Sustainability

Thoughts on Small Business and Sustainability

At Jin Designs, we believe that however small you are, you can still make a difference to the environment and the state of the planet. Instead of waiting around for the larger companies to take responsibility, perhaps it's best for all of us to do something, to help towards extending the life of this wonderful planet we are lucky enough to live on. 

Jin Designs is a small business and we are not afraid to admit that some of our processes in the past have not been ideal. Like many, we are coming to terms with the impact of some of the packaging materials we used, particularly the use of plastic and cellophane. But change is happening.  

Packaging

We aim to be plastic free by the end of 2023. We have already made the switch to recycled brown paper to protect mugs and delicate items. All our brown card is recycled. We use kraft mailers for worktop savers and placemats and cardboard envelopes for smaller items such as coasters, keyrings and pins. We are working with our suppliers to reduce plastic packaging at source too, asking them to use alternative sustainable packaging when sending products in to us.

Products

Most of our products (around 80%) are manufactured in the UK as we try to keep our carbon footprint to a minimum. It's not always easy as some products just can't be made over here - or are difficult to make in terms of price and quality. If that's the case we will only work with companies who also care about sustainability and the environment. This is a big factor in moving forward. If we, as small businesses, can put pressure on suppliers to improve their own part in this, together we can make the changes. 

Recycling

We hope that you will enjoy your product for a long time. Jin Designs is producing products designed to last, ones that you can keep for many years. We're also looking at ways to make all of our products more recyclable. Where possible we use recycled elements and we are focusing more on the circular economy with future products. It's work in progress and we know there is still a long way to go but the efforts, we can assure you, are there. 

Partnerships

Together we can make improvements. And this year, Jin Designs has partnered with 3 different organisations to start the journey of improving sustainability.

Sussex Wildlife Trust

In July 2022, Jin Designs partnered with Sussex Wildlife Trust to help support local environment issues. The Trust champions wildlife and natural places everywhere in Sussex and inspires people to take action for nature. Jin Designs and the Trust will work together to promote sustainable living and to raise awareness of the importance of protecting our environment.

Ecologi

Following that, Jin Designs has just started planting one tree per order with the help of Ecologi. It's estimated that small businesses create on average around 20 tonnes of CO2 per year. Not a great statistic. Planting trees now, for the future, can help to offset some of the current carbon produced.

Trees take around 25 to 40 years to grow so their impact on carbon will be felt in the future. This is a slow process but it is something. And something is better than doing nothing. Ecologi will help with planting mangroves in Madagascar and reforestation in Kenya. So every time you place an order with Jin Designs, a tree will be planted.

trundl

Jin Designs is a big fan of the great outdoors and a lot of the animal collections celebrate what we see when we journey into nature. So we are proud to be a brand partner of an exciting new start-up called trundl. trundl encourages members to get outdoors and walk for mental and physical health - and give back to charity via the trundl app. It's also helping to reduce carbon emissions by encouraging people to swap their car journeys for walking.

The charities that trundl, Jin Designs and their members are supporting include Sussex Wildlife Trust, National Parks UK, Dogs for Autism UK and Move Against Cancer.

These are small steps but we hope it goes to reassure you that when you buy from Jin Designs, you are buying from a company that cares about the environment, the people and the planet we are lucky enough to call home.

Rest assured, more steps will be taken to learn and keep improving sustainability here at Jin Designs.