It’s one thing to say your business is sustainable. It’s another thing entirely to fling open your doors and allow a third party to move through the place with a fine tooth comb. This is what makes B Corps different, and part of what makes B Corps better businesses.
Hear from Sasha Titchkosky, Co-Founder and CEO of inspiring Australian furniture, design and lifestyle brand, Koskela, as she takes us ‘Behind The B’ with Dumbo Feather’s Nathan Scolaro to uncover what makes this B Corp a better business.
Transparency, accountability and vulnerability
Since the beginning, transparency and a willingness to make ourselves accountable and, in the process, vulnerable, have been some of our main values at Koskela.
From the outside, Koskela is simply a boutique Sydney-based furniture and homewares business. We supply items like tables, lighting and rugs to workplaces, educational institutions and homes. Yet our focus isn’t on selling homewares: instead, our mission combines the twin aims of social impact and creating a production model that’s genuinely sustainable.
For as long as Koskela has existed — 23 years now — we have been committed to manufacturing all of our products in Australia. We work exclusively with local makers, which helps nurture the local economy, ensure ethical working conditions and reduce transport emissions.
Koskela furniture, living room
Supporting First Nations weavers
Our production model also helps elevate Australian artists, and collaborating with First Nations artists has been part of Koskela for a long time. Our beloved and ongoing range of pendant lights, for example, are handwoven by First Nations weavers from all over the country, and we are a member of Supply Nation (an organisation that connects businesses with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suppliers). In addition to this, we funnel one per cent of Koskela’s total revenue (10 per cent of profits) into funding more of these collaborations, which support First Nations-owned Art Centres and have resulted in over $1 million worth of income for these centres.
An approach that sets them apart
As part of our investment in the planet, we also donate funds to Rainforest Rescue so that they can continue to restore, rewild and recreate wildlife corridors in the Daintree. We’ve been financially supporting Rainforest Rescue since 2009, though it’s important to us that we don’t just contribute financially. We make sure we’re engaged and across what Rainforest Rescue is doing and why it matters, and we’ve been lucky enough to join the team on the ground for activities like planting initiatives.
When it comes to making products, our approach sets us apart from other manufacturers (though it shouldn’t).
All items are designed to be repairable on-site, and to be pulled apart so that singular components can be replaced if necessary. Our products also come with a 10-year warranty.
Koskela furniture and Co-Founder Sasha Titchkosky
Following in the footsteps of fellow B Corp Patagonia, whose philosophy is that it’s the responsibility of manufacturers to take ownership of their products for their entire life cycle, we endeavour to make things that last — and we think about where our products end up after they leave the showroom.
Our model is organised around the question: how can the things we create continue serving a purpose and avoid ending up in landfill?
So far, between 80 and 85 per cent of the Koskela range is certified “environmentally innovative” by independent arbiter Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA).
Walking the walk by becoming a B Corp
We became a B Corp organisation five years ago in 2017. B Corp certification further safeguards against greenwashing, folds us into a community of like-minded businesses and, since businesses must recertify every three years, ensures we’re continuously learning and improving.
The beauty of being a B Corp is that there is also always room for growth. We’ve spent the last three years working on ways to improve our business for communities, people and planet and are proud to announce that we have been recertified.
Recently we’ve made a number of changes to make Koskela even better for people, planet, and communities:
- Implementing a standardised system of processes, procedures and policies for Koskela’s supply chain and company management;
- Reengineering our business model so that we design out any waste and work to achieve our goal of absolute zero emissions (with no offsets) by 2035, beyond which time we will become carbon positive, removing more carbon from the atmosphere than we emit;
- Having our second Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) endorsed by Reconciliation Australia, a two-year plan to develop innovative strategies that empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Where most businesses are chiefly committed to increasing their profit margins, B Corps are committed to purpose and evolution. At the moment, we’re working towards a more circular production model and on finding solutions for our most environmentally problematic materials (foam and steel).
Koskela’s sustainability
It’s time for unusual business
In a world where ‘business as usual’ often means extraction and exploitation, organisations that offer themselves up for independent scrutiny are the unusual ones.
Embarking on the B Corp journey can feel overwhelming, but we wholeheartedly recommend it: the process constantly pushes your business to be better and do better. Plus, the bigger the community gets, the more powerful it is. The planet needs more unusual businesses.
A version of this piece was originally published in Dumbo Feather magazine online for B Corp Month 2022.
A big thank you to Sasha Titchkosky, co-founder and CEO of Koskela, and Nathan Scolaro for taking us #BehindTheB to uncover what makes a B Corp a better business.
