Sustainability

Why do we care about sustainability so much?

We The Curious is an educational charity and science centre. This online shop is a small, curated sample of the myriad products we have on-site in our venue shop on Bristol harbourside. Through our product selection, we aim to represent one of our manifesto pledges – sustainable futures.  

We don’t have all the answers about sustainability and we don’t claim to be experts. We’re constantly learning and working every day to improve our environmental impact.  

By supporting suppliers who prioritise sustainability, we can make an important contribution towards sustainable development. This means making better choices about what we buy and who from.  

Products have environmental impacts throughout their life-cycle from the raw materials and energy used to manufacture and supply them, to the way they are recycled or managed at the end of their lives. We have a responsibility to sell products with low impacts.  

By promoting sustainable purchasing practices, We The Curious can provide industry with real incentives for developing green technologies. Our aim is also to act as a role model for our visitors, other organisations and our suppliers.  

 

What are our retail sustainability objectives?

We want to:

  • Encourage carbon emission reduction and sustainable resource use from our suppliers.
  • Encourage our suppliers to adopt practices that minimise their environmental impact.
  • Procure sustainable products & replace current unsustainable stock.
  • Promote our organisational commitments to quality, integrity and sustainability.
  • Become a trusted vendor for long-lasting, sustainable products. Our customers will know that they aren’t harming the environment by shopping with us.
  • Recognise that sustainable procurement is an ongoing process and review this policy on a regular basis.
  • Support the Sustainable Development Goals created by the United Nations.
  • Ensure responsible consumption and production patterns.

 

Sustainable products are

  • Durable
  • Made with ethically and locally sourced materials  
  • Made with a maximum possible use of recycled materials  
  • Made with a minimum possible use of raw materials  
  • Non-polluting  
  • Reusable and recyclable  
  • Eco-label Trust (for example Forestry Stewardship Council, RSPO) 

 

 

Sustainable suppliers are

  • Local
  • Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
  • Ethically-minded
  • Have a formal environmental policy
  • Act to reduce carbon emissions, pollution, waste & resource (water, energy) use
  • Have environmental certification
  • Have corporate social responsibility policy
  • Consider environmental, social and economic impacts of their suppliers when sourcing products and services

 

Here’s a few of the things we’ve done so far

  • All paper and card is FSC (and our greetings cards are plastic free)
  • Single use plastic products will soon no longer be in stock as we’ve stopped ordering them
  • Our soft toy range is made from 100% recycled materials
  • We insist on polystyrene and blister packaging free deliveries from our suppliers

 

And what we’re doing next

  • Tags, labels and packaging completely free of plastic
  • Carbon net zero by 2030, along with the whole of We The Curious

 

How we’ll ship your order

  • Wherever possible, orders will be sent out in recycled and recyclable packaging.
  • Your order will be sent out in one delivery

Please do get in touch if you’d like further info, or have any thoughts about what more we could be doing: retail@wethecurious.org

 

Further reading

Sustainability at We The Curious 

Sustainable Development Goals