sustainability
CLIMATE-FRIENDLY, SUSTAINABLE & SOCIAL
We at ZWEI have made it our goal not to pollute the environment unnecessarily. This can be seen in our decisions and in our daily work. Our products are made with awareness of nature, people and future generations. For us, sustainability is not an empty promise, but a fundamental attitude.
CO₂-NEUTRAL SHIPPING
Every package causes CO2 emissions through storage and delivery. Our goal is to avoid any emissions as much as possible when shipping. Over the years, we have developed a process with our dealers that has, above all, significantly reduced the number of returns. In addition to reducing parcel shipments to the bare essentials, we also pay a compensation payment for each parcel sent. This payment flows into climate protection projects in order to compensate for the amount of CO2 emitted afterwards.
Since January 2020, we have been actively participating in the GLS KlimaProtect program and send our parcels climate-neutral with GLS. We currently use the payments to support forest protection projects and the expansion of renewable energies in South America and India.
INITIATIVE HAND.IN.HAND.
For us it was and is important to actively involve our customers in decisions while remaining transparent. As part of the HAND.IN.HAND. we therefore develop measures that meet this requirement.
CO2 COMPENSATION
With the voluntary CO2 compensation, the customer pays 18 cents per item. This amount will be passed on in full to our partner First Climate and invested in a wind farm project in China. The compensation amount offsets 100% of the CO2 amount caused by production and transport.
The amount of 18 cents results from a mixed calculation of all products. Right from the start, over 30 percent of our customers have joined in. As a result, we have been able to offset over 150 metric tons of CO2 annually to date. We are supported in this by First Climate from Bad Vilbel.
“Without the voluntary commitment of the private sector, the climate targets of the Paris Agreement cannot be achieved. We therefore very much welcome the fact that ZWEI - together with its customers - is taking responsibility for climate protection and we look forward to continuing to support you in your commitment. "
Benjamin Schleicher // Climate Consultant at First Climate.
Plastic compensation
In cooperation with our partner Plastic Free Planet gGmbH, we have been offering voluntary plastic compensation when purchasing a ZWEI product since January 2021.
With every voluntary plastic compensation in the ZWEI online shop, the amount of marine litter and plastic equal to the weight of the ZWEI product is removed from the sea and sent to a recycling process. The compensated weight is determined based on the average weight of all ZWEI products.
At regular intervals, we transmit the compensated weight to our partner Plastic Free Planet gGmbH and commission them to remove this amount of plastic from the ocean.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, 417 kg of plastic were removed from the sea with the help of the compensation sum and fed into a recycling cycle.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
As with so much at ZWEI, the production of our artificial leather bags in China is the result of an old friendship. One of the employees who has worked at ZWEI from the start is originally from China. She made contact in 2006. Since then we have grown together with our producer and other partners.
Our standards in detail:
In order to convince ourselves of the high production standards, we are on site in China once or twice a year. In this way, we also strengthen the personal relationship with our partners, which we at ZWEI attach great importance to.
We only work with companies that produce in accordance with the REACH standard and AZO-free. All employees of our partners in China have health insurance, unemployment insurance and are paid well above the minimum wage.
All production companies we work with are BSCI certified. This essentially includes improved environmental standards and social standards that guarantee basic rights for employees, such as: For example: prohibition of forced and child labor, prohibition of discrimination, freedom of association and a few more.