Natural Collection

How is it social?

Natural collection sells organic and ethical clothing and accessories, with an aim to introduce a wider audience to sustainable and ethical products. The ethical objectives of the company areas follows:

• to use only durable, non toxic, grown or recycled materials,
• to alleviate poverty through fair-trade
• to develop products holistically
• to ensure end-use durability and recyclability or biodegradability.  

Products are not shipped from the US or Asia unless they are sufficiently environmentally sound to compensate for the shipping. There is a long list of products that the company will not knowingly sell products containing, and which they encourage their suppliers not to use by educating and providing information on safer alternatives.  Natural Collection has helped to encourage and promote environmental best practice by commissioning research into problems surrounding areas such as the palm oil industry.  The company updates suppliers about the use of better environmental materials and the importance of careful sourcing. The company also supports other work in the areas of environmental and social benefit and to date has contributed over £300,000 to such causes. 

What is its business model?

Natural Collection is an online eco-store, an ethically run business as well as supplier and promoter of environmentally sound goods. Products for sale range from clothing, stationary, home-wear and garden accessories to eco-lifestyle aids such as recycling bins.  The company considers all products against the following ‘dot guide’ criteria: Eco, Organic, Fair and Sustainable Trade, Natural Living and Well Being. Each product carries one or more ‘dots’.

Natural Collection won the Observer Ethical Award for Best Online Retailer in 2006 and 2007. Natural Collection is the official catalogue for Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Trees for Life, Out of This World, The Vegetarian Society, Compassion in World Farming and the World Society for the Protection of Animals. The company launched ‘Ooffoo’ in November 2008, a new online space where like-minded people can share ideas, swap, sell, recycle and give away items they might otherwise have thrown away.

Its history

Natural collection was set up in 1999 by Jo and Julian Spector. A husband and wife team, they had been previously involved in publishing and retail with a green bent. After selling their water cooler business, both had a desire to use their business skills to marry good commercial practice with a wider social ethic. They set up a company called Green Dot Guides to promote environmental issues, which led to the creation of the Natural Collection website. Natural Collection initially sold organic cotton towels and bed linen, then moved on to eco-gadgets such as log-makers, wind-up radios and solar lights, cleaning and personal care products and even a range of eco-clothing. Natural Collection now sources thousands of products and receives around 200,000 web hits per day.

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