OUR RESPONSIBILITY
This timeless adage resonates with us. We’re a small company but one with employees on three continents and customers in 60+ countries. We understand that every decision we make has implications not only for the communities we call home, but also on a worldwide scale.
As a family-owned business we also have control over our entire manufacturing and distribution process. This means it’s our responsibility, and ours alone, to conduct business with high ethical standards — and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
WOOL
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As with everything at Baabuk, our sustainability efforts begin with wool — a fabric that is long lasting, recyclable and renewable. We go to great length to ensure the best possible care is given to the animals that provide our wool and that there’s traceability and accountability for all the resources we use. We source the wool for our sneakers from Portugal, where the sheep are certified mulesing-free and live in Serra da Estrela Natural Park, the largest protected area in the country. We carefully selected Portugal’s historic Burel Factory to process wool for our sneakers because of its long wool making tradition and because it is also in the Serra da Estrela region, where our wool comes from. For our slippers and boots, we source wool from New Zealand because our farmers’ water and soap washing process is environmentally friendly as the water is recycled so that it doesn’t pollute local rivers. |
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SOCIAL IMPACT
Just as it is in our DNA to explore beyond comfort, it is our mission to explore beyond environmental concerns to society and human health issues. For instance, along with the country’s long-standing history with wool production, we chose Nepal as the manufacturing hub for our slippers and boot-bodies for the chance to make a positive impact in a local community.
We do so by providing good working conditions, 25% higher salary than the national average and, in a world and country where men have more job opportunities, by employing more women than men (14 women and three men) in our workshop. We also guarantee that no children work in the facility.
B-CORP CERTIFIED
Being able to enact a change on a local level like this is very meaningful to us, but we also seek to be part of B Corp’s “global movement of people using business as a force for good.”
As a B Corp certified company, Baabuk meets the global non-profit organization’s exacting guidelines for social and environmental performance as well as for how our company’s operations and business model impact our workers, community, environment and customers.
We’re proud to be one of the growing number of companies committed to a better tomorrow and as we continue to grow we promise to keep striving to do right by our customers, our employees and our planet.
Read more about our responsibility efforts