Greenfibres Ethical and Environmental Policy

Greenfibres is a small mail order/online business that operates from one site in Devon. We strive to have a minimal environmental footprint from our premises, and have actioned energy efficiency practises within the building, including central heating upgrades, LED lighting, and smart meters for monitoring energy usage.

We consider all aspects of our energy usage at Greenfibres, from sourcing packaging materials, choosing ethical suppliers, to the couriers who collect our customer orders.

Packaging is very wasteful. Raw materials and energy are required during production, pollution is formed throughout the manufacturing process and transportation, and finally disposal is either in a landfill site or at an incineration plant. This is bad enough, but when you add the fact that a great deal of packaging is unnecessary or not biodegradable (when environmentally sound options are available) then the picture is far worse.

At Greenfibres, we are very serious about minimising our use of packaging. What we do use is predominantly biodegradable, or reusable and recyclable. The small amount of plastic we use in our packaging is often reused from other origins (in the 30 years we have been operating we’ve bought in new plastic twice).

We partner with a number of couriers, such as Royal Mail and DHL Group, both logistic corporations have a net-zero GHG emissions targets in place. We closely monitor their company policies to reduce their carbon emissions, and move towards decarbonisation. There is a very long way to go, but we respect the fact that large global companies are beginning to make more serious commitments to reducing their climate change impact.

We believe that to operate a socially and environmentally responsible business, we must fully realise our ecological footprint and take responsibility for the way we spend our budgets and run the company day-to-day. To minimise the impact that Greenfibres has on the local and global environment, and in addition to the aforementioned actions;

our electricity is from renewable sources (Good Energy)
we use ethical banking (Co-operative Bank)
we use co-operative service providers (the Phone Co-op for phone and broadband)
use local companies where possible – local accountants, printers, electricians, cleaners (who use our biodegradable cleaning products) etc.
we print on post-consumer content recycled paper for all stationery and literature.
when hardware technology is required, we source refurbished equipment.
support ethical providers such as SUMA wholefoods, the Green Stationery Company, and have our mortgage with the Ecology Building Society.

Greenfibres participates in a number of organisations and forums where issues relating to organic fibres (and environmental impact) are discussed and promoted. These include; the Soil Association, the Fair Trade Foundation, Pesticide Action Network UK, Environmental Justice Foundation, Global Organic Textiles Standards, Labour Behind the Label, and the Organic Trade Board.

Greenfibres also supports the activities of other environmentally and socially responsible organisations, including the Transition Network, the UK Biodynamic Association, the Sharpham Trust, Trees For Life, and others. Our customers have actively contributed to the planting of over 350 trees in the Trees For Life Scottish Highlands project, which we introduced in 2015 as Green Friday; a statement against the consumerism of so-called Black Friday.

At Greenfibres we are passionate about the environment that we live in and are part of. We go to great lengths to ensure that any products we source do as little damage to the environment and workers in the entire supply chain as possible. This decision process begins at the seed level. This choice is quite a simple one; we only source organic and untreated materials. Since organic farming inhibits the use of artificial fertilisers, herbicides, insecticides, defoliants or any other manmade chemicals, the choice is obvious to us. In our opinion, organic farming offers the only sustainable option for the future of food and textile production. Its techniques are far more in harmony with the natural rhythms of the world around us, and aim to mimic nature by not creating monocultures or soils that are reliant on chemicals in order to maintain even the lowest levels of fertility.

Fast fashion has brought a tidal wave of toxic, synthetics fibres, that take 1000’s of years to biodegrade, and have been made by modern day slaves, on occasions using children, in very dangerous factories, and unsafe working conditions, highlighted by the devasting Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh in April 2013. We will not source products from companies that use or condone such practices, or which contravene human rights in any way shape or form. Organisations that supply Greenfibres must comply with the Code of Conduct as contained in the Global Organic Textile Standards. Further to this, Greenfibres is a GOTS certified supplier and manufacturer under the UK certification body Soil Association – license number : GOTS-11363.

Greenfibres has worked with the majority of our suppliers since the early 2000’s. This has allowed us to follow the progress of our producers, and how they respond to organic farming and manufacturing with greater demand, and how the environmental impact of large-scale production can be fuelled by green energy solutions, and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Our larger manufacturers are able to closely monitor their energy usage and several companies have invested millions into state of the art ‘green factories’ enabling up to 90% reduction in their carbon footprint, for example, powered by solar panel and wind turbine technologies, and zero discharge water treatment plants ensuring no water is wasted, and returned to the manufacturing cycle. Our smaller partners have invested in other climate commitments, such as becoming carbon-neutral, and offsetting their CO2 emissions from the entire product range.

This is the direction Greenfibres intends for 2026 and beyond. With investment and funding for installing green technologies, we aim to go beyond our small office setup, and are researching how best we can actively contribute to decarbonisation.

Reviewed and updated 12th June 2026.