Hi all,
Hope you are doing well and that you had a nice week.
LUXTRA is a proud B Corp, and March is B Corp month. Every year there is a theme, with this year's one being We Go Beyond. So today we'll looking at how B Corps do just that.
But before we dive in, let's extend a warm welcome to our newest subscribers: Keya, Caroline D., Nicole, Patricia, Daniel, David, Caroline H., Melinda, Nicholas, Jolita, Onyinye, Schuyler, Ginger, Silvie, Laura, Kayla and Nina. Thanks for joining us!
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From customer interviews we conducted in January, it became clear that not everyone knows what a B Corp is. So for anyone scratching their head, let's fix that.
In a nutshell, a company that is certified as a “B Corp” does business in a way that balances people, planet and profit. Capitalism has engendered companies that traditionally only care about profit. The B Corp movement aims to change that, to ensure people, animals and the planet are given just as much consideration. To become a B Corp, a company has to go through a strict audit in which it must prove how they are doing business better. To be clear, B Corps aren't perfect and they aren't charities, but they strive to do business better.
There are now more than 6,000 B Corps globally, across 80 countries and 150 industries. In the UK alone there are now1000 B Corps. You might even know some:
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So… what does LUXTRA do to “Go Beyond”?
I asked the team to weigh in…
Chloé - Operations & Impact Manager
At LUXTRA, we thrive on implementing the “going beyond” aspect in all of the decisions we make. It can be quite simple such as deciding which electricity provider to use for our soon-to-be office (stay tuned) or it might require a bit more thinking and contemplation in bigger projects such as our path toward circularity.
In the last few months, I have thrown myself into LUXTRA's B Corp recertification assessment. After a multitude of spreadsheets, hours writing policies for our team and going through endless pages of documentation, March has finally arrived - yay! This means it is my final push to share how LUXTRA is going beyond with the B Lab Team before we (hopefully) get a higher score on the B Impact Assessment. My favourite “going beyond” LUXTRA actions (and what makes me very proud and grateful to be part of the company) are that:
- We try to leave a positive mark on the world.
- We do not cut corners.
- We constantly question whether historical (leather) and more recent practices (fast fashion) should still be the norm for the Anthropocene.
Lorna - Head of Design
As a designer, there can be lots of restrictions when it comes to sustainability. For example, natural materials tend to be harder to work with in accessories compared to real leather or synthetics, and things like bright colours are limited.
So I would say at LUXTRA, we go beyond by finding solutions for these without compromising any of the aesthetic or functionality. We really take time to understand our materials, and use them to their full potential.
Jessica (me!) - Founder
I like the duality of the phrase “go beyond”. From one point of view, as a B Corp we go beyond the standard “business as usual” approach because we place a huge amount of importance on people and planet… not just profit. For example, we prioritise working with smaller businesses (and ideally fellow female-owned businesses) because we want to support folks that are typically marginalised. We put in the hard yards working with cutting edge non-leather materials rather than choosing leather, which would have actually made our lives a lot easier because it's a “known” material.
The second way of viewing the phrase is about going beyond our own standards: pushing ourselves to do better, month on month, year on year.
Luxtra certified as a B Corp in April 2020 with a score of 91.9 (to certify the minimum score is 80 out of 200). A company needs to re-certify every 3 years, so, as Chloé mentioned, she is putting the final touches on our April 2023 certification and we're aiming for a 10% improvement on our 2020 score.
101.1 here we come!
Well… fingers crossed! 😳😀
FINALIST: SUSTAINABLE FASHION AWARDS 🏆
We have also found out this week that we are finalists in 2 categories at the Drapers Sustainable Fashion Awards. Drapers, established in 1887, describes themselves as “the leading authority on fashion retailing in the UK”.
We've made the final list for the Best Circularity Initiative (<£30M Turnover Company) and in the Best Customer Engagement Campaign categories. In this latter category, it's just us and Ebay! I think we're in with a chance! :)
The winners are announced in late May, so we'll keep you in the loop.
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FLUFF BALL OF THE WEEK: Cheesy
A fluffball if ever there was one. This is Cheesy… a.k.a. Cheeseburger. She's a Chow Chow x Samoyed and lives with my friend's brother in Sydney. Cheesy's favourite things are:
- Tummy rubs
- Going for walks (ie slow outdoor sniff-sessions)
- Lying down and refusing to come home from said walk (With an honourable mention going to protecting the house and woofing at strangers.)
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Thanks very much for reading.
Have a nice day / evening ahead!
Jessica
LUXTRA Founder | Sustainability Striver | (very) Proud B Corper
