6 - What we do to give back part of the profits to improve the society?
Wearing change
Womsh stands for word of mouth shoes:
sneakers that use word of mouth to communicate a message of change, for people and the environment.
A message that speaks of human and environmental values, beauty, and responsible choices for a fairer future that leaves no one behind.
WHY?
The fashion industry is among the most polluting in the world. Every year, it uses 93 billion cubic meters of water and is responsible for up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. An unsustainable impact that has intensified in recent years with the rise of fast fashion, which has amplified resource consumption and waste: 5.2 million tonnes of clothing and footwear waste per year, equivalent to 12 Kg per citizen. The result? Every second, a truckload of clothes is dumped in a landfill, often on the other side of the world.
Where the people who make our clothes have no rights, live, and work in inhumane conditions.
We want a different kind of fashion that doesnt hide behind greenwashing activities. An ethical fashion that takes responsibility for its impact on the community and environment.
Together we can make a difference.
Its not about being big or having many investors.
Only the right choices count.
FOR US AT WOMSH, IT MEANS PUTTING PEOPLE AND THE PLANET ABOVE PROFIT.
HOW WE DO OUR PART
ACTIONS THAT COUNT MORE THAN WORDS.
Making sustainability concrete
Sustainability has always been our obsession. We wanted it to become measurable and accountable, a concrete gesture in short.
Womsh is about to become a benefit corporation: we will invest 2% of our turnover or 10% of our profits in social and environmental activities.
In practice, this means that every year we will have the task of drafting a report on the pursuit of the common benefit of our company to explain what charitable activities have been conducted and providing an assessment of their impact. All this information will be made official on our website and accessible to anyone.
Compensating CO2 emissions
We’re not just telling stories: the most sustainable sneaker is the one that is neither produced nor purchased. It is estimated that CO2 emissions produced by the fashion industry will increase by 60% in the next 12 years. What we can do today is take responsibility for our impact and give back to the Planet what we have taken from it to help nature reclaim its spaces.
Since 2014, we have collaborated with the Zero Impact® project by LifeGate, a reference reality in Italy for sustainable development. Together, we have calculated the CO2 emissions generated by our production process (from the sourcing of raw materials to the transport of the finished product), in order to implement strategies to reduce them more and more and compensate for the inevitable ones by contributing to the creation and protection of forests in Italy, Costa Rica, Madagascar, Bolivia, and Panama.
Recover, recycle, and give new life to Sneakers
Did you know that every year 22 billion pairs of shoes end up in landfills?
To ensure this doesnt happen, in our stores, youll find a box for recycling your old pair of shoes. We will make sure to give them a second life thanks to the "Il Giardino di Betty" project - supported by the benefit company ESOsport, which aims to recover and recycle exhausted material to create anti-slip flooring for childrens playgrounds.
Believing in research and new generations
80% of a products environmental impact is decided in the design phase. To move towards a more circular and less polluting approach, its necessary to look beyond the materials used and think about the entire life cycle of the product.
We believe that investing in knowledge and new generations is essential for a better future, and thats why we are proud to finance research activities on sustainability for training and design schools in our area, including the Politecnico Calzaturiero.
Consume less, consume better
It is estimated that between 80 and 100 billion new garments are produced each year, about 14 for every person on Earth. Clothes and shoes that, for the most part, are destined for increasingly shorter life cycles.
Black Friday seemed to us the best opportunity to say enough to consumerism and disposable fashion.
Every year, we turn the darkest Friday of the year into the greenest, donating 30% of our sales proceeds to One Tree Planted, a non-governmental organization that takes care of the protection of the worlds forested areas, planting about 2000 trees each year.
This is how we do our part in the fight against climate change and social inequalities. An action program for people and the Planet that we started ten years ago and that today coincides with the 17 goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
CREATING A POSITIVE IMPACT ON PEOPLE AND THE PLANET. THIS IS WHAT A FASHION COMPANY SHOULD DO TODAY.
Sustainability is not a limit, but a stimulus to rewrite the production paradigm that destroys the natural and social systems on which it depends. Our dream is for the world of business to become more ethical and inclusive, generating value for the context in which it operates and creating lasting and shared prosperity for all.
We believe this is the duty and mission of a business: to create a healthy and fair economy, capable of creating and distributing more value than it takes to function.
We have always been taught that "more" is better, and over time, we have forgotten that material goods are just a means to achieve well-being, not the end. The culture of incessant growth has led us to todays environmental and social disaster. A point of no return. Transforming our way of doing business is a good starting point, but its not enough. Now, more than ever, its necessary to rethink a new way of being in the world, for people and the planet.
Together.
BECAUSE A PAIR OF SNEAKERS WONT SAVE THE WORLD, BUT THE PEOPLE WHO WEAR THEM WILL
1 - What is the product made from?
2 - Where was it made?
3 - Who made it?
