Subscribe for 10% off your first order!
why we choose sustainability
WE’RE ON A MISSION TO MAKE ‘SUSTAINABLE’ MAINSTREAM.
Kind, healthy, sustainable: good for the earth and everyone on it.
Our goal is to make 'sustainable shopping' the standard, the accessible, the aspirational... a beautiful new normal.
Veo seeks to transform how we live, how we produce, and how we consume. To disrupt antiquated economics, and introduce new and positive systems - regenerative, closed loop, circular systems - that reinvent the relationship between business and consumer. To form the catalyst for change, that inspires a profound shift from alternative to aspirational, revamping the very nature of supply and demand for the better.
For us, sustainability isn’t a choice, but a necessity. Providing a community for consumers to lead healthier and happier lives through sustainable choices, and use of products that not only last longer, but are higher quality and are the better alternatives to those widely available.
In line with Sustainable Development Goal #12, to "ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns", Veo ensures all brands and products utilise pioneering methods of sustainable production. This includes more efficient use of our natural resources, and using innovative bio-materials, organic fabrics, and less wasteful practices. This allows us to curate our collections of the highest quality products, in a graceful balance of sustainability and sophistication.
OUR MISSION IS BUILT UPON OUR THREE PILLARS
Kind
Promoting dignity and quality of life for all humans and animals. This includes fair pay and safe & decent working conditions for all workers, plus 100% vegan-friendly with no animals or by-products, across the supply chain.
Healthy
Promoting health & happiness for mind, body, and soul, to nourish inside and out, and living free from toxins, harmful ingredients, and hazardous substances, for a clean, vibrant, healthy lifestyle.
Sustainable
Promoting planet awareness, sustainability and biodiversity. Creating regenerative models of design & manufacture, looking to Circular Economy sustainable development.
🌎
Veo is built upon and operates in accordance with these fundamental values. Our foundations lie in the pressing need for a business model aligned with the Real Bottom Line: focused on sustainability for the good of the planet and those who inhabit it.
Built into our 3 pillars is our platform promise to uphold the dignity of all life on earth, and achieve an equilibrium with our natural surroundings so that we as a species find positive planetary symbiosis.
OUR SUSTAINABILITY MISSION IS PROGRESSION
We’re here to…
Champion
Champion kindness, health and sustainability.
Empower
Empower small businesses, independent & responsible brands.
*Franck & Lucia of Saco Trading
Celebrate
Celebrate creatives, artisans, designers, small batch producers, and craftspersonship
*brand: Soap Daze
Inspire
Inspire and empower the consumer by providing informed choice, a curated platform of exceptional quality and unparalleled, feel-good shopping experience
*Kayla, Veo customer with pack of Creative Nature Gnawbles
WHAT IS OUR SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA?
To ensure our brands and products meet our sustainability goals we created a comprehensive ethical criteria that we apply to ourselves, our brands, and every single product that you see listed on Veo.world.
We undertake a thorough assessment of each brand, to demonstrate high quality, sustainable trading, responsible labour standards, and ethical supply chains.
Supply Chain Management
Brands are required to have clear systems for tier one suppliers and to be taking steps, appropriate to the scale of the company, to ensure that these standards are met by second and third tier suppliers.
Part of our processes include regular contact with Brands, and regular research on updated auditing policies, practices, and policy. This ensures that our vetting and approval is as up to date as we can manage, and collating data from multiple Brands helps us navigate this. The certifications and application marks as a good starting point from which we know the areas to assess and follow up with each Brand for (e.g. dependent on their product lines and respective supply chain management).
Worker's Rights
Veo Brands are committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethics, integrity and respect for others and our communities, at home and around the world. For this we ensure responsible global supply chains that protect the rights of workers, promote fair trade and uphold ethical labour standards, with:
- No use of forced labour.
- No employee discrimination.
- No excessive hours of work.
- Safe and healthy working conditions.
- Legal labour contracts.
- Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.
- No sandblasting*
- Only ethical Mica mining practices**
*In line with worker's safety, Veo does not list any sandblasted product.
Sandblasting is a finishing technique often seen on 'distressed' clothing or denim items like jeans, but when performed without proper ventilation, safety equipment or training it puts workers at serious risk of lung disease due to inhalation of silica dust (aluminium oxide, aluminium silicate, silicon carbide). In short this practice is not permitted until it can be independently audited to ensure full protections and training are given to manufacturers and their workforce.
**Our ethical Mica policy is in place to promote fair and sustainable mica collection. Mica is a naturally occurring mineral commonly used in cosmetics to add shimmer to makeup (e.g. eyeshadow, nail polish, sun creams, deodorant, shampoo, etc). It is estimated that 25% of the mica used today comes from illegal mines in India where child labour is widespread.
“Only 10% of mica mines in Jharkhand and Bihar are legal, which means that most mines aren’t regulated and most labour laws aren’t enforced.”
- World Vision
There are still notable challenges around ensuring ethical mica, but we stay up to date on news and developments from the Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI) as 'a global coalition for action and putting policy into practice'.
We are a Living Wage Employer
Our employees are invaluable as Veo seeks to be the world’s most earth friendly marketplace, helping customers find and discover products that are better for us and the world around us.
Environmental Policy
Protecting the planet is one of our highest priorities, and great measures are taken to ensure that all Brands and products consider the environmental and ecological impact of the design, manufacture, production, processing and fulfilment of goods, to achieve low-carbon, minimal waste, reduced pollution, and eco friendly trading. Our team and workforce is climate positive. The Veo website and our technology infrastructure is entirely carbon-neutral, our data centres consume 50% less energy than the typical data centre, and we use only 100% renewable energy.
Animal Welfare
We care about animals, so much so that Veo is a 100% vegan-friendly marketplace. This means avoiding the use, exploitation and oppression of animals, creating a cruelty-free zone that promotes the rights and wellbeing of all living creatures. All products sold on Veo are free from any animal products or by-products (including all ingredients and raw materials), are not animal tested, and 100% cruelty free.
Waste, Pollution & Plastic
In our mission for a greener planet we are working to eliminate single-use plastic from our platform. This means reducing waste and plastic in our packaging, choosing only sustainable, 100% biodegradable, compostable materials, and refraining from the use of polystyrene packing chips, polythene inflated air pillows, and similar* #wedontuseplastic.
*This applies to orders fulfilled by Veo. We also support our Brands who fulfil their own orders to eliminate single-use packaging materials, and move to adopting 100% compostable packaging.
ACCREDITATIONS & CERTIFICATIONS
These are just some of the accreditations and certifications we look for to ensure a Brands responsible manufacturing and production of their products, applicable to your products, materials, and supply chains across our 4 core categories of Fashion, Beauty, Food & Drink, Home.
You will see many of the badges below displayed on Brand or product pages around Veo:
OUR CATEGORIES
Fashion, Apparel, Jewellery, & Accessories
Animal Friendly & Cruelty-Free
Products are made entirely without animal products or by-products, including:
No hides, skins or hairs, leather, suede, wool, fur, silk, down, feathers, angora, shearling, or cashmere.
Cotton Policy
Our cotton is only GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard), Soil Association or other accredited organic cotton for new or virgin cotton. However, for brands who produce using upcycled or recycled materials then cotton need not be certified organic due to the brand not sourcing virgin textiles but rather rescuing existing fabrics and material that would otherwise go to landfill.
With fashion and apparel, particularly cotton, we also require brands to confirm Fair Wear Foundation, WRAP certified, or other certifications to demonstrate upholding labour ethics of the supply chain and workers rights. This would then exclude some Middle Eastern producers, West Africa, India, Bangladesh, or China - including Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Health & Beauty
Animal Friendly & Cruelty-Free
Products are made entirely without animal products or by-products, including:
No Lanolin*, Shellac, Glycerine*, Casein* (aka sodium caseinate or caseinate), Squalene*, Guanine, Oleic acid* (aka oleyl stearate, oleyl oleate or tallow), Placenta (including lipids, proteins, enzymes, extracts), Animal hair, Stearic Acid*, Carmine (aka cochineal, natural red 4, E120, and C.I. 75470), Collagen*, Elastin*, Keratin*, Beeswax*.
*Animal free, plantbased, and vegan alternatives are OK, and exist in the form of oils, plant butters, and soya waxes.
Toxin Free
We check that all health, hygiene, personal care, beauty, cosmetics, hair care, skin care, and makeup products abstain from using toxic or harmful ingredients, abrasive synthetic colouring, fragrances or fabrics (using only low impact fiber reactive dyes), including:
No parabens (including methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, phenyl parabel), triclosan, triclocarban, any Formaldehyde or formaldehyde donors (quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, polyoxymethylene urea, polyquaternium-15), PEG-4, PEG-7, PEG4-dilaurate, PEG 100, or PEG-6, PEG-8, PEG-32, PEG-75, PEG-150, PEG-14M, and PEG-20M, preservatives (sodium hydroxymethylglycinate, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol [bromopol], glyoxal), the following petroleum-based ingredients (PABA, benzene, mineral oil, petrolatum, phthalates [including DPB, DMP, DEP], toluene), BHA / BHT additives (Butylated Hydroxyanisole / Butylated Hydroxytolune), UV filters (including oxybenzone, octinoxate), Petroleum derivatives (including petroleum jelly, paraffin oil, paraffin wax, mineral oil), EDTA salts and compounds (including tetrasodium, trisodium, disodium), BPA plastics, methylisothiazolinone (MI), Talc, any substances listed under Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC), microbeads, or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).
Food & Drink
Animal Friendly & Cruelty-Free
Products are made entirely without animal products or by-products, including:
No meat, eggs, dairy, beeswax, honey, milk, casein, whey, confectionery shellac glaze, gelatin, L. Cysteine, or isinglass.
No Refined Sugars or Artificial Sweeteners
All food & drink products do not use refined cane sugars (raw and organic are allowed), or artificial sweeteners (including aspartame, acesulfame K, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), glucose-fructose syrup (GFS), sucralose and saccharin), but instead use only the following natural sugars and sweeteners:
fruit concentrates (apple, grape, etc), barley malt syrup, dates, date syrup (Rub), Fructooligosaccharides (oligofructose ) and Inulin (soluble fibre and a prebiotic), maple syrup, molasses, coconut sugar, coconut nectar, agave syrup, rice syrup, Stevia, Sweet Freedom, yacon powder/syrup, chicory root fibre, fruit sugars and extracts, and sugar alcohols (sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol, maltitol syrup, lactitol, erythritol, and isomalt).
Low Sugar Beverages
Beverages containing added sugar sold must contain only natural sugars or sweeteners as listed above, and contain no more than 5g sugar per 100ml (5g sugar = 1 x teaspoon). Although this does not apply to naturally occurring sugars found in fruits, vegetables, alcohol, and juices.
Non-toxic
We confirm that products sold on our marketplace abstain from using toxic or harmful ingredients and preservatives, including:
High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), artificial sweeteners, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), synthetic Trans Fats (including Shortening or partially hydrogenated oil), artificial Colours (Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow), added sulphites (Sodium Sulphite), Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA), Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT), Potassium Bromate, Sodium Nitrates and Sodium Nitrites, or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).
Allergens
Allergens are declared on all food & drink products. The 14 allergens are:
celery, cereals containing gluten (such as barley and oats), crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters), eggs, fish, lupin, milk & dairy, molluscs (such as mussels and oysters), mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if they are at a concentration of more than ten parts per million), tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts).
*Crossed items are not included as part of animal products being prohibited.
Palm Oil
Veo has a no conflict palm oil policy, and brands must use only sustainable and traceable palm oil that is free of deforestation, habitat loss, expansion on carbon-rich peatlands, and human rights violations.
Home & Lifestyle
Animal Friendly & Cruelty-Free
Products are made entirely without animal products or by-products.
Please check above for lists of materials and ingredients that are prohibited from Food & Drink products, and also Fashion and Accessory products.
Timber Policy
For our Brands who manufacture and produce wooden goods we require sustainable timber sourcing and there is a strong inclination towards both fairtrade, and upcycled, reclaimed or recycled wood. Where possible timber products should be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in order to follow guidance from the WWF’s Global Forest and Trade Network. Similarly to our palm oil policy we ensure responsibly sourced timber to reduce and mitigate environmental and social challenges relating to pollution, protection for vulnerable species, preventing habitat loss, and climate change.
Timber sourced must come from forests which meet essential principles: to comply with all national & international legislation relating to the trade in forest products; conserve biological diversity; avoid the use of hazardous pesticides; and are not in areas of armed conflict or civil unrest where there is a direct relationship between the forest products trade and the funding ofsuch conflicts.
Non Toxic
We confirm that products abstain from using toxic or hazardous chemicals and substances in the treatment of products, dyes and adhesives. This includes perfluorinated chemicals and groups of toxic chemicals that include PFOA and PFOS and other perfluorinated, polyfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs, PFCs, PFOA, PFOS). Alkyphenol Ethoxylates (APEOs) are also prohibited as APEOs and their derivatives are a group of man-made chemicals that do not occur naturally. They are synthetic non-ionic surfactants used in some detergents and cleaning products.
PFCs or some PFASs can take over 1000 years to degrade, and are often used in food packaging and non-stick, stain repellent products, but also waterproof products, including clothes and other products used by outdoor enthusiasts.
PFASs can enter the environment through production or waste streams and are very persistent in the environment and the human body. There is toxicological evidence that some PFAS have adverse reproductive, developmental and immunological effects in animals and humans.
- EPA
Ensuring the use of APEO-free chemicals and non-PFC based durable water repellent polymers (DWRs) is best for health of humans, animals and wildlife, and the environment.
Although your values as an individual may seem small, being a conscious and knowledgeable consumer makes us part of something bigger. Our consumer choices become our identity, our spending power becomes our voice, and we are contributing to change: a sustainable future.
Join us.
Start expressing your sustainable values today.