We live in a time when economic consumption and development threaten human and animal existence worldwide. Mother Earth is bleeding. Currently, we are living as if we had 1.6 earths to live on. But we only have one. Therefore, we believe that any brand that starts selling products on the market is responsible for the environment and its inhabitants.
In 2015, the United Nations Member States shared 17 Sustainable Development Goals to give a framework and call for urgent actions on regional levels.
As a start-up, we don’t have the instruments to address all of them simultaneously, so we have identified 5 goals that we feel we can influence positively and improve on a smaller scale.
Our chosen goals:
Goal 4: Quality Education
Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
Goal 12: Ensure Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns
Goal 13: Climate Action
Goal 15: Life on Land
1. Communication and community
We will always communicate transparently and keep open channels on our social media. We will educate and raise awareness among the community and customers via our blog posts focusing on sustainability topics and promoting sustainable lifestyles. We want our community and customers to make educated decisions on consumption and feel like they can make a difference in policy issues from the bottom up. We want to inspire and be a part of the discourse. (Goal 4/13)
2. Our packaging
We promise that all our packaging will be either compostable, recycled materials or reusable. Our view on the packaging is inspired by the idea of a circular economy. As a brand, we will turn our back on all linear economy principles (make, use, dispose of), which goes against sustainable consumption. Instead, we embrace the principles of a circular economy in a spirit of reduce, reuse, recycle.
All writing is printed with soy-based ink colours instead of the usual petroleum-based inks. In addition, all cardboard is FSC certified or produced from recycled wood pulp.
As we lose visibility once shipping our packaging to customers, we want to clearly communicate what can be done to extend the lifecycle or post upcycle ideas for inspiration via our blog. (Goal 12/4/15)
3. Our Carbon footprint and your pets carbon paw print
We have partnered with Ecologi to offset some of our emissions by planting trees like Mangroves in Madagascar, Mozambique and Nicaragua. We are also prioritizing, whenever possible, to source our products and production regionally in the EU. We know this effort is not enough, and 2022 will be used to understand our exact carbon footprint across our Supply Chain. (Goal 13/15)
4. Our products
In their mission, Amazon places their customers first. We are putting the environment first. We will not sell any products where we feel they don’t improve the carbon footprint or pawprint of an already existing product on the market. This means that you will not find any of the below materials in our products:
Virgin Polyester
Virgin Wood Pulp
Neoprene
Virgin non organic/Fairtrade Cotton
Virgin plastic (except one buckle)
Synthetic rubber
And any other fossil fuel based synthetics.
We have one plastic buckle component in our dog harness for safety concerns. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find an appropriate replacement yet. As a start-up, we don’t have an excellent negotiation stand to replace it with recycled plastic while still ensuring the same safety standards. In 2022, we will actively work on improving this. If you have ideas to replace the element, please contact us at hello@hoomansfriend.com.
Our first collar and lead collection will be made from organic, industrial hemp. We will provide updates in blog posts and spread the word to promote hemp as a replacement material for all non-organic cotton. Unfortunately, the benefits are still not widely known in the fashion and pet industry. (Goal 4/6/12/13/15)
5. Our Supply Chain
We are partnering with suppliers with certification and who we deem as trustworthy. Our crucial supplier is based in the EU with an EU production under EU laws. Before we onboard a product, we ask for transparency on their supply chain and any available certification standards. A regional production helps us have better visibility of the quality and workplace of all employees. The goal in 2022 is to have a standardized onboarding process for new products with a calculation of their carbon footprint. (Goal 12/13)
All the above sustainability goals are just the beginning of our sustainability framework. We hope to shape it up more with our community in the coming year and are always open to new ideas and inputs.
To fight climate change, we all need to work together to create new solutions. We hope you follow us and participate in our journey!