10 examples of corporate social responsibility and how businesses are getting creative with CSR
Let’s face it — most big businesses prioritise profits over the future of humanity, and it's starting to show. Luckily, there’s an increasing number of companies out there that balance purpose and profit to build businesses that are a force for the greater good!
These companies have taken it upon themselves to make progress in areas such as diminishing world poverty, expanding global health, and empowering renewable energy worldwide.
For these businesses, corporate social responsibility is not a trend but an ethos to live by. Let’s look at a few brands and what they're doing for the planet.
One of our own social responsibility initiatives: every winter since 2022, we make mattresses from our production waste and send them to Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines.
Elvis & Kresse (UK) — Luxury from waste
The first is a creative example of giving waste a new life: Elvis & Kresse. This boutique brand has found a way to turn what would otherwise be useless and thrown away into a commodity many desire. Elvis & Kresse’s business model centres on upcycling decommissioned fire hoses into luxury handbags and accessories. Additionally, they donate 50% of their profits to firefighter charities.
Image source: Elvis & Kresse
Kresse Wesling, co-founder of Elvis & Kresse, described the reason for their entry into the market as follows:
“In 2005, we had a chance encounter with the London Fire Brigade. When we learned that London's damaged decommissioned hoses were headed to a landfill, we mounted a rescue. We set up Elvis & Kresse to save them.”
Built on the three pillars of Rescue, Transform, and Donate, they say that they love challenging people's perception of what waste actually is.
They’re giving a second life to a resource that would otherwise be discarded, equally addressing the environmental impact of waste and the unethical sourcing of materials in the fashion industry.
Brewgooder (Scotland) — clean water through beer
After finishing university and feeling unsure of his next steps, Alan embarked on a journey to Nepal. What began as a trip to explore the world soon turned into a life-changing experience — he contracted a parasite from drinking contaminated water. During his long recovery back home, the experience lit a fire: He wanted to dedicate his career to fighting poverty and creating a lasting impact. This conviction led him to apply for foreign development and social enterprise jobs.
It was during this chapter that Alan met James. They bonded over a shared love of good beer and a belief that business could be a force for good. Together, they dreamed up a bold idea: what if every pint of beer could help change someone’s life? Inspired by Alan’s experience in Nepal, they chose clean water as their mission. That idea became Brewgooder.
With the support of over 1,000 drinkers across the UK through an online crowdfund in 2016, Brewgooder launched. Soon, the first cans of Brewgooder Lager were shipped to bars and homes across the country. Within just three months, sales were strong enough to fund the brand’s first clean water project — bringing safe, consistent water access to over 5,000 people in the village of Chiluzi, Malawi.
Through its foundation, this craft beer company donates 100% of its profits to fund clean water projects in developing countries. Its goal is to empower communities and enable opportunities for one million people by 2030. As the founders put it, “Our vision is for a world that's free from poverty and inequality, where everyone has a fair chance to live a good life.”
They’ve created a collaborative network with other breweries worldwide to raise funds to provide clean and drinkable water to those without it. The campaign has seen brewers come together from California to Hong Kong.
So far, they’ve impacted 170,000 lives in 15 countries, providing over 200 million litres of water to communities in those areas.
Ecoalf (Spain) — fashion from ocean waste
Plastic makes up 80% of all marine pollution and is estimated to outweigh all fish in the sea by 2050. That’s an unfathomable amount of plastic in the ocean!
What makes this fact grim is that plastic can take up to 700 years to degrade. This means that all the plastic we use today will outlive you and your children.
Ecoalf from Spain aims to combat marine litter in a remarkable way. This sustainable lifestyle brand collects ocean plastic through its Upcycling the Oceans project and transforms it into garments. They make all kinds of clothing, from sneakers to accessories and general apparel.
Since its creation in 2015, the initiative has recovered more than 1,700 tonnes of trash from the bottom of the ocean.
Ecoalf works with fishermen in five countries across 72 ports to collect waste accidentally caught in their nets. The waste is transported to treatment plants, sorted, recycled, and converted into new products.
They aim to offer high-quality and durable clothing made from waste, strive to ensure fair working conditions, and regenerate ecosystems. No wonder they’ve been recognised by B Corp as one of the 5% best in the world and awarded the “Most environmentally responsible company in Spain” award twice by Merco Ranking.
Too Good To Go (Denmark) — fighting food waste
Did you know that one-fifth of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, equating to one billion meals a day? The impact of food wastage is substantial and amounts to about USD 1 trillion annually. What’s more startling is that most of this food is lost before it’s even made available to consumers, with high temperatures affecting food storage, processing, and transportation.
Too Good To Go, a Danish company, uses technology to reduce food waste. Its mobile app connects consumers with unsold food from retailers and restaurants at a discount, preventing waste and giving low-income households access to quality food.
Their marketplace connects approximately 175,000 businesses with over 100 million registered users across 19 countries. They’re also a certified B Corp and social impact company, first accredited in 2019 with a score of 93.4.
Veja (France) — transparent and ethical sneakers
Plastic pollution is one of our generation’s biggest challenges, and fashion is one of the three most polluting industries. An estimated 60% of clothing is made of synthetic fibres, and the industry is responsible for 9% of annual microfibre pollution into the ocean.
This is where Veja comes in. The company sources organic cotton and wild rubber from the Amazon, providing complete transparency on pricing and production impact. They use Brazilian and Peruvian organic cotton for the canvas and laces, Amazonian rubber for the soles, and various other innovative materials in their designs.
The cotton they use comes from farmers following ethical and sustainable practices. They’ve also purchased 2,600 tonnes of Amazonian rubber since 2004 at more than three times the market rate. The goal is to value the labor that goes into sourcing and pay a fair price for the raw materials.
Manos Zapotecas (Mexico) — fair trade handwoven bags
Respecting indigenous people's cultural customs and practices has generally not been a priority for businesses looking to maximise profits, especially regarding raw materials, natural resources, and cultural artefacts. It’s common to see a major fashion retailer rip off indigenous people's designs and creations and pass them off as new, watered-down versions.
Manos Zapotecas is a rare example of the opposite: the brand makes clothing, accessories, and decor that celebrate the weaving traditions of Oaxaca, Mexico. For over a decade, the business has partnered with artisan communities to ensure that the products they create are authentic and the artisans are equitably paid.
The company is run by a team of five women in the US and supports over 50 weavers in Oaxaca. They want to empower indigenous Zapotec weavers by connecting them to international markets through fair trade practices.
Lola Ade (Nigeria) — sustainable jewellery
“Diamonds are forever, but a human life is not.” This could easily be the unofficial motto of the traditional diamond business, from when they were first discovered to the modern-day blood diamond trade. The high price of these jewels has often come at the cost of human life and suffering.
Lola Ade aims to change this narrative, which is often associated with African jewellers. Lola Ade is a black woman-owned fine jewellery line focused on the sustainable sourcing of gemstones. The business also offers made-to-order jewellery made from ethically sourced and, in some cases, lab-grown diamonds.
The company operates under the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, which mandates that diamonds must be accompanied by a government-validated certificate stating their origin.
Launched in 2010, this Nigeria-based business educates its consumers via blog posts and social media on the importance of purchasing and supporting businesses that use conflict-free diamonds.
TômTex (Vietnam) — developing sustainable textile materials
When we revisit history and analyze the textiles we’ve used for clothing, we find they’ve been made of fibres sourced from plants or animals. In recent decades, synthetic fibres have taken over the textiles industry — and by synthetic, we mean fibres created from chemical processes. TômTex aims to reduce our reliance on synthetic textiles by developing sustainable materials derived from waste seafood shells and mushrooms.
This innovative approach offers a sustainable alternative that aims to reduce environmental impact.
All the materials they engineer are 100% biobased, biodegradable, and petrochemical-free.
TômTex textiles can be customised to the specifications of the designers and retailers who source from them. Their innovative formulations can replicate any leather colour and texture, creating new materials for the more adventurous and creative designers.
Dr. Bronner's (USA) — ethical sourcing and fair trade
Dr. Bronner's is an American family-owned organic soap company. The business practices ethical sourcing, using only fair trade ingredients and supporting organic farming. The whole mission of the company aligns with environmentalism and social equity, with a significant portion of its profits going to charitable causes.
The soap company is mindful of whom it works with and only sources ingredients from organic farmers and producers to create equitable supply chains. Additionally, they use solar panels for energy and reuse their wastewater. Even the packaging used by the company is 100% recycled.
Regarding wider social good, Dr Bronner’s supports regenerative organic farming projects that encourage soil enrichment and tree-planting programs. They also support youth programs, provide resources for unhoused people, and participate in local activities to better the lives of the people and communities they impact.
Fouta Harissa (Tunisia) — supporting artisan communities
When you think of North African countries like Morocco and Tunisia, vibrant cultures and exotic food may come to mind. This wealth of cultural knowledge inspired Fouta Harissa to sell traditional Tunisian foutas and other textiles.
Image source: Fouta Harissa
The business came about when the founders realised that the traditional materials and dress were now made from synthetic fibres, and the skill of making these textiles by hand was getting lost. The labour-intensive way the materials are made is why they are expensive and hard to find.
The business's products are made from deadstock cotton, linen, and silk sourced from native weavers in the region. The business model supports local artisans by providing them a sustainable income while preserving traditional crafts. The weavers of these textiles are paid fairly and above the living wage.
The Financial Times has recognised the business as one of the game-changing brands linking craft, heritage, and activism.
Looking for sustainable packaging?
While some brands are turning trash into treasure, Woola is tackling another major environmental issue—packaging waste. If you are a business owner looking to upgrade how you pack your products, why not consider switching to more sustainable packaging?
Woola offers protective packaging made from waste wool sourced from local farmers. We urge you to join us in our attempt to reduce the demand for plastic. We’re also a certified B Corp and prioritise sustainability in every aspect of our business.
You can read more about our sustainability work. We’d love to share thoughts and ideas with you!
Business success and sustainability can coexist
The companies highlighted in this article are leading the way in corporate social responsibility. We hope they inspire other big and small companies to use business as a force for good. Want to know how you can do the same? All that’s required is some creative thinking and a genuine care for the world and its people.
That’s what we’re all about. Woola started as a simple idea to solve a big problem: packaging waste. We tried returnable plastic containers at first, but they didn’t fulfil our sustainability requirements. When we found out about waste wool and all its benefits, we knew it was the wonder material we had been looking for.
At first, our Wool Envelopes contained some PLA to bind the edges, but we’ve simplified our product even more to only contain 100% sustainable wool.
Learn more about our sustainable products and how you can get free samples for your company.
