As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s clear that we all have an important role to play in working towards a more sustainable future. Companies, both small and large, need to take decisive action in our fight against climate change.
That’s why we’ve decided to start the Sustainability Series, a set of articles dedicated to individuals and companies that are leading the way when it comes to helping the planet. We want to highlight what can be achieved when businesses are ambitious and proactive and about becoming greener.
Bower Collective: sustainability starts at home
First up in the series is Bower Collective, an innovative company providing natural home and personal care products. In 2019, founders Nick Torday and Marcus Hill came together with the following hypothesis: the plastic waste crisis is one of the defining environmental issues of our time. How can we build a transformative business that meets this challenge head on?
Launched in January 2020, Bower grew very quickly from a standing start to serving thousands of happy customers by the end of the year. Some of their most popular products include the all-purpose sanitiser spray, the dispenser range, the hand wash and new body wash range.
What is the motivation behind Bower Collective?
Sustainability has become a huge buzzword in recent years, but it’s often seen as a difficult and expensive option. Bower Collective was created to make sustainable living simple and accessible for all consumers.
Nick Torday, co-founder and CEO, told us that ‘Bower exists to create a more sustainable world. We are a mission-driven business with a big vision to eliminate plastic waste and make sustainable living simple’. The name behind the business is inspired by the bowerbird, a creature famous for recycling brightly coloured plastic scraps to decorate its nest, or bower.
The company’s aim is simple: to leave a better world behind us. Nick feels strongly that we can’t just ‘accept that waste is an inevitable consequence of how we consume products’. Bower is showing that it’s possible to create products that look good, feel good, reduce waste, and are highly sustainable and effective.
Why are natural products so important?
Regular cleaning is key to optimising your indoor air quality, but using the wrong products can inadvertently pollute your air and have an adverse impact on your health.
Bower’s products are carefully vetted to ensure that they are natural, effective and kind to our planet. It’s also important that they meet the stringent sustainability criteria in The Bower Standard. Nick spoke to us about the importance of natural products:
‘Natural cleaning products are so important because they are made using naturally-derived, non-toxic ingredients that are good for the environment, helping you to create a safer home. Many conventional cleaning products contain ingredients that are toxic, non-biodegradable and hazardous’.
Switching to natural products is better for both us and the planet, and as awareness of this continues to grow, it’s hoped that more consumers will make the swap.
The plastic waste crisis
Addressing the plastic waste problem is not an easy challenge, but it’s one that Bower Collective is facing head-on.
Nick explained, ‘The plastic waste crisis is one of the defining environmental challenges of our time. In 2020, microplastic waste was discovered at the summit of Everest and in the bottom of the Mariana Trench. We have to take responsibility for this and this begins with us, the customer at home. Our mission is to provide better solutions for everyday household products that significantly reduce single use plastic waste’.
They are doing so in various ways, including their closed loop packaging system, their partnership with the Marine Conservation Society, and their commitment to a low carbon supply system.
And while they are focusing on doing everything they can to be as environmentally friendly as possible, their mission extends to the rest of the market. According to Nick, the team ‘would like to see businesses like Bower become mainstream and accessible to and by a much broader consumer demographic.’ In order to make this happen, he highlights the need for ‘the government to recognise businesses like ours with tax benefits and other incentives for our direct activity in waste reduction’.
Bower Collective is clearly a shining example of a company that is going above and beyond when it comes to sustainability. We definitely recommend heading over to their website and getting started with sustainable living today.
Keep an eye out on our socials for the next article in the Sustainability Series. And please email us at marketing@airrated.co if you would like to be featured.