International Women’s Day – 5 UK female founded sustainable brands

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been celebrated on March 8th every year since 1911

The event aims to recognise and celebrate women’s achievements whilst raising awareness about gender discrimination that unfortunately is still prevalent, more than a century since IWD started.

This year’s theme for IWD is “gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”. “Advancing gender equality in the context of the climate crisis and disaster risk reduction is one of the greatest global challenges of the 21st century. Women are increasingly being recognized as more vulnerable to climate change impacts than men, as they constitute the majority of the world’s poor and are more dependent on the natural resources which climate change threatens the most. At the same time, women and girls are effective and powerful leaders and change-makers for climate adaptation and mitigation…This International Women’s Day, let’s claim “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”,” reads a statement by the United Nations.

We thought it was only right given this year’s theme, to give praise to female founders across the UK who are breaking boundaries in the sustainable business industry. There are so many exciting female-founded sustainable businesses and we’ve picked out 5 of our favourites, from well-known brands to ones who are just starting out.

1. Olio, founded by Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One

Website: olioex.com

‘OLIO connects neighbours with each other and with local businesses so surplus food can be shared, not thrown away. This could be food nearing its sell-by date in local stores, spare home-grown vegetables, bread from your baker, or the groceries in your fridge when you go away. Olio believes that small actions make for big change; one rescued cupcake still contributes to a more sustainable future.

Olio has just revealed its new c-suite hires from Deliveroo, Uber, and TripAdvisor, as they aim for one billion users by 2030. “Olio is going through an incredibly exciting metamorphosis in response to the explosive growth we’ve experienced through the pandemic and beyond,” said Olio co-founder and CEO Tessa Clarke.

2. Lylie’s, founded by Eliza Walter

Website: lylies.com

Jewellery is an industry which, over the years has built up a reputation of being unsustainable. Whilst improvements are being made to workers rights, and more emphasis being placed on the origin of materials, other factors such as shorter product times are particularly worrying and mirror the issues of fast fashion.

Lylie’s is driven by a belief that products should be made with respect for the planet and the people who populate it. The London based jewellery brand is run by Eliza ‘Lylie’ Walter, who trained as a goldsmith in London’s Hatton Garden. Eliza uses salvaged gold and silver for all her designs and aims to produce jewellery that is classic, versatile and worth investing in. Lylie’s also uses precious stones in their designs which tend to be man-made, marine cultured or recycled.

When asked about consumers attitudes towards man made stones, Eliza said “my experience is that these attitudes are changing as consumers become more aware of the options and empowered to vote with their wallets”.

3. Collar Club, founded by Jo Baker

Website: collarclub.co.uk

Collar Club is a subscription box for dogs, containing only 100% natural treats, & eco-friendly and sustainable dog products. After healing her poorly 7-month puppy through natural healthy animal products and toys, Jo wanted to share and credit the amazing brands she’d found along the way and hence, Collar Club was born.

“A great deal of thought goes into selecting the perfect products for every Collar Club dog Subscription box. We hand select each product from some well-known brands, and smaller, artisanal brands with sustainability at the heart of their business. We want to help your dog discover their new favourite treats and toys all while putting people, the planet and pets first.”

4. Library of Things, founded by Emma Shaw and Sophia Wyatt

Website: libraryofthings.co.uk

“Library of Things is a social enterprise that helps people save money and reduce waste by affordably renting out useful items like drills, sound systems and sewing machines from local spaces – and by helping neighbours share practical skills.” It all started in 2014 with an experiment in West Norwood library, to find out whether people would borrow things rather than buy and waste them. Emma, Sophia and Bex crowdfunded £15,000 from local people, bought two shipping containers, and trialled 400 different items with 1,000 people – to identify the items best for borrowing. Since then, Library of things now have a team of +16, partnered with most London councils and are already expanding beyond the capital.

Their Crystal Palace borrowers alone have saved 15,900 kg of waste from going to landfill by borrowing rather than buying so far!

5. L.V. Denim, founded by Anna Foster

website: elvdenim.com

Founded by Fashion Stylist Anna Foster, E.L.V. Denim was born out of a passion for denim and sustainability. E.L.V. DENIM takes unwanted jeans destined for landfill and turns them into modern sophisticated pieces. Adhering to an ethos of zero waste, all products are upcycled from unwanted post-consumer waste denim. Anna said that “in the past, sustainable’ clothes could be said to have a ‘hemp vibe’, and I wanted to change this status quo”. Since the launch in 2018, the brand has been stocked in major retailers such as Net-A-Porter, Revolve and Selfridges.

It takes 10,000 litres of water to make a new pair of jeans, At E.L.V. DENIM, they only use 7 litres to wash the post-consumer denim waste!

Whichever way you plan to celebrate International Women’s Day, we hope this blog has inspired you to research the people and passion behind the brands that you choose to buy. There are so many inspiring entrepreneurs in today’s world, that are doing amazing things for our planet, and it’s our job as consumers to seek them out and support them.

Finally, our small team of 11 includes 7 women including scientists, senior developers, graphic artists, environmental research analyst and PhD researchers. We are proud of all our team for being the most inclusive environment that means women can thrive. Today we celebrate that !