WCF Home Shopping Environmental Statement
At WCF Home Shopping we take our environmental responsibilities seriously.
WCF Home Shopping sell clothing that is designed and styled to last, co-ordinates well, looks timeless and is of superior quality. We use wherever possible natural resources with minimum waste and impact on the environment. We design in the UK to fit our mature customers’ body shape and make a paper pattern for every size to ensure that our garments are cut for comfort and elegance. Our in-house technical team check the fit before garments go into production which helps us to make sure that the number of products returned for reason of fit are kept to a minimum. We offer a shortening service and where necessary a repair service to extend the life of a product. We are so confident in the quality of our products that we offer a product lifetime guarantee.
We forecast our sales prudently to avoid the unnecessary over production of garments and we work with suppliers who allow us to order the minimum order quantities we need. We survey our customers regularly to make sure we are creating what they need and desire from us. We employ local people ensuring that their commute to work is minimal and, in many cases, walkable.
We select only the finest of fabrics and yarns for our exclusive designs to ensure that they are durable, luxurious and offer customers a value for money cost per wear. We promote the benefits of natural fibres throughout our catalogue and website so that we stand in support of initiatives like natural wool week and promote a greater understanding for our customers of the environmental benefits.
We seek to manage our activities to minimise their impact on the environment. We comply with waste packaging regulations and the energy savings opportunity scheme. We review ways to reduce energy and water consumption, minimise the use of packaging, decrease our emissions and integrate further recyclable and sustainable processes into our supply chains, including the reduction in the use of single-use plastic and materials going to landfill.
Our in-house designs are exclusive to WCF Home Shopping including the work of our own designer based in Cumbria. When sourcing the fabrics for our garments, we are mindful of our carbon footprint and the miles travelled by the fabric. We look to source local to the manufacturer and wherever possible use suppliers from the UK and Europe.
We have long standing relationships with a dedicated group of small, trusted supply partners, where we can be confident and have a direct influence on the ethical production, working conditions and quality of the work they undertake for us. We only use respectable, trusted and well-established fabric suppliers that we have worked with for a number of years. We are working towards producing our own code of conduct for all our suppliers to sign up to.
Our mail order catalogues are printed in the UK using sustainably PEFC and FSC sourced pape. Where necessary, the polywrap containing our catalogues is recyclable film (4 LDPE), but we intend by autumn 2022 to remove all polywrap from our catalogue mailings.
Our plastic postal bags have been replaced with new brown packaging, made of robust paper that is 100% recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable. Our postal bags are reusable for returns, with the number of bag sizes increased to better reflect the size of the order being despatched. These bags are naturally better for the planet.
We are striving to ensure that all new garment designs are received into our warehouse in recyclable packaging, whilst also avoiding any unnecessary packaging e.g. swing tickets. Redundant garment stock is either given away to employees or donated to charity shops and homeless shelters. Where possible we find alternative uses for unused fabric such as making new garments for future seasons.
We pledge to continually review our working practices and promote the benefits of quality garment design whilst manufacturing for the greater good of the environment. We are fully committed to ensuring employee welfare and human rights are respected both in our own business and throughout our entire supply chain. We fully support the legislation put in place for the prevention of modern slavery and human trafficking in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
We hope you continue to enjoy the clothing brought to you by WCF Home Shopping for many years to come whilst being confident that you are helping to play your part in mitigating the impact on the environment that cheaper fast fashion is causing.