Congratulations Faithful to Nature on 14 successful years of ethical e-commerce and and thank you for your contribution to sustainable shopping in South Africa!
Constantly raising the bar on ethical standards, they have made a public commitment to making changes that take an uncompromising stance on the future of sustainability, and are focussed on action above all else.
“At Faithful to Nature we put our heart where our mouth is. We value walking the talk above all else.” – Robyn Smith, Founder
With our planet’s vulnerability accelerating, Faithful to Nature knows that they, and others, have the capacity to learn and do more. So, that is exactly what they have set out to do – and, further to this commitment, the green e-commerce stalwart calls on every business in South Africa to follow suit.
The reality is that sustainability is no longer good business practice, but vital business practice. The company has been at the forefront of sustainable buying and living for the last 14 years, from screening ingredients in great detail and the ability to filter and shop by values, to providing SA with the very first range of pantry products that leave no trace behind.
Over and above this, in their 14-year long journey, Faithful to Nature has grown a nationwide community of educated and discerning citizens of the earth, while giving back through a variety social impact initiatives. It’s safe to say that the company has paved the way for many other retailers when it comes to what it means to not just portray a desire to care, but more profoundly, to actually care.
“We’ve been working hard as a team to further live our brand values. For many companies, they are just an assortment of tenets that live within a wall mural. For us, they are a lifeblood and the compass that we set our true North against.” — Simon Bowes, CMO
Faithful-To-Nature has committed to making the following changes, starting immediately:
Less Talk, More Walk
A portion of their marketing budget will be redirected to grassroots charity initiatives that align with their Human, Heart, & Nature pillars for activism – making a fuller, more meaningful impact.
The idea is to empower people making social, health, or environmental impact. So far, Faithful-To-Nature has teamed up with MOSAIC to combat the effects of GBV, the Sustainable Seas Trust and WAYSTD to reduce ocean waste, and EWT (Endangered Wildlife Trust) to raise awareness around illegal animal trafficking – and there’s still so much more to come.
99% Waste-free
With help from the recycling experts at CurbCycle, all cardboard and plastic that enters the Faithful-To-Nature warehouse gets broken down, recycled, and sent off to waste stations per material type – making them a 99% waste-free business. The 1% challenge is to digitise all warehouse documentation, eradicating the need for paper, and to find a solution for the sticker backing of waybills.
Clearing eCommerce Landfills
Faithful-To-Nature is in the prototype phase of creating a returnable box for deliveries in order to confront a landfill resident coming from online orders: cardboard. The business is working to part ways and replace cardboard boxes with returnable ones. There are some challenges to overcome, but the aim is to trial this exciting solution in Cape Town later this year – hopefully followed by a nationwide rollout.
Once successful, Faithful to Nature would like to share the designs and manufacturers of these boxes with the rest of the e-commerce industry – free of charge. Think of it as an invitation to sustainable business.
Offsetting Carbon Emissions
Together with Professor Brett Cohen from The Green House, Faithful to Nature is exploring ways to balance out the carbon footprint coming from deliveries.
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