Making Sustainability a Priority

Niku Farms

If you’ve ever opened a package and been shocked by the amount of unnecessary plastic packaging, you know that businesses are part of the plastic waste problem. In 2013 (external link) , industry produced 78 million metric tons of plastic packaging worldwide. Of that, 40% went to landfills and 32% became land and sea pollution. Plastic packaging is often the go-to for delivery services–the easiest and cheapest option, but Niku Farms is doing delivery differently.

Niku Farms delivers ethically raised meat from local farmers directly to your door. The meat arrives in an insulated box to stay frozen. Their biodegradable, compostable, and water-soluble Green Cell Foam liner packaging is an alternative to styrofoam, and won’t end up sitting in a landfill. They are one of the first meat delivery companies to ship with this liner. Made from non-GMO cornstarch, this liner requires 70% less energy for manufacturing and produces 80% less greenhouse gases than petroleum-based foams. Learn more about Niku Farm’s packaging. (external link) 

Spent Goods

Every year in Ontario, 185 million KGs of brewery grains are disposed of. As they break down, greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. Spent Goods (external link)  aims to find ways to transform food by-products into new food, and tackling brewery waste is their main project. Spent Goods has helped turn barley grain sourced from craft breweries into a variety of types of bread– from hamburger buns to pretzels. Through the sale of 17,000 loaves of bread, they’ve helped to offset  2.1 Tons of equivalent CO2. By finding practical ways to divert organic waste from landfills, Spent Goods is helping both businesses and consumers reduce their environmental impact. 

The Good Tee

Fast fashion has negative environmental impacts at multiple stages of a garment’s life. Growing cotton requires large amounts of water and pesticides. When washing garments made from polyester, they shed microfibres that can’t biodegrade in our waterways, increasing the levels of plastic in the ocean. There’s also the textile waste that ends up in landfills. In Canada alone, the average person throws away 81 pounds of textiles every year. The “slow fashion” movement emphasizes buying fewer clothes and only buying items made sustainably and ethically. 

The Good Tee embodies this movement by focusing on the quality of their clothes to increase their lifespan. From buttons and zippers to the tags on their clothes, they choose recycled, organic, and biodegradable materials. The organic cotton used to make their tees uses 71% less water and 62% less energy. They evaluate the sustainability of their garments by looking at the product’s life cycle and their role in reducing environmental impact at each stage. Learn more about The Good Tee’s sustainable fashion practices.  (external link) 

Brave Soles

When you picture plastic waste, tires probably aren’t the first things to come to mind. But just as polyester-based clothes shed microplastics when they’re washed, the synthetic rubber used in tires releases small particles of plastic when exposed to the friction created while driving on a road. Microplastics enter our oceans and do not degrade easily, and these particles account for anywhere between 15-30% (external link)  of our plastic pollution problem. In many parts of the world, used tires are sent to landfills where they leach toxins, become breeding grounds for insects carrying diseases, and don’t break down for many years. 

Brave Soles (external link)  is tackling this problem by repurposing discarded tires to create handmade leather shoes and accessories. To date, they have upcycled 1,539 truck-sized tires from ditches, dumps and waterways. All of their products contain various elements of upcycled materials. Upcycling means that the materials aren’t altered from their original form, the soles are simply cut from tires and repurposed to make a new product. They continue this sustainable approach in their delivery methods, using upcycled fabric bags and biodegradable packaging. Read their full sustainability impact report (external link) .

Chic Made Consciously

Instead of using virgin resources to create new products, upcycling materials is one way that brands can reduce their environmental impact and contribute to a circular economy where products and materials are viewed as regenerative, not items to be used and discarded of.

Since 2015, Chic Made Consciously (external link)  has helped communities in Cambodia and Bali divert their waste. Their accessory collections are handcrafted entirely from transforming tires, brass and textiles that otherwise would sit in a landfill. They have a line of accessories that are reclaimed from the inner tubes of tires, and their brass collection is 100% repurposed from the remaining 4-6 million war remnants still remaining on Cambodian land.

Tight-Knit Syria

Startups with environmentally-friendly practices at the core of their business have the potential to make an impact, but it’s just as important for existing companies to realize the importance of sustainability and adapt their products to reduce environmental impact. Tight-Knit Syria (external link)  is a non-profit organization working with Syrian refugee women to create handmade accessories.

While working side-by-side with their artisans, they have begun to start experimenting with sustainable production processes. Some of their eco-friendly prototypes include materials such as fruit leather, tires, and refurbished fabrics. Their collection of Samer bags (pictured left) is made with refurbished fabrics that have been redirected from landfills. We’re excited to see what Tight-Knit Syria does next as they continue to develop and finalize more products made sustainably.