It's not about us. It's about you. In reality, not only would we be unable to do good in the world without our community, but the only proof of our mission taking shape in the real world would be if we’ve enabled you to come slightly closer to a better version of yourselves - conscious and aware that our daily choices have an impact on the bigger picture.
While we will continue working to become the better and more conscious choice for you on a continuous basis, we would like to turn the page of the new year by nurturing your desire to make more informed decisions, as we strongly believe in conscious shopping, and conscious living in general.
Even though we might be a little sceptical about making new year’s resolutions, we embrace the idea of resetting our clock when it comes to our involvement in causes for the betterment of our own practices, and society. We embrace the notion that today is the day to embark on yet another journey towards better thinking, and better doing - a journey which Nordgreen has taken since the day the brand was launched.
Reduce Reuse Recycle
The 3 R’s are: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, in this order of priority and consist in considering our consumption, reusing items for a different purpose instead of following the urge to buy anew, and recycling whenever possible. 2 When completing your next purchase, try to think whether you’d really like that item in a season, or a year from now. Whether the company you are buying from is responsible enough, and what up-cycling, or offset practices do they have in place.
In line with our vision of reusing and repurposing, we have created a range of refurbished watches that have previously been sent back to us. The products have been repaired and polished and meet the quality standards of our brand new ones. Give new life to a timepiece today. Explore our refurbished range.
Protecting Our Forests
At its current rate, deforestation will deplete all of the world’s rainforests within the next century. This threatens countless plant and animal species, endangers our environment, and puts local communities at risk.
“Timber extraction provides big profits at the expense of local communities. Providing communities with unfettered access to harvest a forest that is protected in perpetuity provides better and more reliable incomes.”— Johan Eliasch, co-founder of Cool Earth
Cool Earth works to combat all of these issues by working closely together with the indigenous communities living within the most threatened areas, in order to develop solutions for utilising the resources of the forest in the most efficient and harmless way. Support Cool Earth’s mission through our Giving Back Program without extra cost.
How to ensure receiving your product in responsible packaging?
Trees help clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink, and provide habitat to over 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. Forests provide jobs to over 1.6 billion people, absorb harmful carbon from the atmosphere, and are key ingredients in 25% of all medicines.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-profit that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests. Try to look for this packaging label before completing your next purchase. It makes a difference.
Responsible Materials
With animal welfare and the environment up for question, vegan leather is on the rise. Though having a more plant-based diet has been proven to be better for the environment, one can be misled to assume that all things vegan, including vegan leather, are sustainable.
Most mainstream vegan leathers are largely made from polyurethane leather (PU leather) which is rather harmful. PU leather often comes with the threat of micro-plastic pollution, as during manufacturing the plastics release harmful toxins that can get into the air and water. Some of the plastics can even release some toxins later when worn down.
How to choose the most eco-friendly vegan leather option?
Look for the GreenGuard Certification as a quality stamp. Products that have achieved it have to meet third-party chemical emissions standards, helping to reduce indoor air pollution and the risk of chemical exposure.
Our vegan leather contains no conflict minerals, no heavy metal stabilisers, no plastic phthalates, no persistent organic pollutants and no toxic by-products. Over 99% of the solvents are recaptured and recycled, and the lining of the material is made of non-woven polyester (100% recycled ultra-microfiber) with a non-fibrous polyurethane binder, and is GreenGuard certified and complies with RoHS.
How to choose the most eco-friendly leather option?
Look for quality stamps, such as the Leather Working Group (LWG) and the Association for Quality Assurance of Leather Bracelets Manufacturers (AQC), especially when it comes to leather timepieces.
LWG
Leather Working Group is an international, not-for-profit membership organisation, responsible for the world’s largest leather sustainability program. LWG aims to improve the environmental impact of the leather industry by assessing and certifying leather manufacturers.
AQC
AQC is an international association of leather bracelet manufacturers for the watch industry, created to ensure the traceability and conformity of the materials used in the manufacturing of the leather bracelets. The AQC label guarantees control during production, chemical monitoring, traceability of production and origin of the leather.
The leather used in our production originates from tanneries in Italy, which are all members of (LWG), AQC or follow the ISO9001 and ISO14001 standard, and is a byproduct from the food industry - meaning that no cows are slaughtered for their skin only.
How to differentiate recycled materials?
It is becoming increasingly challenging to assess what materials are considered sustainable, as even practices such as recycling and up-cycling still require resources for production and are not emission-free. Yet, recycled materials are the more eco-friendly solution. The easiest way to ensure that a product meets recycling standards is the GRS (Global Recycling Standard) quality stamp.
GRS aims to document the recycled content of a product. It ensures that all production processes throughout the supply chain have gone through the right steps to ensure the integrity of the final product. GRS uses a transaction certificate system that enables optimal tracking of recycled materials and addresses issues related to environmental and social criteria.
To celebrate our Awareness campaign, we are giving out a free Nordgreen bag with every order. Our tote bags are made of 96% recycled cotton and 4% recycled polyester from post-consumer waste. The material carries the GRS- and Fairtrade certificates.
Community Support
Water for Good stands out from other water aid programs in that they intentionally focus their efforts on long-term solutions. By working with locals and maintaining an ongoing presence in the country, Water for Good empowers local communities to ensure clean water access in the long run. “They had such a low opinion of themselves because so many people and organisations had come and gone that they thought they were worth nothing. When we stayed it offered hope.”— Jim Hocking, Founder of Water for Good 4 Support the mission of Water for Good through our Giving Back Program without extra cost.
Why is offsetting important?
By 2050, it is estimated that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. While it’s of utmost importance for companies and consumers alike to minimize as much as possible their plastic use, at this point plastic as a material is still irreplaceable. That doesn’t mean that there is nothing to be done. Whenever reusing and recycling are not an option, offsetting is the next best solution.
Nordgreen x Cleanhub
We partnered with Cleanhub to collect plastic waste equivalent to our usage, and to prevent the precious marine ecosystems from irreversible damage inflicted by plastic waste. So far we’ve financed the safe collection and recovery of 2,903.92 kg plastic waste. The collection of plastic waste and right way of storing it is carried out in cooperation with the local organisation Green Worms Waste Management which runs door-to-door collection services to intercept plastic waste before it can enter the environment. The collection efforts are performed by women self-help groups in Edavanna, India and create highly necessary employment opportunities within the community.
Nordgreen x Water for Good
Water for Good stands out from other water aid programs in that they intentionally focus their efforts on long-term solutions. By working with locals and maintaining an ongoing presence in the country, Water for Good empowers local communities to ensure clean water access in the long run.
“They had such a low opinion of themselves because so many people and organisations had come and gone that they thought they were worth nothing. When we stayed it offered hope.”— Jim Hocking, Founder of Water for Good
Support the mission of Water for Good through our Giving Back Program
Nordgreen x Pratham UK
By focusing on the four main areas of literacy - education for girls, vocational training, research and advocacy, Pratham UK has created a far-reaching and inclusive system that aims to provide education to as many children as possible.
“Less than half of India’s children between the age of 6 and 14 go to school. As a result, India is home to the highest number of illiterate people in the world. 3 Our mission is to improve the quality of education in India and to ensure that all children in India are not only attending, but also thriving in school.”— Pratham UK
Support the mission of Pratham UK through our Giving Back Program without extra cost.