When Leedsafe were delivered some stock that wasn’t quite up to scratch, they knew they wouldn’t sell it. As a safety and workwear company, Leedsafe pride themselves on supplying quality at affordable prices. However, this particular consignment of over 1000 polar fleeces wasn’t up to standards.
A few years ago, items with flaws like these would have gone straight to landfill. But times have changed and now that throwaway culture seems both irresponsible and wasteful.
And the flaws on these polar fleeces were very minor - a bit of the navy trim had bled into the yellow body of the fabric.
As someone who heads up Leedsafe’s sustainability efforts, General Manager of Sales and Operations, Wayne Collingwood, knew there were plenty of organisations who would be delighted to receive the polar fleeces. And his first thought was of Kilmarnock Enterprises, the Christchurch based social enterprise who provide an inclusive working environment for people with a range of abilities, rather than disabilities.
Having collaborated with Kilmarnock previously, Wayne already knew Michael and gave him a call. “We wanted to find a way to put these fleeces to use,” says Wayne. “So, we went to Kilmarnock and said we have over 1000 polar fleeces that we would love to gift.”
From there Michael put Wayne in touch with other organisations around the country who work in a similar way to Kilmarnock, including Fivestar Wanganui Enterprises and Cargill Enterprises in Dunedin.
“There were nine of them and all of these organisations are under financial pressure. We sent them each a pallet of fleeces for their staff and they were incredibly grateful,” explains Wayne.
It was a win-win situation. Leedsafe are always looking for ways to do the right thing in terms of sustainability and supporting our communities. And these social enterprises were able to provide their workers with great quality polar fleeces with no cost involved.