Earth Day Every Day!
To celebrate 22nd April, otherwise known as Earth Day, this year the team at Uneeka have gone all out to share the message that Earth Day should be Every Day! We prioritise loving the planet we live on and do all we can to be Eco-Friendly, from supplying recycled newspaper bags in store and reusing packaging from suppliers for our online orders to providing eco-chic furniture and ethically sourced gifts throughout our stores.
A prime example of a supplier that shares our ethos is Nkuku (our Brand Partners) who are focused on their environmental impact and the products they create are largely made from natural, sustainable and recycled waste materials from other industries created through a handmade process. They use anything from recycled metals and glass to recycled sari's to create beautiful products that can be used everyday or be displayed in your home with far less impact on our environment than shopping elsewhere. A firm favourite and a wonderful Eco Friendly Gift that we love to continuously have in our Frames collection is the 'Kiko Antique Brass Frame', these picture frames are hung with recycled sari ties and each tells its own story with weld marks on the joins of each piece, showing the way the metal is skilfully soldered around the glass with traditional tools.
Another one of our favourite Fair Trade suppliers are also eco-friendly and within both of our Life stores we provide a wide variety of items, from furniture to accessories to socks! The 'Elephant Dung Notebook/ Planner' is made from recycled 100% eco-friendly material and Handmade from a marvelous mixture of elephant dung, cow dung and tea leaves. Even the paper itself is handmade, made entirely from recycled cotton rags! The cotton rags are collected from various garment industries and recycling centres, which are then processed and mixed with water to make a pulp. Next they add the elephant or cow dung and tea leaves to make this truly unique paper. The finished product is 100% recycled, eco-friendly and totally odourless! We also have their 'Diamond Pattern Kilim Rug' available in a variety of colours and sizes and made from 100% recycled plastic bottles in a nifty process that breaks down plastic bottles into super fine fibres that can then be spun into thread and yarn! How exciting! These rugs can be used from picnic rugs and general outdoor use to indoor pieces that add a bit of colour to your room. This supplier is proudly Fair Trade and buy from small scale producers who use largely natural materials and traditional techniques to produce one of a kind interesting and inherently beautiful articles. They help disadvantaged producers by working with them in partnership through mutually beneficial and long term trade.
We also provide Circular & Co. products, this is a supplier that we have used for several years now who were originally known as 'rCup'. Their Recycled Water Bottles and Cups as well as other items like 'Eco Bird Cake Kits', close to Truro their base and workshop is in nearby Perranporth and they have a focus on making "apparently useless materials, destined for landfill, into genuinely useful, sustainable and well-designed products." A best seller, the 'Circular & Co Reusable Coffee Cup' is the world’s first reusable coffee cup, made from recycled single-use paper cups. Designed with practicality and circularity in mind, this sustainable travel mug is 100% leakproof, providing peace of mind whilst you’re on the go and has been designed for over 10 years use!
One of our most recent new suppliers has a drive to use natural materials that are ethically and sustainably sourced, this jewellery supplier uses Tagua nuts (Vegetable Ivory), Acai Seeds and even Fish Scales to create their delicate, colourful and unique jewellery. We have so much love for these exciting new products, come and browse these unique pieces here in our Earring Collection!
Not to forget our furniture store, over at Uneeka Home we have a wide range of Swyft products, Swyft themselves have aimed to ensure their packaging is biodegradable and made from recyclable materials. The only plastic that they use in their packaging is made with d2w technology which breaks down the plastic by speeding up oxidation until the item can no longer be classed as plastic, the end result is a biodegradble material which leaves no trace of toxic residue or microplastics. In addition to this they ensure all the wood they use is FSC certified, this means that the only wood they use in their manufacturing process comes from forests that are well managed or from recycled sources. Carbon reduction is also important to Swyft and they make sure to offset the average carbon footprint of every product that they sell!
It is so important to us at Uneeka that we support brands and businesses across all our stores that follow our ethos and are committed to being as Green as possible and are all about sustaining an Eco-Friendly process. Come down to see our stores and grab your next eco-friendly find!