With a long background in retail and marketing, Therese Lundquist and Michelene Lindblad aim to add inclusion, diversity, and an ethical mindset to a not-so-green e-com industry through their new marketplace Green Little Heart.
— We create and gather educational content together with a curated selection from close to 100 brands. In our core and functionality, we’re a marketplace — much like a digital mall — and we scout for inspirational and sustainable brands and people to join our community. We’re the connector and enabler for the conscious consumers — who are growing fast in number — with the sustainable brands trying to reach them. We want to offer one go-to-place for all things sustainable, yet with a high fashion level, since we believe it’s missing in the market; you can be sustainable and love fashion and beauty. We make it happen, the duo states, adding,
— To be included in our range, our minimum criteria of sustainability are high. In addition, the brands must also have an inclusive and diversified approach in how they communicate, be pro-choice, and work for inclusion, women’s rights, transgender rights, and so forth.
How do you work with your content?
— Through educational articles about, for instance, vegan leather, stories about our brands and their passion to change the world, recipes for vegan burgers, and other inspirational content. We also offer the brands free consulting hours from our sustainability experts to help them in their sustainability journey. Because it is a journey — no one can be 100 % sustainable, we all make an impact — but we believe we can reduce our footprint together and no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. When we all try to make small changes in our everyday life, that’s when big improvements will happen.
The range includes skincare, interior design, men’s and women’s clothing, sportswear, shoes, and accessories.
— A bunch of our brands are award-winning, especially in the skincare category, the duo tells. A large portion is founded by female entrepreneurs, and they all give back to their communities and chosen NGOs. The platform also includes numerous really cool technical innovations, including Woodio, making bathtubs, toilets, and sinks in wood. To burn tile and break stone is really bad for the environment and not healthy at all, neither for those who burn.
You plant a tree for each transaction and also offer the customer to climate compensate. But considering that everything we produce has an impact on the planet, how do you make the selection of brands to work with?
— No person or company can be 100 % sustainable, what we can do is to make more sustainable choices to reduce our impact. That’s where we come into the picture with inspirational guiding towards better choices. When we select the brands on the platform, we first check them out through their public channels. We then approach them. If they like to join our marketplace, we also ask them to sign our ethical policy and fill out a questionnaire that we have, those responses will soon become an interesting tool that we will implement on the platform in order to give even further reassurance and avoid greenwashing scenarios.
How do you consider the future of green and (more) sustainable shopping?
— We see really strong potential for growth, it’s quite clear that a large portion of the consumers would like to make more conscious choices, especially when easy and accessible. We also like to think they care where their money goes, which effect does it give? From being early adopters, we think that at least 15 % of all consumers can be labeled as conscious. A report from McKinsey states that the future for fashion brands must be through sustainable and circular business models. We think this revolution has just started, consumers are ready to think one step further than just buying the cheapest. We have just scratched on the surface and we think the potential is enormous. Also connecting what we do with innovative ways of selling, like educational type of live shows is also increasing the potential. The general flow in society and with a current pandemic it is quite obvious for the many that we all need to start making responsible choices, Lundquist and Lindblad conclude.
