Founded as an ethical luxury brand, we want our customers to invest in our pieces safe in the knowledge that as a company, we have done everything possible to create unique handcrafted silver and gold pieces while reducing our impact on the planet.
We ethically and responsibly source raw materials and packaging. We choose sustainable shipping options where possible. We use renewable energy resources in our workshops and reduce our waste by reusing and recycling packaging materials. Metals are naturally recyclable, and all by-products from our manufacturing processes are reused or repurposed.
Thomas Lyte is a member of the Planet Mark sustainability certification program and has committed to cutting carbon emissions year on year to achieve the ultimate goal of net-zero status. Planet Mark recognises businesses that have measured and are actively reducing their carbon footprint. With the help of its growing community, Planet Mark assists Thomas Lyte with the implementation of our long-term strategy to become a sustainable company.
Currently, we are going through a process of measuring our carbon footprint and we will document and communicate our journey with our clients and the world. We believe that sharing our experiences as a company will benefit others who are travelling on this sustainability journey with us.
Each year we will be updating our clients on our ongoing efforts to reduce our carbon emissions to net-zero. This year we have doubled our efforts with a number of initiatives now on course for completion.
We have recently joined an initiative that actively encourages and facilitates staff use of electric vehicles. This includes charging stations at both our workshops and headquarters, and we will soon adapt our fleet of delivery vans.
By the end of 2022 we will have completed research and development on new sustainable packaging for our silverware. Testing is currently underway to ensure that the new packaging options do not cause any unintended damage to the quality of our product.
This year we have started promoting “meat-free Mondays” whereby we encourage each other to explore meat-free alternatives for their meals that day. For the team-building benefits alone we would recommend this to other businesses. Reducing our meat consumption as a business makes a small but positive change to our impact on the planet.
Year-on-year we will build upon our commitment to using renewable energy. This year we will be installing solar panels at our London-based silver workshops. While it is a significant investment, solar panels have a lifetime of around 25 years, and we are confident that in the coming years it will have been resources well spent.