostable mailer bags instead of virgin material polymailers. Sometimes the extra expense is worth every penny such as finding indigo that is 100% guaranteed child labour free. Sometimes the extra cost is annoying and seems not worth it as first, such as switching to organic certified wool that is double the price to source. This is when you go back to your core value list and allow yourself to sit with that, in the end I find that I know exactly what is right for me and I will find the solution I need, and you will too.
Building a Sustainable Client Base
In the end we want to trust that while making these choices may increase the price to our customers, we are attracting the kind of customer who themselves too are aligned with our values and are invested in making sustainable choices. the word building already implies that none of this will happen overnight!
Find the clients that align with your business model and values, those unicorn customers that are happy to purchase your handmade scarf that comes with great karma. Personally I can give nothing but grace to have the most amazing people who have been supporting my work since the day I launched, be it through their valuable feedback, their patience when things took longer, and their specific requests for organic and sustainable products. Not once have I felt I was building all by myself, it has been a joint effort.
How do you feel you could improve sustainability in your field? Is there anything you would change after reading this article? Can you celebrate your small steps towards your goal? Let me know in the comments.
The material written above may be shared freely, I only request that as a courtesy you mention my website as the source.