Sustainability & Social Responsibility

 

Hello, I'm Robyn.... 

This is me ⬆️ (founder & owner) back in 2012 when I started Le Prix. I took me 8 years to realize that we should make a page dedicated to all the sustainability integrated at every level of Le Prix.

And this is me now. ⬇️

Robyn Hobbs in pink suit on a panel talking about sustainability

I have had a passion for the environment since I was a child and have dedicated my life, and two university degrees to sustainability. With my Masters of Environmental Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University, I use my expertise to educate others, advocate for greener and ethical practices and do the deep research for all of our products we carry. If you're curious about my research, you can find it here.

We are a social enterprise founded on core values of fostering sustainability and self-love. So where do we start?

 

Our Products

All of our products are sustainable. They are either second-hand, upcycled, re-imagined, ethically made and are to aid in your zero waste life. We do the research on the supply chain to ensure ethical and sustainable production at every level. 

Committed To A Clean Future

We signed the Net Zero Challenge Commitment Letter January 2023.

Textile Recycling & Garments 

In terms of textile recycling, when products get damaged in store we repair them rather than throwing them out. As for donated products that may not be within our quality marker, we have other community partners that donate fabric and textiles that are then used to repair donated garments. When the donated products or fabrics are unusable, we participate in textile recycling with other community partners such as Eco Pretty - based in Guelph, Ontario. 

As for all of our garments, we wash them with zero waste and biodegradable Tru Earth fragrance free laundry detergent and air dry or tumble dry with 100% Pure Ethical Wool Dryer Balls. We do this in order to save on energy and increase longevity of the garments. If dry cleaning is necessary we use eco-friendly dry cleaning technology that does not use harmful toxins for the workers and for the environment.

Packaging

All of our paper bags at the boutique are made of 100% recycled paper. Yes they are more than just pretty bags. We chose to not put our logo on them so you can also re-purpose them as gift bags. We chose paper and ditched plastic.  Even our gift boxes are made with 100% recycled paper and fill. Love the ribbon and string we use for gifts? Also second-hand!

 

The Circular Economy Recycling Programs

We offer recycling and re-use programs with our brands Muse Self-Care, Molloy's and Eco Pretty. This partnership makes it easy for you to bring back your containers to our store, and the brands sanitize and re-use them to reduce waste. 

We also accept donations of gently used fashion and home décor items to help support the circular economy. We accept them any time during our walk-in hours. We also offer a discount on your next purchase as a thank you.

Shipping/Delivery 

     Whether we are shipping the product to you or as inventory to the store, we ensure sustainability at every level of the process. When it comes to shipping our products to you, our packaging is 100% recycled paper. The mailers are even padded with shredded used newspaper. Our packing tape is also a biodegradable paper and natural rubber that is water activated. Our boxes are second-hand from other businesses and we partnered with our neighbors at Encompass Health and Wellness to use their old shipping boxes. So when you receive an order from us you will notice that our boxes don't say Le Prix and look a little different each time. That's not a mistake. We use second-hand boxes to reduce our environmental impact and carbon footprint. 

Our recycled box with biodegradable Le Prix tape.

 

Making Online Orders Sustainable

    All our online order deliveries are carbon neutral. We intentionally support other local businesses to make our collective impact greater while also limiting our carbon footprint. Every product we carry goes through a rigorous process of evaluation of the supply chain to ensure sustainability and ethical production. 

In terms of delivery we have 2 different tiers. The first tier is considered local delivery using Eco Courier which is accessible to anyone living in the Kitchener/Waterloo area. Eco Courier uses zero emissions because their delivery service uses electric cars.

Our second tier is outside KW and we use conventional shipping methods such as UPS, FedEx or Canada Post. 

We carbon offset every online order with Shopify Planet which supports promising companies removing carbon from the atmosphere. We make climate impacts by supporting:

  • Carbon neutral shipping
  • Remove atmospheric carbon
  • Store carbon for 10+ years
  • Solutions like reforestation and soil carbon storage

We invest in protecting forests through certified projects and partners.

Receipt + Paper

We choose to go paperless as often as possible. Unless specifically requested for paper, we only issue digital receipts. The printer paper and signage paper we do use is all 100% recycled paper too.

Lighting

We exclusively use LED lightbulbs which help with energy efficiency, longer lifespan meaning less e-waste, no heat emissions for Summer requiring additional cooling, and improved environmental performance at the end of life not requiring chemical special handling like  fluorescent lighting and mercury vapor lights. We even retrofitted our exterior light up sign in 2022 to LEDs to reduce our carbon footprint.

Work Culture

We champion good jobs and pride Le Prix for being an enriching employer. We pay a living wage and are part of the Better Way Alliance. We value our team and encourage self-love. We even gifted float therapy as a holiday treat to our staff to encourage self-care.

 

Collaborations 

Over the years we have collaborated with many amazing brands. And we have been able to develop a great network with many local sustainable brands. Our goal in seeking out local brands is to help reduce the amount of packaging and transportation needed to receive products. We care about reducing our carbon footprint each step of the way. We are happily partnered with nine local brands at the moment, and would love to share them with you! Our collaborations include:
Waterloo Region Small Business Centre
 

  We partnered with the City of Kitchener and the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre for thoughtful and interactive conversations on how businesses and individuals are making a difference locally and globally by impacting social, environmental and economic change. We will shared insights into how innovation can be used to solve sustainability challenges; impacting people and planet.

Rhymes with Orange
This amazing brand is run by Jacki who started her journey by making her kids zero waste lunches. Moms at her kids school took notice of her amazing creations, and started to ask for her products. Jacki’s company bloomed from then on, and she realized that moving to a sustainable lifestyle is done one step at a time. She now creates reusable cloths to use in the bath, as wet bags and reusable tissues; in the kitchen, like reusable tea bags or beeswax wraps and feminine hygiene products. Shop more at Rhymes with Orange at Le Prix. 

 

Modern Thrift Co.
They are an amazing second-hand home decor brand. Maria the founder graduated from University of Waterloo in 2019 and found that she still wanted to be involved in thrifting gorgeous home decor pieces aside from working her full-time job. So she started Modern Thrift Co. in hopes of finding homes for her beautiful thrifted decor. She wanted to eliminate the challenge of hunting for the pieces yourself and instead finding them through her brand without having to leave the comfort of your own home. Shop Modern Thrift Co. at Le Prix. 

 

Koaino
This brand is based out of Clarence, Ontario and all of their products are made using only natural ingredients. The brand is run by Rebecca and she ensures that their products are safe to use on your skin and that they are safe for the environment. Their bath bombs, lip balms, and deodorant are all scented with essential oils and are free of chemical dyes and fragrances. Their lip balms and deodorants even come in 100% compostable tubes! Shop all Koaino at Le Prix. 

 

Tru Earth
Tru Earth was founded by three guys who’s collective goal was to make the planet a livable place in the future. They created Tru Earth because they feel that the laundry strips are an amazing way of staying eco-friendly while still doing an amazing job of cleaning your clothing. Shop Tru Earth laundry strips here.

 

Brush with Bamboo
This family owned brand uses all plant-based materials in the production of their products. The bristles, handle and box are all plant-based, BPA-Free, Vegn, Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Non-toxic and biodegradable. Shop brushes here.

 

Moss Creek Wool Works
This brand was created after the founder had an unpleasant experience with conventional laundry detergent and fabric softener. So instead they created the Pure Wool Dryer Balls that you place in the drying machine and they eliminate the need for dryer sheets and fabric softener. They leave clothing feeling softer, with less static cling, less wrinkles and the laundry dries faster. Plus their supply chain includes supporting ethical co-operative farms, ethical animal treatment and making them in Norfolk Country, Ontario. Shop them here.

 

The Soap Works
This brand carries amazing zero waste soap that uses natural ingredients in its products. They use a mill process to forms soap bars which ensures that the ingredients remained unchanged after saponification. The company also makes sure to use sustainable production and packaging. Shop their soaps here.    

 

Newtex
We have also partnered with local family-owned Newtex, the first and only dry cleaner in the Waterloo Region to use SystemK4. Designed in Germany, SystemK4 is non-toxic and biodegradable; a safer alternative for you and our environment. They clean everything from clothing garments, to household items, bedding, leathers or suedes, and more! 
 

 

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

For the SDGs, Le Prix is actively addressing:
GOAL 5: Gender Equality
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
GOAL 13: Climate Action
GOAL 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goal

All The Other Things

All the little things really make the big picture. We invested in racks that are built to last forever. They are handmade in North America, industrial strength and feature rustic real cedar wood. All of our other displays are second-hand, upcycled or vintage, including our earring display which is a vintage door. Our shelving units and cabinets are also vintage and others were donated and salvaged. We use LED lights to reduced energy consumption, and use energy saving power strips for plugging our electronics in to eliminate phantom power (the way electric power is consumed by electronic devices while they are switched off or in standby mode). We properly recycle old electronics and light bulbs at E-waste Recycling. We recycle... but really, that is just a baseline that we should all be doing.