one year of resources saved with sieme
We are officially celebrating 1 year of Sieme Handbags! I can’t believe all that we have accomplished! While it is easy to scroll through instagram and compare ourselves to “other brands with bigger followings, more store presence etc. etc.” I am taking this time to revel in what we HAVE accomplished this year! We created a system to SAVE leather from destruction! While so many told me it was impossible, we now have a full line of accessories selling internationally. In the midst of building this system, I co-founded Zerolab where we are helping even more artisans and designers create with leather excess.
Perhaps most of all, I am proud of the amount of resources we have managed to repurpose.
Every single component of Sieme handbags are made from discarded leather, leather that takes natural resources like water, salt, energy and manpower to create.
So far we have saved….
More than 3,000 square feet of leather from being destroyed!
And while we aren’t exactly changing the entire industry yet, that DOES equate to over …
More than 8,000 gallons of water
&
up to 360 pounds of salt saved!
That doesn't even include the energy to run machines and transport new materials. If this is what we have accomplished in just ONE year, I can’t wait to see how many resources we have recovered after 5 or 10 years!
Of everything we have accomplished this year, perhaps I am the most proud that with Sieme, we have shown how utilizing smart and thoughtful design can improve our world and create beautiful products. It is more difficult to design backwards as I often say, first thinking about the material you have to work with, the problems you want to solve and then designing solutions. However, this year has been proof that if we can do it, so can so many others, including the Mega Brands.
So consider this a call to action or maybe, a birthday present in honor of our anniversary…
We are about to enter the holiday shopping season. For so many small and independent businesses, these next 6 weeks determine whether they will make it to next year. Whether that founder can finally pay herself, or give a much needed bonus to employees. Whether the business has a little extra money to finally hire that consultant that can help take them to the next level. For so many of us, we work all year for these six weeks.
So in the spirit of doing good for both people and the planet, consider shopping consciously.
Whether that means thinking about the planet or people, it is only when we all use our dollars for good that we can move the needle on making this world a better place.
Thank you so much for being a part of our Sieme community this year and helping me to accomplish my dreams! Here’s to year 2!
From Florence with Love,
Cassandra
