Are you concerned about climate change? Are you worried about the loss of nature and how your purchases affect the environment? Would you like to make better choices? You are in the right place. In the following text, I discuss environmental responsibility and how Kaarnavilla has taken it in to consideration.
What is environmental responsibility?
In summary, environmental responsibility means taking into account the environmental effects of one's own activities and committing to minimizing negative environmental effects.
Consideration of environmental impacts is nowadays an integral part of political decision-making, business, and everyday consumption choices. Many of us would like to make more sustainable choices, but choice making can be a hassle and it's very difficult to decide which product or service would be better than the other from this point of view.
According to a survey commissioned by the Consumers' Association, up to 81 percent of consumers find it difficult to identify environmentally responsible products or services. Why is it so unclear? Maybe because there are a lot of products and the necessary information is often missing, or difficult to access.
How does Kaarnavilla take environmental responsibility?
Values : Kaarnavilla's operations are guided by a strong value base, which is also required to be shared by its product suppliers. In addition to small entrepreneurship, the goal of the business is to support sustainable development, which can be seen, for example, in the fact that every product in Kaarnavilla's selection is both designed and manufactured in Finland, and most of the products are handcrafted. Several products have been manufactured from recycled materials and renewable raw materials and some have the Avainlippu label.
Idea : It is not realistic that we would all suddenly stop consuming. Kaarnavilla's purpose is to encourage more informed choices by offering timeless design, high-quality materials and environmentally friendly products that also look good. For this reason, Kaarnavilla also does not participate in the Black Friday, which promotes unnecessary consumption.
It is easier to find out about the ethics and responsibility of the production chain of products manufactured nearby, and possible transport costs are lower when the goods are not flown from the other side of the globe to Finland.
Online store and brick-and-mortar store : Kaarnavilla promises that the products in the selection are both designed and manufactured in Finland. Therefore, the customer does not have to do a separate investigation as to whether the product is really domestic, or whether, for example, the product was only designed in Finland, but produced elsewhere.
The aim is to include everything essential in the product information so that there are as few unnecessary returns as possible and by following the care instructions, the product lasts longer in use. The return rate for online shopping has remained low. Shopify, which serves as the basis for an online store, is also more ecological than a separate platform created for an online store. In addition to this, the store's decorations and furniture, except for one chair, have been purchased second hand, and the electricity used by the store is produced fossil-free.
Delivery : Kaarnavilla strives to be environmentally responsible also with regard to packaging materials without any separate cost to the customer. As packaging materials, surplus material purchased from other companies, such as boxes and packaging paper, is invariably used. In this way, material that would otherwise be wasted can be utilized. Packages are delivered via Posti. Posti is committed to deliver shipments in a carbon-neutral way, so that it compensates for possible emissions by participating in certified climate projects. This doesn't cause additional charge for the consumer.
Responsibility requires continuous development, and Kaarnavilla aims to make it's operations even more sustainable in the future. Thank you for being along for the ride! In the meantime, if you are interested in reading about costs of local production you can find our previous article here:
https://kaarnavilla.fi/blogs/news/4-nakokulmaa-suomalaisten-produkten-hintotä
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