Circularity and Sustainable Beddings and Towels from Sömn Home
Going around in circles can be a good thing. At least when it comes to the environment. As a company specializing in sustainable linen bedding, we at Sömn Home look beyond sustainable materials and production. We’re here to help transform the home textile industry into one where waste is reduced, and resources can be circulated and repurposed (aka circular thinking). If this is a new concept for you, circular thinking is one of our best tools to tackle the threat of climate change and the loss of biodiversity. But it’s also a pretty great way to create new environmentally-oriented industries and jobs. As part of the industry, we know textiles are vital to everyday life. For clothing, for our homes—it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry. As a company that creates wellness obsessed home textiles, we’re focussing on solutions that meet the principles of circular economy, including: sourcing safe and renewable raw materials (like organic cotton and our exquisite European flax) looking for ways to eliminate waste and make the old new again achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 Transforming the Home Textile Industry What inspired us to create a brand of sustainable wellness-centric home textiles? To put it bluntly, the industry was a mess. Literally and figuratively. Even today, textile production relies mostly on non-renewable resources. Oil is an ingredient in many synthetic fabrics. Soil leaching synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are often used to grow “natural” materials. And high outputs combined with low levels of recycling and remanufacturing mean the industry’s gigantic waste extends way beyond the consumption of raw materials. Having said that, the industry is slowly changing, companies (large and small) are becoming more socially and environmentally responsible as we speak. We are seeing more organizations investing in biodiversity, developing renewal energy, designing smart and reducing waste. Oh, Sömn Sustainable: Bedding and Towels So, what makes Sömn different? Quite a lot, actually. Our goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Through a combination of efficiency measures taken both in-house and through third-party programs, we are looking for ways to bring our carbon footprint down, all the way to zero. By, for example, we currently invest in carbon offsets for all our customer deliveries. We are finding new ways to provide products and services that reduces the use of raw materials and waste production. Other Initiatives at Sömn Home To help us understand our environmental cost, an impact report is currently underway. This will allow us to precisely audit our sourcing and supply chain, so we can set up a well-managed framework to better meet our sustainability goals. We always consider the full lifecycle of a product through a circular mindset. By ensuring our production setup uses as much of the materials produced, we design for minimal waste and only weave the exact amount of fabrics we require by the order, leaving very little remnants. Additionally, most of our linen offcuts are collected and then repurposed into kitchen towels, napkins, and swatches used for product sampling. Waste not, want not. On the factory front, we work with a 100% wind-powered factory (including offices) for our towel production in Japan where a stringent wastewater management system is in place. As well, our organic cotton is grown on farmlands that are free of toxins for more than 3 years. This not only helps to protect the biodiversities of our nature, but it also enhances the quality of life for farmers and families who live in the remote villages in Tanzania by bringing jobs to them with fair wages. To stay sustainable, we consider three pillars--people, planet, and profit. Creating a sustainable (and circular) collection is one of the ways we are working to address global challenges locally. And hey, if enough people care locally, we win globally.