Rethink
During the creation of each new collection, we look for new alternatives to make our products more sustainable.
2021
In 2021, we introduced cotton-viscose duvet covers, which are made of 50% cellulose fibre obtained from wood pulp. By using this fabric, we drastically reduce water consumption during the production process. On top of that, we choose viscose from LENZING ECOVERO, fibres that are gained from sustainably managed
forestry and have lower CO2 emissions than conventional viscose.
The new table fabric Skinny has also been added to our catalogue. The fabric is made of 72% recycled denim. At least 21% of this denim has been worn as ‘jeans’ (post-consumer waste). The other 51% consists of pre-consumer waste from the spinning mill, from the weaving mill, etc. This method saves on water consumption, requires less energy during the production process and there is a reduction in CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions.
2022
This year we have continued to invest in ecological materials with a focus on GRS recycled material.
Today, in our table linen collection we have the qualities Reclon, Box, Sogo,... In the bed linen collection, we have continued along these lines and opted for a GRS quality in renforcé 100% cotton of which 70% recycled cotton and 30% BCI cotton.
We have also chosen to phase out our teflon treatments on our table linen fabrics and start using a new water-repellent finish that no longer contains fluorocarbon. This is not yet banned, but we chose to already remove this controversial substance from our products.
Refuse
We encourage our suppliers to use less plastic during packaging.
2021
When it comes to the products we sell in our own webshop, we are not bound by packaging requirements as retailers are. For these products, we always opt for the packaging method with as little single plastic as possible. In addition, we use biodegradable plastic for all our plastic packaging.
With the aim of going completely paperless in the near future, we no longer print invoices which we receive by pdf. We currently are working with DIS to save and organise all financial and operational documents.
On each floor there is a fridge with chilled drinks, including sparkling water. In order to avoid the use of plastic bottles, we have installed a sparkling water machine in September 2021 that serves chilled water, water at room temperature, sparkling water and hot water. In addition to the anticipated desired effect of less plastic waste, we have received feedback from many colleagues that they are also drinking more water throughout the day, with all the good effects on their health in turn.
2022
Our webshop's packaging went from plastic bags with large inlays to packaging with ribbons and a hangtag attached with the product code, EAN-code & product name.
Reduce
2021
In the past packages were sent by post daily. We now group all non-urgent packages together and send them once or twice a week.
To avoid food going to waste in the shared refrigerators, each colleague has been assigned their own shelf so everybody clearly sees what they still have in there. This has resulted in much less forgotten left-overs and therefore less food waste.
By buying liquid soap in a big bottle and distributing it in several small pumps we reduce our plastic waste due to soap pumps.
Since the summer of 2021 there has been a compost bin close to our kitchen. Colleagues can put their green waste in it. As a result, we produce less waste for disposal and use fewer bin bags.
2022
The only single-use plastic we still use in our offices and warehouse are the coffee cups for the warehouse staff. At the end of December 2022, we decided to ban these too, as well as individual coffee creamers and sugar.
Reuse
2021
Cardboard boxes coming from the re-packaging of products in our warehouse are re-used for shipments from the webshop and parcels from our Customer Sales Managers.
To indicate to the customers that we re-use old boxes from a sustainable point of view, we have created stickers to are applied to these ‘experienced’ boxes.
Our used cartridges are sorted separately to be recycled, the unused ones are sold for reuse.
Once our fabrics are 'out of use' and there are less than 50 metres on a roll, we don't have much use for them anymore. Therefore, we donate these fabrics to schools and non-profit organisations in the region. In October 2021, 1,447 metres of fabric were donated this way.
Our old catalogues, which would ordinarily go in the paper container, are now re-used in schools and organisations for crafting projects.
Outdated end products or products that would go to the bulk buyer are donated whenever possible to charities, second-hand shops, natural disasters, etc. For example, in July 2021, we donated 6m³ of textile products to people affected by the floods in Wallonia.
One of our bigger product novelties were the UNIQUE patchwork duvet covers. These duvet covers are produced in our factory in Poland out of fabric remnants from the confection of our other duvet covers. When cutting out the bottle neck shape at the end of the sheets, pieces of fabric are left behind. These we are matched together, based on quality and design, creating a whole new duvet cover. In 2021 we have sold 4 different designs on our webshop and 1 extra design at Makro, Eke.
2022
During our factory sale, we collected old bed linen from consumers. For this, customers received a discount voucher in return. These fabrics were transported to a partner in Spain, together with our own fabrics in clearance that we could no longer sell, to be torn apart into fibres and spun into yarn once again. We are currently in the process of testing to make new products.
The leftovers from our confectionery go to our partner in Germany to be reused for other applications.
Recycle
2021
Instead of having individual waste bins at each desk, starting in October 2021, all the waste from one department is collected in a waste sorting island. By doing so, we avoid the many small waste bags and the extra work of the cleaning team to replace them again and again. In addition, we are convinced that if people have to walk to the sorting island, they will be more inclined to look for the right bin. Informative visuals have been put up by the islands showing which type of waste goes in which bin.
2022
We are continuing our recycling initiatives started in 2021.
The old bed linen collection during our factory sale was a test, which was hugely successful. A total of 706 kg of linen was brought in over the course of 3 days.
Repair
For Repair, we haven't done anything so far.
Data
To make sure we can track our progress we established as much baselines as possible. The year 2020 is our baseline in terms of waste.
In 2020 we used 450 large foil bags to gather all the plastic in our warehouse, in 2022 this number was reduced to 200. Instead of having it collected like this, we have been compressing those bags into 240 kg bales since 2022. This resulted in eight bales during the year 2022, good for 1 920 kg.
Communication
When welcoming a new colleague, we used to print the “I work here” welcome brochure on paper. Since 2021, this has been forwarded digitally, and during the welcome days the new colleague is thoroughly briefed on all our goals and initiatives concerning a more sustainable way of working.
In the course of our sustainability day, the communication manager will also make the information from this file accessible to B2B & B2C customers and other stakeholders.
