Sustainability & Kind Karma
Sustainability has been a core foundation at Kind Karma so we wanted to dedicate a page to highlight the ways in which we are making fashion a more ethical place.
WHAT DOES SUSTAINABILITY MEAN TO US?
When people think about "ethical" and "sustainable" fashion, the first thing that comes to mind is often environment-related. Likewise, when we speak of "waste", we often think only of what pollutes our landfills and the by-products associated with production.
But what about the waste of human potential?
Tackling global warming and the climate crisis is something that every single human on earth should contribute towards but it is difficult to think about making a difference when you are mired in poverty. It is difficult to think about the impact of a purchase when the cheapest option is all you can afford.
So at Kind Karma, we are dedicated first and foremost to tackling the social issues associated with fashion so that we can elevate the vulnerable members of society to become leaders in the battle against climate change.
THE U.N. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDG)
In 2015, world leaders gathered to draft and commit to 17 interconnected goals that they describe as the "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". Since then, companies such as ours have dedicated our mission to tackling these goals to create a better world by ending poverty, reducing inequalities, battling human rights abuses and tackling climate change. Here are the goals that form the foundation of Kind Karma.
As a first world nation, most citizens of Canada are lucky enough to not know extreme poverty but poverty still exists and is often an intergenerational circumstance. While poverty has many dimensions, its causes are often related to unemployment and high vulnerability which is why at Kind Karma, we have developed an innovative art therapy-based employment model that functions as a low barrier approach to employment so vulnerable members of society can actually maintain employment to lift them out of poverty.
Women have always played a crucial role in society and yet gender parity is something that we, as a society, are still working towards. As a company that is woman-owned and that employs a majority female and LGBTQ+ staff, our goal is to empower youth to become the leaders they naturally are. And since Kind Karma has always been committed to promoting from within, we hope that our ability to elevate women and other minorities into management positions can create a ripple effect throughout our community.
Globally, 172 million people are unemployed but what's even more astounding is the fact that 71 million of those are young people. With one fifth of youth not in employment, school or training, how can we say that we are setting our future leaders up not only for success but with the tools they need to enact change? Kind Karma aims to fight this circumstance by not only offering meaningful employment to vulnerable youth but by also giving them the skills, training and confidence that they can use in all walks of their lives.
Kind Karma sources all materials from reputable suppliers well established in the jewelry industry and are thus held accountable to environment, labour and safety standards that ensure people and planet are not subject to excess harm in the process of production. And since Kind Karma jewelry is handmade and not mass produced, our carbon footprint during production is minimal.
Where possible, we use recycled materials such as 925 sterling silver and 14KT solid gold to create new pieces in the hopes of giving discarded metals new life and reducing environmental waste.
We are also extremely mindful of the amount of packaging typically found within the e-commerce industry and are proud to ship all our pieces with minimal packaging (we don't even include order receipts or printouts to save paper!). We are proud that our envelopes are made from recycled materials and are compostable! Any other packaging such as bubble wrap or foam is always upcycled to minimize waste.
GIVING BACK
Not only are we dedicated to making a difference through our company mission but we also love giving back and creating better communities through extra efforts! We have company volunteer days where youth are paid a day's wages but instead, employees donate their work hours volunteering at respite centres, soup kitchens or creating care packages for the homeless. We are also known to donate to charitable causes to end human trafficking, advance mental health initiatives, fund resources for minorities including black and LGBTQ+ community members to name a few. We even have pieces in our collection where we donate a portion from each piece sold to NGO's dedicated to helping people and planet.