In Positive Luxury’s recent biodiversity webinar, they were joined by Dr Helen Crowley from Conservation International and Kristin Rechberger from Dynamic Planet to discuss how the value businesses place on our land, nature and oceans will be critical to their survival in the future.

Positive Luxury brands have been certified with the Butterfly Mark because of their ongoing commitment to sustainability and the exemplary work they are doing to have a positive impact on the world. We asked some of our brands what respecting nature means to them and their business:

Respecting nature means…

Respecting nature means…Learning from the past, considering our future and living in the
present with the least environmental impact possible. It’s making personal and professional choices around sourcing, packaging, production, transportation to ensure our consumption may continue in the long-term without damaging the environment.

Melissa Obeid, Co-founder of La Fervance

Respecting nature means an enduring connection to nurture life on The Macallan Estate, so it flourishes for generations to come. Our Estate on Speyside, Scotland, hosts a natural ecosystem, with the majestic River Spey winding through woodlands populated with 60,000 trees and more than 70 species of wildlife, birds and fish.

Igor Boyadjian, Managing Director, The Macallan

Respecting nature means two things to me. First, do no harm and work to repair harm that has already been done. Second, respect her wisdom.

Mary Price, Founder of Ocean + Main

Respecting nature means keeping it top of mind in all aspects of our daily lives. And, having the understanding that we are hosted by nature, not the contrary.

Tina Bhojwani, Co-Founder & CEO of AERA

Respecting nature means that exploitation is never an option. It means conserving, not just consuming. It is an understanding that sustainability is not a sacrifice but rather the least we can do to preserve our beautifully interconnected ecosystems.

Tanith Swinford, Co-Founder of Jota-Kena

Respecting nature means being honest about the impact we have on environment and actively working to help preserve it. We have a moral obligation to the future generations – not only for them to experience the natural wonders of the world, but to keep the biodiversity intact to ensure the world as we know it doesn’t collapse.

Tessa Gerlach, co-founder of Elephant Gin

Respecting nature means a great deal to us at Nomadissem. My ancestors are from the alpine region of Switzerland, so I have witnessed the retreat of glaciers and the impact of human activities on the eco-system firsthand. That’s the reason why at Nomadissem, we use mainly natural, certified or recycled materials and work only with certified ateliers and manufacturers in Italy and Switzerland in order to guarantee the lowest environmental impact, short transportation distances and accountability of everyone in our supply chain. After all, our credo is to create clothes without damaging the planet.

Noële Nana Schaffner, Creative Director & Owner of Nomadissem

Respecting nature means to be curious and informed. To be aware of the consequences of our choices. To enjoy and celebrate what there is. To tiptoe and leave tiny footprints. To be kind, empathetic and humble. To worship our magic ecosystem. A masterpiece beyond our intelligence. That we are part of and will die with.

Marie-Ann Wachtmeister, Co-Founder, Courbet

Respecting nature means being aware of your environmental footprint and taking action in increasing biodiversity. At 111SKIN we prioritise reducing our carbon footprint, ensuring our suppliers are ethical and transparent with their supply chain, source biodegradable packaging, prioritise recycling and re-usability.

Larada Lamsam, Founder of Washed Ashore

Respecting nature means maintaining the state of balance with nature. Having this knowledge will guide the way we define our parameters of sustainable development in order to thrive. At SALT of Palmar we believe in zero waste, so we have eliminated the buffet concept and single-use plastics and have placed homegrown and homemade at the core of our concept. We give back to our local communities and do all we can to protect their environments. We also believe in meaningful and transformational experiences that broaden horizons and create deeper understanding. One of the ways in which we facilitate this interaction is through our SkillSwap Platform where guests and locals exchange their time and talents to teach and learn from each other, enriching both because they share each other’s world.

Raj Reedoy, General Manager of SALT of Palmar, Mauritius

Respecting nature means honouring the earth as the living being it is. Just like T. Moore wrote, we, humans, are not on it, but rather part of it. We should care for the Earth and defend it so that it can continue to be the prosperous home it has always been not just for us, but for all the life that is part of it. In the end, it is very much about changing our perspective towards nature and putting it in the centre of the debates, rather than putting ourselves.

Bea Sanz Corella Co-founder and CEO of Kmana

Respecting nature means making every effort possible to protect and preserve our Earth now and for years to come. We go above and beyond the environmental laws and social policies, working to make significant changes to the environment through responsible and aggressive eco-friendly practices, industry awareness and internal education.

The team at Clase Azul

Respecting nature means behaving with conscience, a precious human faculty. It enables us to move from a self-centered world to a collective and altruistic world.

Alessandro Vergano, Co-founder of Kampos

Respecting nature means to understand how it works and develop or consume within its rules and not against. It means to be careful not to try to modify, force or harm it by our actions. It also requires us to work collectively and individually to protect it by reducing waste.

The team at Grinvald Footwear

Respecting nature means engaging and educating our Tiny Explorers on the wonders of the natural world around them. By encouraging children to be inspired, emboldened, awakened and mentally restored in nature we hope to ensure they have the passion to protect it for generations of would-be Tiny Explorers to come.

Kirstie Duke, Co-Founder of Töastie

Respecting nature means thinking out of the matrix to find new solutions that respect the ecosystems that encircle us. As a first step, investing in innovative materials produced with low impact processes is a positive focus forward as raw materials account for the highest percentage of negative impact on biodiversity.

Bav Tailor, Founder of Bav Tailor

Respecting nature means respecting ourselves in everything we do. At the end of the day what we see and perceive of the outside world is only the manifestation of what we are and have inside our body and brain. Basically, there is no difference between us and Nature. We are “the Nature” and, as the song says, we are “the World”.

Virginia Stone, Founder of Virginia Stone

Respecting nature means creating a positive lasting legacy for our generation and future generations. We believe in the importance of forever. Our passion for diamonds is matched by the strength of our connection to our planet; it is not only in how we and De Beers Group approach and address environmental impacts through our operations and supply chain, but how we actively demonstrate our commitment through our significant conservation efforts along the Diamond Route. 200,000 hectares of land that we have set aside and dedicated ecology teams actively manage for conservation across southern Africa, so that we can ensure that nature’s treasures are protected for future generations.

Nancy Liu, CEO, Forevermark

Respecting nature means not taking more than we need, using what we take wisely to ensure we don’t waste precious resources and giving back wherever and whenever practically possible.

Jamie Arnold and Melissa Obeid Co-founders of La Fervance – learn about our journey here – https://lafervance.com/about-us/