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Spotlight on Sustainability

When every footstep is a fabulous as it is in a pair of Fairfax & Favor boots, the footprint should be as well. We’re conscious about our impact on the environment, because it’s right to be and because we want you to be able to confidently strut your stuff knowing that your beautiful boots, brilliant bags and confident coats come at minimal cost to the planet.
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Sustainably sourced

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Let’s start with the basics

Our luscious leathers and sumptuous suedes are made with hides from the meat and dairy industry – in other words, by-products that would otherwise have gone to waste. Better a beautiful Brompton or Belgravia than the bin, right?

Energy consumption is one of the fashion industry’s biggest environmental issues, so it’s something we’re particularly conscious of. That’s why we use a tannery awarded Silver Status by the Leather Working Group.

It’s also why our suede and leather providers now undergo highly detailed environmental audits covering their water usage, air and noise emissions, use of restricted substances, energy consumption, effluent treatment, traceability and production processes.

What’s more, our tannery sources the majority of its energy from a solar power system on the roof of their own building, and everything else from certified sustainable energy suppliers. It’s also working towards fully carbon neutral production!

Sedex

SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING

WE’RE PICKY ABOUT WHO WE PARTNER WITH

We only work with manufacturers who they take their responsibilities to their teams, communities and environment as seriously as we do. All of our factories and suppliers are approved by Sedex, the world’s leading organisation for companies to manage and improve working conditions in global supply chains. Sedex carry out in-depth social audits under the four pillars of SMETA which are Labour, Health & Safety, Environmental issues and Business Ethics – so you can be sure they’ve had a thorough vetting.

Sustainability is about people as well as planet, so we pride ourselves on being able to ensure all employees throughout our supply chain are treated and paid fairly. Great working conditions are guaranteed, too – whether that’s free transport, free meals, rewriting contracts for mums and pregnant women or yoga and meditation rooms.

In short, you can have the confidence that every pair of hands that’s touched your boots before they slip onto your feet has been happy to be a part of their journey to your wardrobe.

PICKY ABOUT PACKAGING

Veolia

There’s nothing more exciting than a blue box delivery, but it feels even better knowing it’s part of a sustainable process. Our famous boxes are made from recycled materials and designed to be used again and again – use them for keeping your boots, bags and shoes in great condition for years to come.

All our other outgoing packaging is 100% recyclable, even the tape (remember to remove it and recycle separately). and we’re now keeping your Fairfax & Favor goodies safe in transit with a recycled corrugated paper void filler instead of bubble wrap.

All deliveries to our warehouse are in recyclable and recycled cartons (that’s an endless recycling cycle right there). In partnership with Veolia, our cardboard skip collects these empty cartons each week and recycles over 50 tonnes each year!

the headlines

Over 105,000Kg of Waste collected, consisting of:

- Landfill Tonnage of 3,640Kg

- Diverted Waste of 13,000Kg

- Recycling of 89,000Kg

Over 21,000 kg of CO2 saved, the equivalent of:

- 73 Trees Planted

- 8 Cars off the road

- Almost 13 homes powered

WORKING WITH DPD

Our relationship with our leading courier service DPD, has been striving to improve sustainability from our warehouse to your door. In conjunction with DPD’s sustainability practices, which includes a vegetable oil biofuel being deployed to 100% of their HGV fleet and over 3000 all-electric vehicles now delivering throughout the UK, we have been able to significantly decrease the environmental impact of our deliveries.

In 2022 we delivered over 8,000 parcels to customers using all electric vehicles, saving over 2,000kg of CO2. For the first quarter of 2023 we have already delivered over 3400 parcels using all electric vehicles, saving over 900kg of CO2 and we are on track to meet our target of delivering over 14,000 parcels using all-electric vehicles. This represents a 3.6% increase in all-electric delivery from 2022 which will continue to grow throughout 2023.

the headlines

2022:

- 8,292 parcels delivered all-electric.

- 2,289kg of CO2 saved.

- The equivalent to planting 9 trees.

Q1 2023:

- 3,428 parcels delivered all-electric.

- 946kg of CO2 saved.

- The equivalent to planting 4 trees.

For the rest of 2023:

- 14,000 parcels delivered all-electric.

- 4,000kg of CO2 saved.

- The equivalent to planting 18 trees.

DOING OUR BIT

what we're doing

IT WOULDN'T BE FAIR...

…to place such rigorous sustainability demands on our suppliers if we didn’t put the same on ourselves, so here are just a few of our hands-on responsible business initiatives here at Fairfax & Favor HQ:

  • Office Heating: we’ve reduced our CO2 output by up to 9.5 tonnes a year by heating our office with a wood chip burner, sourcing wood from cleared or storm damaged wood from the estate itself.

  • Transport – we operate a cycle to work scheme.

  • Tech equipment – when we upgrade our IT stuff, we recycle old kit by donating it to charity or selling it on.

  • Odd and sample shoes – forget landfill! Our odd or sample shoes go to Jo’s Odd Shoes

TRANSFORMING

Most recently, we’ve teamed up with Greenspark, whose amazing initiatives allow us to offset our employees’ carbon emissions. Through this partnership, we’re proud to transform plastic waste into empowering income and to be a part of the Eden Reforestation Projects.

Greenspark | Plastic & Carbon Offset

Eden Reforestation Projects is on a mission to combat deforestation by employing local communities to plant trees, providing an empowering means to alleviate extreme poverty through environmental stewardship.

Plastic Bank® builds ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities while simultaneously creating positive economic opportunities for those who helped collect it.

What’s even more amazing is that we’re giving you, our customers, the chance to help us on this journey by leaving a review on Yotpo when invited. For every review you leave, we’ll plant a tree in your name – so you too can help fight poverty and climate change.

Read more on Greenspark’s life-changing projects.

NEW FOR 2023

At Fairfax and Favor it is our objective that each and every product is made to last. We believe our products should be used and loved and this is why we have partnered with the amazing Boot Repair Company. Together we are committed to provide you with an excellent warranty service and a bespoke customer repair service ensuring your products are loved and used again and again.

We are excited to finally be able to announce our latest collaboration with the amazing team at TBRC...
Our Sustainable selling site

ReFavored : ReStore : RePair : ReCycle

In the UK alone 85% of post consumer shoe waste is sent to landfill, with only 15% redistributed or repurposed. We wanted to address this issue, and are committed being a part of the solution, not the problem.

Want to know more? ReFavored

At Refavored you will find previously worn, used or slightly damaged seconds items which have been lovingly restored, repaired and sanitised ready for a new lease of life. Any item which cannot be rescued, is donated to the Fashion Students at Leeds University to be used for projects and designs.
We really are trying to be zero waste!!

“As the world evolves it is important that we as a company and team are doing our bit to support the move to a cleaner greener planet. Small changes and decisions by each team member and department can all add up to Fairfax and Favor being a better greener business.”

Rob Cooper

Head of operations

“We don’t want to say that Fairfax & Favor is Green. We are trying to be Green. It’s an important difference. If you aren’t always trying, then you aren’t pushing to be better. We are only at the beginning of this process now but we know that our customers will help us on this important journey.”

Felix Favor Parker

Founding Director

“When taking on my role as wholesale accounts manager it was crucial that as a company we looked at our carbon footprint and decided that by having a hybrid vehicle we helped play our part in reducing emissions. The Mercedes A250E, being a plug in hybrid car means it emits much lower emissions than regular cars, with 44 miles of emission free driving.”

Charlie Ravenhill

B2B Area Manager

OUR GOALS

To Become B-Corps certified by 2024

To have full traceability within the supply chain from farm to foot by 2025

Offset carbon across all sites by end of 2023

OVER TO YOU!

We know our lovely customers are already joining us in our quest for greater sustainability, with many amazing second-hand selling groups being set up online (just one of them has over 34,000 members). That said, we’d love to hear your ideas on what else we can be doing on the sustainability front!

We would love to hear from you.

Get in contact

And meanwhile watch this space for a series of exciting blogs to keep you up to date on all of the little steps that make a giant leap for Fairfax & Favor towards being truly sustainable.