How are we creating sustainable pet accessories?

We created Lucie & Co to fill a large gap within the pet accessory market. That being mass produced products that aren't sustainable or ethical. And that is where we come in. Handmaking pet accessories and utilising recycled fabrics and textile waste at a slow fashion pace. 

The textile industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world especially with cheap poorly made items that don't last which will all end up in landfill. Something that is cheap and convenient for you unfortunately is impacting someone, somewhere else negatively. Whether that be those who are making products in unethical warehouses or those who live in areas where companies dump their waste, reducing locals living conditions.

This is exactly why we have created our business the way we have. Everything we do has an impact somewhere in the world. It is this mindset that encourages us to be conscious about every product we create and what we do with them. One of our biggest waste items is our fabric off cuts which we cannot utilise for our patterns. We have combated this issue by creating fabric stuffing where we shred our scraps and then use them in our cat toys instead of poly fill. This almost completely reduces our fabric wastage and uses it in a product that typically isn't sustainable and making it a sustainable option for cat owners.

You might be sitting here reading this thinking hmm but you have pet accessories that don't utilise recycled fabrics and you create biothane leashes and collars which is a PVC coated webbing. You'd be right to question this considering our ethos. In regards to our store bought fabrics this is designs that our customers love that we can create in ALL of our products. These are bought in small amounts typically at most four meter lengths - meaning that we still produce small batches and we are still handmaking each item. As for our biothane we chose to create safe and strong products instead of sewing our own fabric leashes. Our biothane is UV resistant, stain resistant, waterproof and super strong meaning these will out last any other type of leash. We figure that the longevity and safety of these products trumps having to replace your other typical leashes more frequently contributing to significantly more waste.

We also completely understand that being a sustainable and eco-conscious company is not a box that can be ticked off one time and that is it. We are committed to continuously learning and evolving to improve our business.