Qookeee is an online shop where you can rent high quality, eco-friendly baby and toddler clothing. It’s a simple concept: select any item, add to cart, but instead of buying your selection you rent it instead. By renting, parents are able to reduce their costs, carbon emissions, water usage and prevent clothing waste reaching landfill by keeping clothing in circulation longer.
Why is it important to your business to be more sustainable?
Baby clothing is an often overlooked area of fast fashion, the huge amount of clothing parents need each year means lots of baby clothes will end up in landfill. I wanted Qookeee to offer parents an alternative to buying clothing and by renting baby clothes, they will buy less and reduce clothing waste.
What environmental issues particularly resonate with your business?
The clothing industry emits huge amounts of carbon emissions and uses thousands of litres of water during the production process. In the UK we send 300,000 tonnes of clothing and textiles to landfill every year. The more people rent, the greater the savings.
What are you currently doing to be more sustainable?
Our clothes are made from fibres that have a lower impact on the environment such as GOTS certified organic cotton, and when they can no longer be rented they will be upcycled, recycled or reused elsewhere.
Why would you encourage other businesses to become a Business Champion?
Change cannot happen in isolation, we learn from each other in everything we do. Collectively, by networking with like minded businesses, we can improve how we do things and aspire to do more to achieve our goals.
Sustainable Merton has made me welcome by being part of the relaunch of their Merton Green Parents group, and opening up the idea of renting baby clothes to parents who had not considered it.
What are your long term/short term sustainability objectives?
My sustainable objective is to get more parents engaged with renting baby clothes, starting locally in Merton and then growing across the country.
Jacey James
Founder, Qookeee
Find out more about becoming a Business Champion HERE!
