Prioritising Sustainability

From sourcing to distribution and everything in between

Sourcing

Green Heart Collective takes donations of preloved clothing, books and yoga equipment from individuals and from businesses. All these items are destined for landfill. We welcome all donations and will do all that we can to make sure that each item is given a second life. When we hear of items from local businesses that are going to be sent to landfill, we intervene and find homes for these items, including five tonnes of out of date food (link to blog about Andy’s mission). Our latest project is a collaboration with Sustrans to upcycle unwanted scooters (link to blog)

Processing

Our wonderful team of volunteers then get busy sorting, tagging, washing, repairing and steaming to give these donated items a new life. Anything in good condition that is not suitable for selling online or in store is passed onto Peace of Mind, a local charity working with asylum seekers and refugees, or another local charity. Any damaged items are reserved for our Transformation Challenges and for upcycling at one of our sewing sessions.

Shop, Warehouse and Office

From the outset, the intention has always been to buy nothing new where possible in terms of furniture and equipment which we source from eBay (our till and coffee machine for example) and Facebook Marketplace (sewing machine, stool for behind the till etc). The wall partitions at our previous warehouse were made by a local social enterprise Handcrafted and were brought to the new shop and have been used extensively in various positions. The till area was crafted from old wooden pallets. Green Heart Collective is a meat free zone! We’re committed to reuse and recycling. All items used for the crafting and sewing sessions are donated and not bought new

The Team

The team consists of four regular staff, all paid the UK living wage and ten volunteers from diverse backgrounds and with diverse skills. Green Heart Collective promotes a sustainable lifestyle and wellbeing. All available food and drink is fully vegan.

Packaging

Green Heart Collective has always reused packaging materials, inviting donations from customers. We reuse packing paper, bubble wrap, book envelopes, shoe boxes, plastic mailing bags - anything that we are given!

Delivery

Green Heart Collective uses Royal Mail for UK Standard Delivery parcels because they are the UK’s greenest (based on average gCO2e emissions per parcel delivered by UK parcel operators, as published by Citizens Advice 2023 Parcels League Table) delivery option for letters and parcels. Their posties walk up to a billion steps a day, and just over half of their delivery routes are either purely or largely on foot. To further reduce emissions and improve air quality, they:

• Operate the UK’s largest electric van delivery fleet with around 5,000 electric vans.
• Use 10 million litres of biofuels in their fleet of heavier trucks.
• Purchase 100% renewable electricity across all their buildings
• Significantly reduce the use of domestic air transport in favour of lower emission alternatives.

Shop Location

One of the main positives of moving to Gateshead High Street has been the proximity to Gateshead Interchange providing fantastic public transport links on bus and metro. Most of our customers and volunteers live in the vicinity or travel to visit us on public transport.