LOW CARBON, LOW WASTE & POSITIVE IMPACT?
Three bold statements, but we aim to achieve these as a result of our ways of working, keep scrolling to discover how…
Sustainability? Big word, scary word, meaningless word?
Sustainability, it’s a broad term, we see it as mindset and approach, rather thansomething you can achieve or be. This said, we align ourselves with the below statement.
“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
(The World Commission on Environment and Development)
As designers and makers, we have a moral and ethical obligation for the impact of our work.
The solution is simple right?
To have no impact, don’t build anything at all…
To do nothing at all, means to give up on our passion and skill to influence change - doing nothing and watching from the side lines as the industry does ‘less bad’ slows down the opportunity to protect the things our community cares about most: making it right.
Morally Made are a team of makers and doers who understand that we cannot provide solutions without incurring emissions and producing waste, which is why we begin every project with a plan for how we will reduce and offset. If we can’t offset or prevent waste, we can’t commit to carry out the work as the cost to the environment is too high.
LOW CARBON & LOW WASTE
Our primary focus.
We approach delivering low carbon and low waste solutions through design, using responsible materials and a considered design approach.
Prioritisation of materials that are inherently low carbon such as responsibly sourced timber or materials that originate from waste streams that prevent carbon release, such as Smile Plastics.
Our business operations are as environmentally friendly as possible, we say no to unnecessary travel, operate from an efficient workshop and deliver considered project plans which minimise deliveries and transport.
The design process focuses on maximising every millimetre of a material, with the primary goal of reducing waste. Offcuts are considered of value, they can become a product in their own right
POSITIVE IMPACT
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POSITIVE IMPACT +
Impact is defined as having a marked effect, or influence and we are hyper aware that doing ‘less bad’ is not enough. Just visit Earth Overshoot Day to see why.
We use natural resources and recycled materials to make new physical products and contribute to global emissions in doing so - therefore the environment is what we’re most mindful of in the impact commitments we make. With every project we,
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We calculate our emissions using a variety of tools and published data, estimating the distance of travel for materials and purchased items and energy we use in the workshop or from outsourced partners.
We do not offset our calculations from any sequested carbon in the materials we use.
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Once a project is complete, we calculate the estimated mass of timber used before equating this to number of trees;
As a business we then invest in planting multiples of this number in different regions;
1.5 X In the UK
2 X In the US
10 X In the ROW
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Offcuts are sorted and cut to be categorised for our workshop, anything left over which still has potential value we donate to local community projects.
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Design for circularity by preventing or extending the end of life our designs by applying strategies such as;
Guaranteeing take back & recycling schemes
Considering component disassembly & replacement
Ensuring life extension through easy maintenance
Minimising unique shaped components to promote future utilisation
Our vision for impact goes beyond the projects we deliver.
We founded the business with the following pledges and goals from day one. Not once we hit a certain level of revenue or profit.
These are our day one pledges;
1% For The Planet
We see this as our ground rent to the planet. Donating a minimum of 1% of revenue directly to environmental causes & charities.
We add this contribution as an optional extra to our clients invoices along side the carbon offset dues.
Zero to Landfill
Whilst our waste is extremely low, we’re working on understanding the full extent of our general waste stream and putting in the processes to guarantee this.
Transparency
We will publicise our impact assessment calculations project by project.
We will embrace feedback on how we can improve year on year.
Social Projects
We are developing a range of products that can be produced from excess materials and then donated to care homes, specifically those for residents with alzheimer's and dementia.
UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABILITY TARGETS
Working to contribute to the UN Sustainability targets
We align ourselves and are taking steps towards the below;
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We strive to provide jobs and apprenticeship opportunities for disadvantaged young adults
We’re building an equal, fair and supportive workforce
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Commitment to eradicating our direct use of single use plastics by 2025
Target 20% of our material usage to be from recycled and reclaimed sources by 2025
Categorise and process all waste with full foresight of destination by 2024
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Overpay our emissions by a minimum of 1.5 Annually
Zero to Landfill by 2025
How will we do it?
Taking pride in what we do, pride drives our decision making - is this work the whole team can be proud of?
Working towards our positive impact takes discipline, we use our Morally Made Manifesto to guide us, this is our north star, our tool for leading, decision making, project managing.
Our designs and decisions are led by the following principles, pledges and processes. Our goal with each project (or piece) is to encourage living more sustainably. If it’s not Morally Made, we don’t make it.
Get in touch to find out more about our manifesto, email us at makers@morallymade.com
We are always looking for ways to improve the quality of our services and communications.
Please give us any feedback you may have, positive or negative. Please email us at makers@morallymade.co.uk to share your thoughts.