It's been a year of challenges, unknowns and changes. Despite it throwing us all for a loop, 2020 has enabled us to slow down and reflect on how we at Seljak Brand can create more sustainable systems and greater impact.
Every year we report on how we’re contributing to our waste-free vision, and supporting the environment and the community we work within.
Alongside diverting textiles waste from landfill, we’ve donated a blanket to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) for every 10 blankets sold since we launched in 2016.
Over the course of 2020 it’s become clear that cash donations could more effectively cover the very immediate needs of refugees and people seeking asylum. As Seljak Brand grows, the value of donations will increase, and after this year’s Covid-19 lockdowns we’ve decided in collaboration with the ASRC, that monetary donations will enable the ASRC to respond in the most agile manner possible.
So from July 2020, for every blanket sold, $5 is donated to the ASRC to cover the cost of highest-need material aid, like food and toiletries. We’re looking forward to continuing to support the important work of the ASRC.
Despite a tumultuous year, check out the impact we've made in 2020 and the work we've been focusing on.
Our Impact:
- We've diverted 1000kg of textiles waste from landfill to make our blankets
- We’ve donated 75 blankets to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) in Melbourne
- We’ve donated $5460 cash directly to the ASRC for food and supplies (including $900 from our Black Friday Cyber Monday campaign)
Our Activities:
- We’re officially a carbon neutral business after conducting an audit and life cycle analysis with the Carbon Reduction Institute. We’ve offset emissions from when we started in 2016 until now
- We held our own Covid-safe climate protest activation on the beach to protest the government’s gas-fired recovery and encourage a renewables transition
- We were one of 8 high potential social enterprises accepted into Social Impact Hub’s Scaling Impact Accelerator where we spent four months developing our business to maximise social and environmental good
- We guest lectured about circular design and social enterprise at RMIT, Macquarie University and Brisbane Girls Grammar
- Co-founder Karina Seljak judged the best in Sustainable Design at The Design Files + Laminex 2020 Design Awards.
It’s a challenge and a privilege to explore systems change and ways to create beautiful and sustainable solutions for the future. By listening, purchasing, spreading the word and getting involved, it's YOU who are making the world a cosier, more resourceful place – so thank you!