Aspiga: Sustainability

HOW WE STARTED

Lucy, Founder & Director of Aspiga fell in love with the artistry and craftsmanship she discovered the locals making whilst on holiday in Kenya. She knew right away that she had found something truly special that needed to be shared with the world.

Aspiga started out by selling handcrafted belts and sandals made in Kenya to boutiques and department stores around Europe.

ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

We provided our Kenyan sandal supplier with a loan to enable her to buy an expensive piece of equipment to cut the soles of the sandals. Previously these had to be cut individually by hand. Not only has this saved time but it has also allowed the company to take on much larger orders from both ourselves and other companies.

EXPANDED TO INDIA

As we grew, we decided to start sourcing sandals and clutch bags from India, to spread our risk.

SMALL FAMILY-RUN PARTNERS

We started working with two small family-run businesses, who met all our criteria on labour standards, health and safety, the environment and business ethics. We still work with the same two suppliers today!

ASPIGA BEACH

We launched a small beachwear line made from vibrant stock fabric from our suppliers in Kenya.

As we continued to grow, we then decided to place larger orders with our existing family-run suppliers in India and slowly increased the line and order quantities.

SUPPORTING OUR SUPPLIERS

Our focus was on driving positive change across our business and beyond, which began by supporting the owner of our belt supplier in Kenya. We gave him a loan so he could expand his business and build a workshop.

Before they were working on tables under trees so it was impossible to work in wet conditions. This has made a big difference to his business as he is now able to take on larger orders.

SANTANA WOMEN’S GROUP

We have established a sustainable collaboration with Restart Africa, providing work opportunities to their Sanata Women’s Group.

The Sanata Women’s Group (SWG) was set up in 2009 with the aim of employing and empowering the women of Gilgil by utilizing their fine needlework and artistic skills. When it was started, around 45 women were recruited by word of mouth. They were given extra training to develop their skills, and now, around 30 women are recruited on a regular basis. These women are given independence and security in a town with limited opportunities.

We produced our Naisha Soft Sole Sandals with them and all profits made through this project went to fund Restart Africa.

ACHIEVEMENTS

- We continued to work with Kenyan artisans, small suppliers and tribal groups (not large commercial factories), providing them with interest-free loans to improve their working conditions.

- We have moved over to paper mailing bags and paper sticky tape which are fully recyclable and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). This certification assures that the wood and forests that our packaging originates from are well-managed and safeguarded for future generations.

- All our garment started coming in 100% compostable cornstarch bags.

- We continued to support Restart Africa in Kenya, an orphanage that provides a loving home to over 110 vulnerable children.

- We started our Beach Clean Up project in Malindi, Kenya, which sponsored a group of Kenyan children to help us collect over 800 baskets of plastic from the beaches near our suppliers.

ACCOLADES

- Voted one of the Top 21 best and most stylish brands by The Daily Telegraph

- Winner of the Cabana and Capsule’s Beach Clean Up Competition, for our dedication to protect and preserve our oceans and beaches.

- Shortlisted for the GWG Ethical Company of the year 2019.

FABRICS

We have moved over 90% of our cotton to organic GOTS certified cotton. Where we have been unable to source organic cotton for particular items, we have donated to Water Harvest, a program that provides life-saving water tanks for the most deprived communities in Delhi and Jaipur.

We have also introduced a capsule collection this year made from LENZING viscose which has been certified as compostable and biodegradable as well as being sourced from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forests.

We have stopped buying polyester and plastic-based materials throughout the entire Aspiga Collection.

PACKAGING

We have removed all plastic packaging from our garments and footwear

Our clothing now comes in new garment bags made from 100% cornstarch. These bags are 100% compostable as they are made from vegetables and will naturally break down over time (unlike plastic).

Our product tags are fully recyclable and certified by the FSC.

ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

We preserved our sandal suppliers’ staff incomes (who had orders cancelled from other brands) by asking them to make face masks for us.

We have sourced our colourful Kenyan sandal bags from the Elimu Sewing Project in Kenya, which supports young women from vulnerable backgrounds, to pursue a two-year training program to learn key skills in the sewing trade. We encourage our customers to reuse these sandal bags.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

We have achieved social accreditations from all Aspiga clothing suppliers (SEDEX or SA8000), who have had annual on-site audit visits, to ensure ethical standards are being met within their factories.

COMMITMENT TO ORDERS

Due to a huge drop in sales in March as a result of the pandemic, we had to reduce or cancel some of our pending orders. Once we realised as a business we were going to be okay, we reinstated all our orders or repurposed any left-over material that had yet to be used, into new products.

We also reinstated all orders from the brands we buy from. Ensuring we were acting responsibly and that not one of our suppliers was left out of pocket.

UPCYCLING INITIATIVES

We repurposed all scrap fabric into sustainable gift bags, scrunchies, face masks, etc. Thus completely reducing any waste in our material manufacturing.

GIVING BACK

We are proud to contribute and donate to a range of organisations whose mission is to make a positive impact on people & the planet. For 2020 some of them include:

- We have paid for the full annual school fees of a group of 12 young volunteers in Kenya, who help with our monthly beach clean-up.

- We donated £4,000 to Bluebells School in Kenya to help pay for teachers’ salaries who have not been paid since March due to the pandemic, to ensure the school can return to normal asap and the teachers don’t leave looking for work.

- For the month of April, we donated the profits from three of our items to the NHS Charities Together Appeal, raising £3,500

- We have donated £1200 to Water Harvest, a program that provides life-saving water tanks for the most deprived communities in Delhi and Jaipur.

- We donated 5% of our online profits on the 2nd of June to three Black Lives Matters Charities; Black Lives Matter Global Network, The Bail Project and the NAACP.

- In December, we donated ALL profits from our ‘Happy T-shirt’ to the Crisis this Christmas charity appeal.

- We donated ALL profits from our ‘Box of Dinosaur Socks’ to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to help protect endangered species.

- We have pledged to donate 10% of profits from all our Alpine jumpers sold in December and January to Crisis.

CARBON OFFSET PROGRAMS

This year we partnered with CarbonClick, enabling consumers to purchase carbon credits at checkout. These go directly to supporting gold standard verified carbon offset projects such as forest restoration, tree planting and renewable energy projects around the world. This initiative started in October and has already been used by over 150 customers offsetting over 110,429lb of carbon.

OFFICE RECYCLING

We were unhappy with the waste and recycling service offered by our landlord and the local council so have signed up to a fully integrated recycling service from First Mile (thefirstmile.co.uk) so that all of our office waste is being recycled and not sent to landfill.