Saga Furs has made the decision to shift away from dispensing water and other drinks from plastic bottles at the company’s auctions, from June 2019. The move comes in the wake of a recent sharp spike up in awareness on the ecological cost of plastic to our environment and to human health.
Last year the Collins Dictionary word of the year was ‘single-use’ in reference to rise of single-use plastic to the political and business center stage. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, leaders were stunned by findings of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation predicting that the world’s oceans would contain more plastic than fish by weight, by 2050.
“Dispensing with plastic bottles will bring benefits for the company as well as our environment,” says Saga Furs CEO Pertti Fallenius. “The move is also a good fit with Saga Furs’ core business, which advances the use of natural fur in fashion, versus artificial plastic-based garments.”
An estimated 600 bottles per day (27,000 bottles per year) are transported to the Saga Furs premises and distributed to auction goers during the company’s four annual auctions. These will be replaced by natural Finnish tap water dispensers and soda stream machines, sourced with tap water.
Saga Furs CSR Program Manager, Marika Peuhkuri-Grön, said: “The decision by Saga Furs management to move away from plastic bottles is part of our company’s larger ongoing corporate social responsibility program, which scrutinizes every aspect of our operations, and which has helped position Saga Furs’ as the industry thought leader in sustainability.”
Plastic bottles are durable and portable, but unfortunately, it’s their durability that makes them so toxic and dangerous for nature. Plastic is man-made from oil, and, no matter how small the particles, can never fully degrade, contributing to the world’s microplastics problem which is now reaching pandemic levels.
“The shift away from bottled water to natural tap water also promotes human health and wellbeing for our auction goers,” adds Peuhkuri- Grön, “with Finland’s tap water ranked among the highest quality in the world. And, unsurprisingly, it’s a pleasure to drink!”