The Crafty Kit Company

At The Crafty Kit Company we’re always trying to make a positive contribution towards a more sustainable future, and like all businesses, we know that we can and should work to improve the sustainability of our products and working practises. We view sustainability not as a process that can be 'completed' just once, but rather as a never-ending learning curve, and a way of doing business that can, and should, become our norm. At The Crafty Kit Company, our dedication to sustainability is strongly entwined with our company’s five Core Values: which are our ‘Desire to do Better’, ‘Open-Mindedness’, ‘Kindness and Respect’, ‘Consistency and High Standards’, and finally, but by no means least, ‘Happiness’. We use these values to guide every part of how we conduct our business, from the products that we develop, to the team members that we hire. We’re also driven by our overarching purpose beyond profit, which is to impact lives through inspiration, creativity, and fun. Our team is fortunate to live and work in the beautiful county of East Lothian, and to be able to enjoy the rivers, woods, and beaches that surround us here. Many of our products are inspired by our local wildlife and landscapes, and it is our hope that our products will also encourage our customers to appreciate and engage with the natural world. We're also committed to being a 'Business for Good', and for making a positive impact for the people and places around the world that most need our help. For each craft kit that we produce, we have pledged to donate one 'impact' through our charity partner, B1G1 (Buy One Give One), whose projects are all aligned with the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals, such as access to clean water and sanitation. We also make a conscious effort to support local charities. For example, when we launched a needle felting subscription box in 2020, we chose to make a donation for each box that we sold to Edinburgh Headway, a charity supporting people with acquired brain injury. Other local charities whom we support include Edinburgh Dog & Cat Home, and wildlife and conservation charity The Scottish Seabird Centre, for whom we have held fundraising events that together raised almost £2,000 in 2021.

Having changed our packaging to recycled (and recyclable) cardboard several years ago, we’ve recently been assessing the components that we include in our kits, and have replaced the plastic tubes used to hold our felting needles with glassine envelopes. We have also replaced the foam felting pads included in our kits with pads made from recycled materials. In 2021, we joined the Eco-Packaging Alliance, meaning that every time we place an order with our supplier, noissue, they plant trees in areas of need.

We plan to continue to replace single-use plastics in our packaging wherever possible, and have committed to undertaking an annual ‘Sustainability Audit’ to assess how we can make further improvements in our packaging and product design.

An important element in our efforts to become a more sustainable business was our decision to produce all of our craft kits in-house, which we made early in the development of our business. Doing so enables us to provide employment opportunities here in Scotland, and to have a ripple effect throughout our local economy, and community. It also means that we, and our customers, can be absolutely certain that our staff receive a fair wage, and are working under safe and equitable conditions. The majority (but not all) of our staff are women, who work for us part-time, alongside their responsibilities as care-givers, while other members of the team are currently working, and will continue to work, from home. We’re thrilled to support flexible working in this way, and the possibilities that it provides for a more inclusive working culture. We also, through our charity partner B1G1, frequently donate to projects that contribute to women's education and training worldwide.