Glossary

The dictionary definition cites ‘authentic’ as ‘of undisputed origin and not a copy’. We created The Pure Edit as a totally new offering to bring to market a unique and extensive home furnishings collection that embraces sustainable values throughout. Every piece within our collection has been designed and created from original artwork and produced using some of the most sustainable components and compositions currently available, locally made wherever possible, and exclusively available through our website. We’re not perfect, but we are passionate about challenging ourselves to be better and we will openly share our journey with you, our customer, in an authentic and honest way.

B Corp certification verifies that a business is meeting high standards of transparency, accountability, and social and environmental performance. Certified B Corporations are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. We are currently preparing for our application with guidance from The Green Consultancy.

As a British business we are proud to work closely with many skilled craftspeople in the UK who fit our social and environmental values to help support the local economy and reduce our product miles and carbon footprint. Wherever possible we make our products locally and to order to reduce waste.

The filling used within our sofas, chaises, ottomans, and headboards; a sustainable alternative to the foam often used in furniture. Coconut is a widely available resource. Cocolok is made from a combination of natural coconut fibres and natural latex, a fully renewable material which is hypo-allergenic, anti-microbial and dust-mite resistant. Not only selected for its environmental credentials, Cocolook is an open and ventilating material. Its natural elasticity and toughness make for a lastingly comfortable piece of furniture. Cocolok is fully compostable at end of life.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a global forest certification that verifies products come from a responsibly manged forest that preserves biological diversity and benefits the lives of local people and workers while sustaining economic viability.

GRS is a standard which verifies the presence and amount of recycled content in products. It tracks the flow of raw materials from source through production to confirm responsible social, environmental, and chemical practices. GRS is an international, voluntary, full product standard that sets requirements for third-party certification of recycled content.

GOTS is an internationally recognised organic textile processing standard for organic fibres. It defines high-level environmental criteria throughout the whole supply chain – covering processing, manufacturing, packaging, labelling, trading, and distribution of all textiles made from at least 70% certified organic natural fibres – as well as requiring compliance with social criteria, providing credible assurance to the end consumer. We are proud to confirm that our 100% organic cotton bedding is GOTS-certified. Scope Certificate Number: CU849481GOTS-2021-00071548.

The Green Claims Code is a directive set out by The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to ensure all environmental claims or credentials are substantive to not mislead the consumer. Under the consumer protection law all claims relating to how a product, service or business provides a benefit or is less harmful to the environment, must be clear, truthful, and unambiguous. Comparisons drawn should be fair and meaningful. Claims must not omit important information and should consider the full life cycle and therefore the total impact of the product or service. You can read more about the Green Claims Code here.

We are a Living Wage accredited employer. The real Living Wage is independently calculated on the cost of living and is voluntarily paid by nearly 10,000 UK employers who believe we all need a wage that meets our everyday needs. The Living Wage Foundation ensures all employees earn a wage that meets the costs of living, not just the government minimum. The current UK living wage is £12.00 and the living wage in London is £13.15. The new Living Wage rates will be announced in September 2024. The Pure Edit always exceeds the recommended Living Wage pay rates.

Being conscious, aware, and always thinking to the future. Every element of our business is carefully considered for its impact.

Our product development meetings begin with the question “What is the most sustainable current offering and how can we adapt and improve it?” This perspective can be seen through our furniture range which has been mindfully created from the ground up. Locally hand-crafted in the UK with frames made from sustainable hardwood, our furniture eliminates the use of foam, instead using a platform of a natural and fully compostable material, Cocolok. Back and seat cushions are filled with Quallofil Blue fibre, 50% of which are produced from recycled ocean-bound plastic from Plastic Bank. Approximately 200 recycled plastic bottles are used in the production of every sofa cushion. Every metre of polyester fabric used to cover our furniture is 100% recycled, and is soft, durable, and beautiful.

Our roller blind collection is created from a minimum of 80% recycled polyester in a product area where very few more sustainable options exist. We take a mindful approach by challenging standard practices and conventional materials to drive improvements, recycling potential waste, and reducing energy consumption.

Organic products are those certified by the Soil Association as having been produced in accordance with the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). An essential part of being certified Organic involves being produced naturally without the use of chemicals, fertilisers, & pesticides and using dramatically less water. Our bedding is made from 100% organic cotton, which has been certified by GOTS ensuring strict social and environmental standards throughout the entire supply chain.

Also referred to as natural fibres, all fabrics that have fibres deriving from plant sources. We currently use cotton that’s either organic, recycled or from the Better Cotton Initiative supply chain, plus linen (flax) and hemp. We are committed to continuous improvements, and our long-term aim is to replace as many standard natural fibres with certified organic or recycled natural yarns where possible. 

Plastic Bank is a leading solution to both prevent ocean plastic and help those in poverty. This market-based solution improves the health of the planet through enabling local communities of plastic collectors to collect and exchange waste plastic for money and goods. Plastic Bank plastic is sold globally to brands who recycle and re-use it. Our furniture is filled with Quallofil Blue, a material made from 50% recycled ocean-bound plastic from Plastic Bank.

Polyvinyl chloride or vinyl is a commonly used wallpaper material, but it is also the most environmentally damaging type of plastic. PVC is dangerous to our health and the environment and is difficult to dispose of at the end of its life, ending up in landfill. Our wallpaper collection is completely PVC-free, made instead from natural plant fibres from from sustainable timber sources. PVC-free ensures products are safer for the environment, and easier to dispose of.

A filling used within our furniture, made from 50% recycled ocean-bound plastic from Plastic Bank, a leading solution to prevent ocean plastic whilst helping those in poverty. Quallofil Blue fibres are scientifically designed to give a firm, controlled support while maintaining its original appearance over time, meaning you can enjoy lasting comfort. Approximately 200 recycled plastic bottles make 50% of every sofa cushion.

Recycling offers benefits compared to producing virgin fibre products, especially with reduced energy and raw material consumption.  All our recycled Polyester fabrics are made from post-consumer fibres such as recycled PET (see below). Our recycled cotton range is made from pre-consumer waste, collected, batched, and repurposed. 

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), often used to package carbonated drinks and bottled water, is a widely recyclable plastic. Recycled PET is polyester made using the yarn of these post-consumer plastic bottles, diverting them from landfill. Recycling polyester both uses less energy and produces fewer emissions than that associated with the production of virgin polyester. Recycled rPET polyester produces yarns that are both soft and durable for sumptuous chenilles and weaves, or technical and high performance in the case of roller blinds.

Produced by sustainable global textile solutions company Unifi, REPREVE is the leading branded performance fibre made from recycled materials including plastic bottles. Producing REPREVE yarn conserves water and energy and emits fewer greenhouse gases compared to the production of virgin fibre. The process involves washing, chopping, blending, and melting waste plastic which is then turned into REPREVE recycled chip. These chips then enter a texturing process where they are turned into fibres with ideal performance for home furnishings with a soft touch and good durability. REPREVE fibre is favoured by industry-leading brands to create high-quality products from trusted recycled content that is traceable and certified. To date, Unifi has recycled more than 30 billion plastic bottles.

We are not perfect, but we recognise our responsibility as a business to our customers, our people, and our planet. The Pure Edit is shaped by our commitment to doing things properly, minimising our impact and making better choices. We are working with The Green Consultancy to achieve our sustainability goals which are part of developing the roadmap to Net Zero, including feasibility by 2030, and becoming B Corp compliant. This framework is helping us establish our business baseline, risks, requirements, and actionable objectives to ensure we meet our goal of becoming Net Zero as soon as practically possible.

We work closely with our suppliers to ensure they meet the highest standards of environmental and social practices. We do not use factories that we are not familiar with or that we have not visited. We seek UK and European factories to produce our products, and do not produce further from home than Turkey, although that does not mean we would not in the future if there was a good reason for doing so. We always endeavour to minimise our supply miles and do not use air freight. As well as being visited by us, most factories have formal accreditations. Our principal Spanish bedding and fabric supplier has numerous accreditations including a Sedex SMETA audit, and our principal Turkish weaver has ISO14001 certification.

Sedex is a membership organisation that provides one of the world’s leading platforms for companies to manage and improve working conditions in global supply chains. SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) asses a factory site based upon 4 key pillars – Labour Standards, Health & Safety, Environmental and Business Ethics. Recognised world-wide as the benchmark standard for factory auditing, especially regarding working conditions and human welfare.

The Soil Association symbol is a recognised and trusted international mark of organic certification. The association ensures all organic fibres have been processed under strict environmental and social standards, protecting producers, consumers, and the soil by endorsing nature-friendly farming methods. Most importantly, the entire production chain is audited so that the provenance of every batch of certified product is proven. Soil Association license number: DK30942.

We promote industry-wide change by working closely with employees, suppliers, and partners who share our values and targets, encouraging them to act with sustainability at the forefront of their decisions. We are an early adopter of circular and recycled materials to encourage factories to change for the better, by rewarding innovation with revenue. We are also passionate about doing our part for our local community here in the UK. Our team takes regular volunteering days, giving back to their chosen social and environmental causes.

The UN World Commission on Environment and Development says: “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

From source through to production and packaging, we try to choose materials with the lowest climate and environmental impact. We work with our partners to ensure our entire supply chain is built on ethical and environmentally responsible practices. We take a long-term approach supporting ecological, human, and economic health to protect finite natural resources.

Those from sustainably grown fibres or recycled materials that have minimal negative impact on people and the planet. Where possible production should add value to communities. We use external certifications to verify our materials such as Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) or Global Recycling Standard (GRS).

We are open about the areas for improvement within our business and are working on a plan for real, lasting change. We will be honest and open about our journey from the start and the reasons behind the choices we make. We have adopted sector leading sustainability targets and will share our progress annually. You can read our Sustainability Policy, and our first sustainability progress report will be shared on our website. Occasionally we fall short of our ideals, and are working on improvements, and we highlight this in our product descriptions, notably when certain packaging components used to protect products in transit cannot yet be replaced by those with greener credentials because they simply don’t yet exist. We continue to experiment to find innovative solutions to these few remaining aspects.

In sustainability, in quality, in style and in price. We make no concessions and strive to only source and stock materials and products which match our values and help us towards our goals.

We have driven the development of a new, recycled blackout roller blind where a more sustainable alternative does not currently exist and have built our furniture models to exclude commonly used components that go to landfill at end of life. We have minimised the paper labelling on our paint cans and are trialling a heavy-duty potato starch alternative to polythene film for shipping our cut lengths of fabric. The few elements of plastic remaining in our packaging are necessary to ensure the safe delivery of our products, where other better alternatives don’t currently exist. We are working hard to develop a solution for the little plastic that is left in our supply chain.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are solvents that are released as vapours into the air from certain products or processes. The government regulates VOC content in paint products and the VOC content is required by law to be shown on the product label. Water-based paints are a safer and more favoured alternative as they emit much less VOCs. Our paints are water based, very low in VOCs, and can be classified as Minimal VOC Content 0-0.29% containing a maximum 2.9g/ltr.

Water based paints use water instead of oil to carry the pigment and binding agents. Water-based paints are also lower in VOCs than oil-based paints. Our paints emit very little odour, are easy to apply, fast-drying, durable and provide a good coverage. After use they are easy to clean up with just soap and water.

1% for the Planet is an international organisation that connects over 5,000 member businesses with approved non-profit partners, accelerating smart environmental giving that aligns with the values of each individual brand. The 1% model allows businesses to give back 1%, whether total annual revenue, or sales from a specific item or range. Here at The Pure Edit, we give back 1% of our total annual revenue to local environmental causes close to our heart.