Sustainability Statement

Here at LemonBelly, we try our best to be as sustainable in our day-to-day practices as possible. While we do not have the resources a large company may have, we do try to rely on sustainable practices within the day-to-day of our small business. For example, when dealing with vintage clothing, it is not uncommon for a garment to have imperfections such as a tear, missing button, or other flaws that is the result of many years of wear and tear or storage. When finding these issues, we do our best to mend and hopefully extend the life of the garment!

As a brand that sells a variety of items, we are proud to say that around 80% of our store is stocked with second-hand clothing, costumes, and accessories. This is not only because of our love of vintage styles, but also to try to be a sustainable choice in the world of fast fashion that we live in today. It is difficult to compete with the fast fashion companies producing thousands of items being offered at a very low cost. However, many of these items end up in landfills after just one season of wear, and it seems, thankfully, that people have become more conscious of their buying habits in recent years.  Here at LemonBelly, we like to keep in mind that no sewing machine can operate itself, and that there are always people behind the clothing being made. When buying second-hand, you are preventing more textile waste from being created and giving a garment a whole new life!

Oddly enough, it is our explanation to our customers for our very particular returns policy that best demonstrates our sustainability credentials:

""We hope you understand the unique nature of selling and buying vintage clothes is a more considered purchase as many of our garments are one of a kind or rare. Most of our pieces in store have been made individually or made a long time ago and are no longer in production. In other words: Because the clothes and costume we sell are not "fast fashion" they have not been made in a mass-produced cheap way that come with the expectation that a huge proportion will be returned and thrown into landfill. For this reason, we do not accept returns as it would not align with the "Vintage - one-of-a-kind" business model. To sum up: The Fast Fashion business model builds in a price that is inclusive of the huge number of returns and huge amount of waste. We on the other hand work on the basis that is the opposite of this where everything is hand-picked with minimal waste. To be blunt: If we hand-pick everything, fix everything, let customers “borrow” everything and then throw it all away, we would be out of business in a few weeks.""

As I sit here and write our sustainability statement I wonder if if we are doing enough and if we are truly dedicated. I will let you decide with one last example:  Last year as a small company we spent £3500 on paper bags. If we had of chosen cheaper plastic bags it would have been £300.

As a company we are committed to sustainable development and it will remain at the forefront of how we do business. Going forward, we will endeavour to be even more aware of our environmental impact when it comes to shipping and sourcing; and we hope to continue this commitment as we grow into a more sustainable brand!

LemonBelly

Hello@lemonbelly.co.uk