B Corp Month | Purchasing with purpose? We’ve got you covered
To mark B Corp month, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite B Corps playing their part for people and the planet.
As transparency surrounding the products we buy, services we use and organisations we support become increasingly important, trusted certifications and sources are invaluable.
This is where the B Corporation certification comes in —cited by many as being the crème de la crème of eco credentials. B Corp is a global non-profit that aims to highlight organisations meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance purpose and profit. The application process is rigorous and can take months to complete, containing a series of 150-200 questions, with a score of 80 or above required to receive the accreditation. It is also necessary to recertify every 3 years. With this in mind, you can be confident that a certified organisation is one you can trust.
At Escape, we’re proud to be part of the B Corp community. Having been one of 62 founding certified organisations in the UK in 2015, we firmly believe it’s the best framework for doing business in the future and continue to strive for the best across our social, environmental and transparent business practices.
To mark B Corp month this March, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite B Corps playing their part for people and the planet. From food and drink, lifestyle and experience, clothing and accessories and giving back, read on to find out more.
Food & drink
Too Good To Go’s is the world’s largest food waste-fighting app, connecting stores that have unsold, surplus food, with consumers who buy and enjoy it. They are on a mission to inspire and empower everyone to fight food waste, sharing their knowledge, creating educational tools and even changing legislation to reduce food waste.
Allplants was created to make eating more plants a supremely positive choice that is delicious, healthy, accessible and full of joy – an inclusive celebration of food and life. They make it delicious and easy for anyone to make the switch towards plants one dish or day at a time, with chef-made, plant-based food delivered straight from their kitchen to yours.
Founded in 2004, Origin Coffee is an independently owned speciality coffee roaster that is bound by one central ethos; to source exceptional coffee through a sustainable, triple bottom line approach. The majority of their coffee is sourced through direct trade. They foster long term partnerships directly with coffee producers around the world, harnessing a responsibility for sustainable practices and giving the end drinker full traceability of what’s in their cup.
30 million kgs of plastic enters our ocean every day. That’s one truckload every minute. Ocean Bottle enables anyone who gives a damn about our Oceans the opportunity to turn the tap off Ocean plastic. Each Ocean Bottle sold funds collection of 1000 plastic bottles in weight, whilst setting up recycling infrastructure in coastal communities with high levels of plastic pollution around the world.
Pip & Nut make delicious, palm-oil free natural nut butters and nut butter cups. Founded on a mission to create all-natural nut butters, they are a force for good across the board – from their environmental impact to how they treat their workers. Pip & Nut also offers you the opportunity to donate a jar of peanut butter to a food bank – for each one donated, they’ll donate one too. If you're nuts about peanut butter (and doing good), this is the one for you.
Toast Ale is a social enterprise brewery that brews planet-saving beer with surplus fresh bread. Replacing the often used virgin barley, the brand reduces the demand for land, water, and energy. They donate all their profits to charity to help systematic change to fix the food system, with full transparency on their website – from the number of meals donated and days spent volunteering to how many slices of bread it's saved and money donated.
100% slave free chocolate is the vision driving Tony’s Chocolonely. Not just their chocolate, but all chocolate worldwide. With incredibly tasty chocolate, they certainly lead by example, showing the world that chocolate can be made differently: in taste, packaging and the way cocoa farmers are treated. 100% slave free, fair and transparent. Through direct, long-term relationships with cocoa farmers, they have created a completely transparent and traceable bean-to-bar process.
The Botanist is an artisanal hand-crafted and distilled gin made at Bruichladdich distillery on the Scottish island of Islay. As the first Islay Dry Gin it is truly unique, containing 22 wild botanicals responsibly hand-foraged from the hills, shores and bogs of the Hebridean Island, with the liquid capturing the heart and soul of the island. They are proud to be the first whisky and gin distilling company in Europe to become a certified B Corp.
Lifestyle and experiences
Who Gives A Crap sells good-looking, sustainably conscious toilet paper, tissues and paper towels. They donate 50% of all profits to charities and projects, including Sanergy, which helps to build toilets and ensure everyone has access to safe water in the developing world. Each roll is natural and made from sustainable bamboo, wrapped with not a spot of plastic in sight.
x+why is a flexible workspace provider with a difference – they believe that advancing people and planet as well as profit goes beyond responsibility; it makes exceptional sense. Their mission is to change the way that the world works for good. And they do this by uniting, inspiring, and amplifying the great work of businesses, movements and leaders who believe that business should be used as a force for good.
Abundance allows anybody to take part in building a better world. From as little as £5 people can earn a good return from direct investments projects and businesses that generate clean energy, build affordable housing, or accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy. Since launching in 2012, their customers have invested over £120 million through their platform to help achieve financial goals without compromising on values.
A healthier brain leads to a better life. This is the core belief that embodies everything Heights does. From their Smart Supplement to their clever content, they are focused on one thing—to make your brain better. With the right nutrition, knowledge and tools, anyone can stretch their brain’s capacity for greatness. Their Smart Supplement gives you the 20 key nutrients your brain and body needs (including fats, vitamins and minerals) to feel better, every day.
Worthstone is an award winning social business with a vision to bring impact investing into the UK mainstream. They are a completely independent and impartial one-stop knowledge centre for financial planners whose clients want to invest for good – investments that achieve a financial return whilst also making a positive impact on society or the environment.
Canopy & Stars’ mission is to ‘Bring together people and places of spirit and character for meaningful experiences and to have a positive social, cultural and environmental impact’.
They are home to a collection of unique, creative places to stay in the outdoors that give a genuine experience of a life more wild. In 2021 they were in the top 5% in B Corp’s Best for the World for Workers.
Giving back
Alvéole helps businesses and schools meet their sustainability goals by bringing bees to their building (often on rooftops), providing both a turnkey educational service and an exceptional, meaningful experience. Their goal is to make people fall in love with bees, build ecological awareness, and in time, more sustainable cities and food systems.
Green Element is an environmental management consultancy on a mission to help as many companies as possible to become ‘green.' Paying attention to environmental impact is a fundamental part of a successful business strategy and makes a real, tangible difference to where it matters the most – the bottom line.They guide organisations on this journey with bespoke sustainability solutions and support.
B Lab is the non-profit network transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities and the planet. It was created in 2006 with the mission to inspire and enable people to use business as a force for good. As part of an international network of other B Labs across the globe, B Lab UK leads economic systems change to support their collective vision of an inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy.
Clothing and Accessories
Outdoor clothing brand Finisterre are committed to creating truly exceptional product in a more responsible and transparent way. Product that is built for adventure and inspires a love of the sea, because they believe you protect what you love. Finisterre was founded on three commitments; to People, Environment and Product.
Y.O.U Underwear is a sustainable fashion brand on a mission to run a business in an ethical, kind and sustainable way that has a positive social and environmental impact. They use profits to give back to disadvantaged groups through direct donations to charities, with a buy-one-give-two promise in partnership with Smalls for All, a Scottish charity that collects and distributes underwear to vulnerable women and children in Africa and the UK.
Wolf and Badger provide a platform which takes the effort out of finding and sourcing sustainably and ethically produced fashion, accessories and homeware – without compromising on quality and design.They are striving to for a future of retail that is a responsible one, where independent designers are incentivised to manufacture and source sustainably and ethically.
Bird makes beautiful, design-led eyewear using high quality and sustainable materials, and for every pair sold they distribute solar light to remote communities in Africa through their Share Your Sun partnership with SolarAid. They are the first eyewear brand in the UK to become a certified B Corp and are committed to seeking out the best sustainable materials to create their premium frames.
In addition to all of these wonderful organisations, we encourage you to visit a unique store in the heart of Soho. Throughout the month of March, the ‘Good News’ B Corp store is popping up on Rathbone place, where it will be showcasing the brands doing good.
For opportunities to work at a B Corp, visit our jobs page to filter by B Corp status and apply. Find a B Corp role.