Hello Charlie

Our Sustainability Framework

• Emissions & Key Environmental Issues

  What is your company doing to reduce your emissions or combat key environmental issues (e.g. waste (packaging, end of life product strategy or recycling), biodiversity, land use, water, chemical use, energy use, and natural resource use etc.)?

  100% Green Power We buy 100% Green Power through our electricity provider, Diamond Energy. We choose Diamond Energy because our old provider, Powershop, has just been bought by Shell. We applaud that fact that Shell are moving into renewables, but we prefer not to support companies making money out of fossil fuels. Diamond Energy are a carbon neutral company, and they have been given 5 stars by Greenpeace, making them Australia's greenest power company. Although buying Green Power costs us a bit more, we think that this is an important choice that makes a big difference for the future of our planet.

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• Materials

  How are the products your company offers made from environmentally friendly materials (e.g. recycled, organic materials)?

  Packaging We reuse, repurpose, and recycle packaging whenever we can. If we have to buy new, we make sure that it's either compostable, recyclable, or made from recycled materials. The biodegradable packing peanuts are made from natural, nontoxic sources, such as wheat and corn starch. They dissolve in water and can be thrown into compost piles after a single use. We don't buy these, we reuse them from packaging we are sent from our suppliers. Clean paper, like tissue paper, butcher's paper, scrunched brown packing paper - all of these get sorted and reused to protect parcels. We don't get enough clean paper for our needs, so we also buy butcher's paper that's made from recycled newspaper. If we have to use new satchels, we choose certified compostable satchels from Heaps Good Packaging. Timber Product Sourcing Policy We commit to ensuring that by 2024 at least 80% of timber and timber byproducts sourced and sold by Hello Charlie are either: FSC Certified PEFC Certified (Responsible Wood in Australia) Recycled wood Our preference is for: Recycled (highest content possible) Reclaimed wood (for example Plan Toys PlanWood) Certified sustainable Locally sourced (where possible)

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• Service Offering

  How are the service/s you offer environmentally friendly?

  Packaging We reuse, repurpose, and recycle packaging whenever we can. If we have to buy new, we make sure that it's either compostable, recyclable, or made from recycled materials. The biodegradable packing peanuts are made from natural, nontoxic sources, such as wheat and corn starch. They dissolve in water and can be thrown into compost piles after a single use. We don't buy these, we reuse them from packaging we are sent from our suppliers. Clean paper, like tissue paper, butcher's paper, scrunched brown packing paper - all of these get sorted and reused to protect parcels. We don't get enough clean paper for our needs, so we also buy butcher's paper that's made from recycled newspaper. If we have to use new satchels, we choose certified compostable satchels from Heaps Good Packaging. We reuse as many cardboard boxes as we can for packing your orders. Boxes that are too large, or too damaged for us to reuse get collected and recycled by a specialist cardboard and paper recycler so that we know that it's actually being recycled. When we need extra cardboard boxes, we get them made locally (right here in Melbourne) so that we can reduce our eco footprint, and of course the boxes themselves are recyclable.

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• Community Initiatives

  How does your company give back to the community (e.g. financial donations, volunteering, partnerships etc.)?

  Carbon offsetting and tree planting Hello Charlie is a climate positive workforce and we offset the personal footprint for every member of our team, whether they work in the office or from home. Another one of our goals is to plant a tree for every order that's placed on our website, and to offset 200 tonnes of carbon annually. It's not enough to just plant trees, though. We want to make sure that what we do actually makes a difference. We work with ecologi, who practice responsible reforestry. That means that the trees are ecologically appropriate for that areas that they're planted in. It means working with local communities creates jobs and livelihoods for people in those communities. It also means that the trees are protected to make sure that they survive and grow into great big trees!

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• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

  How has your company made a commitment to achieve and maintain inclusion & diversity (e.g. Gender / Race / Ethnicity / National Origin / Sexual Orientation / Religion / Disability / Age)?

  This isn’t me being racist. There’s utter crap being made in Germany, just like there’s some awesome quality organics being made in China. But Germany is in Europe, which has the strictest chemical laws in the world, so generally I’d trust something coming out of Germany more than I would something coming out of China. However, if something is coming out of China, I’d check for ISO quality certifications, independent testing and organic certifications, and I’d do further searches on the company’s reputation. Obviously, we choose Aussie and Kiwi products whenever we can. We’re a small Australian business, and we choose to shop at small Australian businesses ourselves. And the Kiwis are like cousins, so of course we’re going to support them, too.

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• Supply Chain
• Circular Models