Consumers in the UK will now be able to shop for eco-friendly products in a more simplistic way thanks to Beyond Bamboo’s online retail marketplace.
The global hub is helping to accelerate the move towards more conscious consumerism by giving consumers confidence when purchasing planet-friendly items without them having to conduct research or face a barrage of greenwashing.
Beyond Bamboo is now ‘unlocking’ the BATHROOM element of its marketplace, which will enable consumers to create a sustainable bathroom environment by purchasing genuinely ethical products that have little impact on the environment.
More ‘rooms’ will be opened over the next few weeks and months, granting conscious consumers access to a wide range of accredited sustainable and ethical products and Beyond Bamboo scrutinises each product through an accreditation process.
It aims to be the largest global community of sustainable products, services and suppliers all collaborating to restore and rejuvenate the planet. With a consumer marketplace, a B2B supplier portal, a knowledge hub and a team of dedicated people who are passionate about treating people, planet and profit equally, the company is well equipped to encourage and educate consumers to green up their homes.
In addition to supporting buyers, the online marketplace also offers sellers a platform to connect with consumers, provided the sellers are sustainable, ethical, upcycled or refurbished.
Every business selling via the marketplace has undergone a rigorous Ethical and Sustainable Assessment System, developed in collaboration with Ethical Consumer Magazine.
Ethical Consumer has developed the world’s most sophisticated, yet simple to use, personal ethical rating system to give consumers the information they need, based on detailed research of more than 40,000 companies, brands and products.
All sellers joining the marketplace are assessed by Beyond Bamboo on their ethics and sustainable practices across a range of criteria, directly relevant to their business and must prove their products are vegetarian/vegan, cruelty-free, palm oil-free, contain no GMO ingredients or animal hides and are non-toxic.
In addition, all sellers must comply with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, Green Claims Code Policy, not engage with the arms trade or extractive industries and agree to use recycled/upcycled materials for packing, to move away from plastic.
They must also ensure standards for workers throughout the business and supply chain and conform to the Ethical Trade Initiative base-code (freedom of association, no discrimination, no child labour, no forced labour, reasonable working hours and fair pay).
Tiffany Kelly, CEO of Beyond Bamboo, said: “Consumers want to know they are making ethical purchasing choices, but with so much greenwashing, and so many ‘green’ claims, many of which are very vague or don’t stand up to scrutiny, it’s almost impossible for a consumer to be sure they are buying a genuinely ethical product.
“Our mission at Beyond Bamboo is to make it easy for consumers to buy ethically and to give them complete confidence in the planet-friendly credentials of the business they are buying from.
“Our assessment system is deliberately strict, even though this means that, as a platform, we will grow more slowly. It takes time to assess each seller, and many don’t make the grade. Being sure we only have the right companies on board and giving our buyers peace-of-mind is of paramount importance to us. For those sellers who don’t currently achieve all the essential criteria, we offer help, support and advice to enable them to make the changes needed.”
Liam Goldsworthy, Principal Consultant - Sustainable Business UK said:“Increasingly we’re seeing large e-commerce retailers carve out dedicated sections of their websites for consumers to purchase (more) sustainable products, but very few have a transparent due diligence process for hosting these items and many products which fail to stand up to their green claims fall through the cracks. It’s refreshing to see dedicated e-retailers emerge where clear due diligence processes are set out and followed carefully, and in the case of Beyond Bamboo, have a creative and user-friendly way of navigating through the various lifestyle products where consumers can make more sustainable choices.”
To learn more about upcoming opportunities, please contact Liam via liam.goldsworthy@acre.com.
Liam leads permanent and contract & interim sustainability search with UK & APAC consumer & personal goods organisations, spanning food and beverage, luxury and apparel sectors. This includes placements with FTSE 100 organisations, large privately-owned businesses, SMEs, and the service providers and non-profits that engage across the sector.
Liam also manages Acre’s charitable arm; the Acre Foundation, which supports charities and initiatives that deliver a positive social or environmental impact aligned to Acre’s values.
He holds a 1st class degree in Environmental Geography from UCL.
