Corporate Social Responsibility

Reducing energy consumption and limiting CO2 and nitrogen emissions

• We use LED lighting in all of our offices and warehouses
• We provide warm workwear for our warehouse staff, that way heating can be minimized.
• We have been generating our own energy (and some more) with the use of our solar panels since 2019.
• The majority of our outdoor pottery is imported and exported as set items. This way, we do not take up unnecessary space during transport and less packaging is needed.
• More and more of our sales representatives drive (semi) electric cars. This means lesser to no fuel used for these cars and with that less Co2 emissions.
• With our webshop we’ve provided another “showroom” for our customers, making it easier to opt for a digital “visit” instead of a physical one, reducing fuel/emissions.
• Our offices are filled with plants, not only does it look good, they help regulate temperature and humidity and reduce our need for air conditioning and ventilation.

Use of sustainable materials and reduction of materials in general

• We limit our use of paper (and with that printers and ink) as much as possible.
• The paper we do use is environmentally friendly, FSC certified and Co2 neutral.
• We regularly review our use of packaging materials to see where we can reduce or replace them with more sustainable materials.

Extending the lifespan of materials

• With transportation and handling in our warehouses we tend to have some breakage of pots, this is inevitable unfortunately. Everything that is broken gets collected in a designated container and collected for use in road construction.
• Not all products we receive are in the best condition, colours may vary or some damage may have occurred during transport. These items are sold as B-choices, reducing waste and extending the lifespan of these items.
• All of our promotional material (shelf displays/banners etc.) is made to order, minimizing overproduction and emissions/waste.
• We are economical with our materials, this means we can often use signing for fairs a whole year or even longer.
• Our plants are treated well before, during and after trade fairs and photo shoots, this allows them to be reused or sold.
• Our coffee cups are recycled and used in the production of bicycles.

Product level

Naturally, we work on sustainability at a product level as well. We focus a lot on reducing waste from the source, we do this by continuously analyzing and adjusting systems in our supply chain.

The majority of our products are handmade from natural materials. If items are made of plastic we use recycled plastic where possible and make sure its fit to be recycled once more. If machinery is involved in our production process we strive to keep the Co2 emissions low.

People

We believe in social responsibility on a business level. We actively promote better working conditions in our supply chain worldwide by participating in the Business Social Compliance Initiative, a business driven initiative that supports over 2400 retailers, importers and brands on improving working conditions worldwide.

To this end, our suppliers are regularly assessed in the following areas:

• Corporate social responsibility and its cascade effect
• Involvement with and protection of employees
• The right to freedom of assembly and collective bargaining
• Prohibition of discrimination
• Fair wages
• Decent working hours
• Health and safety in the workplace
• No hidden child labour
• Social protection for young workers
• Job stability
• No forced labour
• Protection of the environment
• Ethical conduct

Good working conditions are not only expected from our suppliers, we value a healthy workplace for all of our employees as well. A safe working environment, great benefits and overall positive work experience is valued above all else. We believe this is why we hardly have any staff turnover. 25 of our employees have been with us for more than a decade ( most of them for more than 25 years) an important indicator of job satisfaction.

Naturally our sustainability practices are a constant work in progress and we are constantly on the lookout for more eco conscious business operations.