Packaging for the Planet

Sensitive Sourcing

Namaste supports ethically made Fair Trade products, created with the least possible environmental impact. All goods are carefully sourced from eco-friendly, naturally sustainable and recycled materials wherever possible. A large majority of the goods we sell fall into this category and we are aiming to increase this all the time.Naturally, we want to package those goods with equal consideration for the planet.

What We Are Doing

At Namaste we have been taking action against our consumption of plastic.

We have stopped using plastic bags to protect the items we sell (unless there is currently absolutely no alternative available and if the plastic is essential) and instead are challenging our suppliers to look at alternatives.

Where possible goods are now being wrapped in recycled paper or environmentally friendly Fair Trade Lokta paper from Nepal, cotton or recycled materials to protect them from damage and keep them clean.

We have been using recycled boxes for packing your orders for 20 years and will continue to do so.

We are encouraging the use of corrugated paper/card and corrugated corners to protect more fragile items. At present, minimal use of bubble wrap or polystyrene may still be necessary to stop some products getting broken but rest assured we are looking at alternatives for this also and we are trialling alternatives.

Some of these changes will take a while to filter through, as we keep substantial stock quantities in our warehouse. For new orders we place, this process is easier and these will be the ones you notice first.

Where plastic use is still necessary, we support a circular system where existing plastic is kept in the economy and out of the environment. We will remove any plastic necessary to protect the shipment of goods from supplier to Namaste and we already recycle all plastics.

We also recycle cardboard and paper by shredding it on-site and we use this for extra packaging where needed.

We also encourage our suppliers to source raw materials locally and to use recycled packaging on their products.

Our Eco Aims

Namaste is dedicated to continuous improvements regarding ALL our business activities and their possible environmental impact.

We aim to minimise our use of resources, identify and implement ways of reducing consumption, and re-use everything we can.

Material Matters

Recycling, upcycling and creative re-use of resources is a crucial offering of Namaste products. Several of our ranges are made with age-old sustainable heritage techniques; in use long before sustainability became a 'modern' issue.

Vintage Kantha

Kantha stitch embroidery originates from the villages of Eastern India and refers to an ancient traditional running stitch. Old sarees and mixed fabrics combined with layers of Kantha stitching are used to create beautiful bedding and throws. Simple embroidered quilts called Nakshi Kantha are an ancient family crafting tradition.

Made from upcycled textiles typically from factories where the fabric may have been rejected due to colour imperfections, or flaws deemed unsuitable for production. End of lines and remnants are perfect for making Kantha stitched garments, bags, accessories and soft furnishings.

It takes about six sarees to make a standard-sized Kantha quilt!

Vintage Furniture

There are some fine examples of creative upcycling in this collection!

Decorative tables upcycled from the base of a table originally used for grinding grain in Gurarat, India, are bright new decorative items. A mirror is beautifully framed by a feature window shutter from an Indian home. An old unused milk churn is topped with reclaimed wood and transformed into a novel stool.

All these ideas will benefit the environment by preventing landfill and utilising materials already in existence.

Rag Rugs

This Indian craft favourite remains popular not least because of a low carbon footprint. A fun use for waste material, India's thriving garment industry produces surplus off-cuts, prime for recycling into a variety of goods.

Paper

Recycled paper products feature largely, such as a popular range of velvet finish stars. Made entirely from recycled cotton waste and using a technique involving no wood or chemicals.

Lokta paper production is common to Thimi (aka Madhyapur) 10Km east of Kathmandu, Nepal. But our chosen supplier is one of the few to carry out the process from start to finish, including making finished paper products. All are produced without chemicals.