Here, to celebrate Earth Week, we take a look at small businesses in Kent going the extra mile for sustainability.
Elvis & Kresse
A luxury accessory company, they use decommissioned fire hoses as their main source material to create bags.
How is sustainability achieved in their company?
- Company is guided by their three pillars: Rescue, Transform, Donate.
- Using recycled raw material such as decommissioned fire hoses
- The company donates 50% of profits back to charities.
- They work with leather offcuts discarded by premiums brands such as Burberry and turning it into other accessories.
- Packaging is reclaimed as well.
They say: “The key learning is that we need to redefine success. The baseline should be environmental regeneration and positive social impact. After that you can look at financial metrics but not before. There does not have to be a trade-off between purpose and profit – you can do well specifically because you are making a positive environmental and social impact.”
Sustainable and Ethical Luxury – Elvis & Kresse – Designer Accessories (elvisandkresse.com)
Kentish Soap Company
A home-made family run soap company in Kent.
- The soy wax in their candles comes from existing farmland .
- Their shea butter is from a women’s cooperative in Africa
- Plastic-free packaging.
- Supporting member of the Kent Wildlife Trust
- Donate to The Hygiene Bank Rochester
- Supporting the Salaam Baalak Trust in Delhi, India, which is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation
- Sponsoring an orangutan within The Orangutan Project in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia – a species that is increasingly close to extinction as a result of palm oil plantations and logging.
- Premises are powered by 100% renewable energy..
- Do not use standard plastic-coated labels for their deliveries – they use custom-made compostable labels.
They say: “It’s difficult for a business, especially a .small business, to do everything perfectly in one go. So small steps are better than grand plans that don’t get achieved.
“If you accept the argument that non-sustainability in farming and manufacturing has been a cause of the recent pandemic, with wildlife and human beings forced in ever-closer habitation, the last year has taught us that being non-sustainable has a massive detrimental impact on all our businesses.”
About The Kentish Soap Company: Natural Handmade Soaps
Macknade
A pioneering food & drink operations store leading the way in the UK. Their Flagship Faversham Food Hall is right at the heart of where they started some 170 years ago. Their latest venture at Elwick Place offers an all-day dining & drinking experience in the centre of Ashford.
How is sustainability achieved in their company?
- Their energy is sourced using green energy methods such as solar panels.
- They buy goods making purchases from green energy sourced suppliers.
- Modify their waste system to include recycling and composting.
- They buy local as much as possible.
- Customers can bring their own packaging for employees to wrap themselves.
- Having discussions on their sourcing of beef to promote the use of farming beef on small managed beef farms using small places of grass.
- Only sourcing fish from farms that have a long-term sustainability strategy by working with Peskyfish.
They say: “Customer interaction is very important and be sure to understand the commerciality of sustainability.
“In reality in a commercial sense speed and price tends to be the winning operations performance objectives. Unless you are the size of a big supermarket, you will never win in these aspects. It is then important for us to offer a narrative and discussion on sustainability and its long-term impact which the big guys can’t do.”
Macknade – Food Hall | Dining | Deli | Drinks | Butcher