Sustainability & Transparency


Where are your products made?

We have 2 suppliers, both of which are small factories based in China. One supplier for our umbrellas and one for our dresses. 

An important step in choosing our suppliers is making sure that they have high ethical standards. Before engaging each of our current suppliers we put together agreements that hold not only the supplier but each member in the supply chain to a high standard of ethical compliance. This means, in short, no child labour, no forced or bonded labour, safe and hygienic working conditions, no discrimination, a living wage (at least) is paid to each employee, paid leave and non-excessive working hours. It also ensures that their practices and processes have as minimal impact upon the environment as is possible. 

Each of our suppliers have great work ethic, communication, high quality standards and are super committed to working together to find solutions to any problem we might come across. We have sifted through a few different suppliers to find our gems and as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. We pay each of our suppliers a high rate for their services.

We have committed our factories to ongoing 3rd party ethical sourcing audits (once a year) to ensure that they continue to provide ethically compliant products and services.

 

 

What are we doing ourselves to minimise our impact on the environment?

Being a business in the retail industry we have a big responsibility to make sure our impact on the environment is minimised as much as possible, where possible. No matter how big or small the effort is, every bit counts and we are constantly thinking of ways that we can lessen our impact on the environment with each release. Here are some ways we are currently doing our small part:

Umbrellas

- The fabric used for our umbrellas is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles

- The plastic hardware on our umbrellas are also made from recycled plastic

- No plastic packaging. From manufacturer to us and from us to you. We requested that our manufacturers do away with individual plastic wrapping when shipping our product to us

- Where needed, we use a plant based biodegradable packaging tape & recycled cardboard.

- Our umbrella poles are made out of aluminium which is infinitely recyclable. Did you know that 75% of all aluminium produced is still in use today?

- Minimal waste. Our umbrella bags, ties and drawstrings are all made from the offcuts of our umbrella canopies.

- Our care tags are printed on 100% recycled ECO card using vegetable based inks. Our supplier is FSC and PEFC certified which in a nutshell means that their paper products are handled with the environment in mind at every stage of production – from forest to shelf.

 

Kākahu 

Below are some of the fabrics we use in our pieces and the reasons behind why we've chosen such fabrics.

Ramie

Ramie is extremely durable, up to 8 times stronger than cotton, it is also naturally resistant to bacteria which generally means it has a longer life. Ramie is unique in that unlike non-organic cotton and many other fabrics, it does not require herbicides or pesticides to grow, it can also be harvested up to 6 times per year.

Organic Cotton

Non organic cotton is a massive cause of pollution in waterways, land, air, and oceans. Organic cotton is grown without the use of yucky herbicides and pesticides.

 

 

UPCYCLE/ REPAIR/RESELL

Do not toss your umbrella at the end of its life there are many ways it can be reincarnated for a new life. Here are some ways you can upcycle and make use of an old umbrella :

Remove the fabric canopy and use as

- A picnic blanket or a beach mat

- Sew into a wet bag for your wet gear after a swim

- Sew into multiple reusable shopping bags

- Fashion it into a kids teepee with some bamboo poles and a little diy know how.

To reuse the pole and or the fiberglass ribs;

- Get creative and make a chandelier with the kids

- Turn it upside down and you have a drying rack for clothes

- A garden stake

- Take it to the local recycle centre so it can have the chance of a new life

Google ‘how to upcycle an old umbrella’ and the opportunities are endless.