Switching to B Corps

General Chat
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I’ve been trying to switch (where possible) to companies that are registered B Corps. My understanding is that it’s effectively a seal of approval for companies that are responsible both socially and environmentally. The companies make a legal commitment to that end as well.

So far I’ve switched to the following companies (but I’m looking for more):

  • Honest Mobile (from EE)
  • Zen Internet (from BT)
  • HomeThings (home cleaning products)
  • Ecologi (Carbon offsetting)
  • Lemonade (Contents Insurance)
  • Octopus Group (Gas & Electric)

Quite often, these are cheaper, or at least provide a better / quicker service than the non B Corps. So it feels like a super easy way of me “voting” with my wallet for positive change.

Does anyone else know of any more that you use day-to-day?

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Hey. Me too! I switched to:

for toilet rolls / kitchen towels etc. (from a suggestion elsewhere on this forum). I’m also with Honest and think they’re very good with fantastic support.

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Nice! I had heard of Who Gives A Crap actually, but not the Good Time other half.

Do you use that side too? Never considered shampoo bars rather than bottles to be honest.

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I have used Who Gives a Crap for many years. Make sure you get the premium stuff though.

Shampoo bars won’t work well for everyone, they can be quite drying.

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Maybe this is a bad thing to admit, I’ll buy based on service/price, I don’t think I’ve ever checked out a companies credentials in this way before spending any money.

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I don’t. I hadn’t heard of that side either :slight_smile: Thanks for the list. I’m looking at Lemonade now for contents and they seem to be working out cheaper than my existing provider.

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That’s fair - What I’ve found though is that I tend to get great service from companies that go through the trouble of becoming certified. I guess if it’s in your companies DNA to be “good”, then they’re more likely to try and do the right thing when it comes to customer services etc.

But I get it’s not for everyone :smiling_face:

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I’m going to slowly switch everything across as they move to the UK - Buildings insurance is coming. For now, contents insurance came earlier this year. But yeah, cheap for me too!

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I was trying to think of an example of who I use vs someone I don’t/won’t, but can’t so far.

I’m a Monzo customer, I’m an Octopus customer, but they are product/price related, not how they do what they do.

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I find support can be a mixed bag. Honest are great but Octopus (who I’m also with) are friendly but not that good at resolving issues quickly.

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That’s true - Although their tracker plan is currently costing me £35 a month instead of £150, so I’ll take the slow response times whilst that carries on! :joy:

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Thanks for starting this thread! Consider making it a WIKI perhaps so folks can edit and update.

Now, B-Corps. Honestly, mixed feelings. I probably wouldn’t just go with someone if they were over someone who wasn’t. And that’s because as with all of these things if you play the right tune you can get the award. So who knows truly how green and sustainable they really are.

Granted, B-Corp do seem to be quite robust in their accreditation.

I’m more about whether the company has a truly green or sustainable ethos, and the price point fits what I am prepared to pay to be honest.

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Which Secrid wallet do you have? Are they good?

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Just looking at the same model but Vintage Ochre - Looks nice, though to be fair, I just use Apple Pay everywhere now, so it would probably just be a purchase just for the sake of it! haha, maybe I’ll put it on a Christmas list

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[Sharp intake of breath] - I’ve been product/service ‘value’ based just like @Revels here - although the B Corp tie-in does hold value and it was the tipping point for me regarding a few purchases this year. Bellroy for wallet & bag, Chilly’s for water bottle. and we recently upgraded our aging Vango tent to a Berghaus alternative - the B Corp certification was a big part of the decision with this one.
We’ve been with Octopus for 5 years now too.

There’ll be more purchases from companies that are B Corp certified in the future, I’m sure. It’s already mentally there to check the company involved with a potential purchase. But if a company isn’t certified, it won’t sway the decision to not purchase from a non-certified company if the service/product is good value.

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I hadn’t realised Berghaus was a B Corp. I’ve been enthusiastically recommending them ever since I discovered that they offer free repairs to their products even though they might be out of warranty. They repaired my 8 year old shoes after the heel wore out, giving them several more years of wear.

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:eyes:
Wow. Great ‘support’ from Berghaus there.

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Oh dear :joy: haha

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B Corp has pretty much just become a meaningless marketing badge.

When you have the likes of Nespresso (owned by mega corporation Nestle), you can be pretty sure there’s nothing particularly honourable about it.

Much better off picking local suppliers. There are plenty of micro coffee roasters that are far more deserving than the likes of Nespresso (and you’ll also have the added benefit of a much better coffee).

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I’ve been reading today that they’re nearly finished on updating what it would mean to be B Corp certified. The new standards are harder to meet.

So for Nescafé as you mentioned, rather than being able to do enough “good” to offset the “bad”, there would instead be some absolute minimums across the board, as well as the usual “score”.

I see your point, and I agree with others that seeing “B Corp” alone isn’t enough to end your research there. But it’s certainly another tick in a box to help chose between multiple companies

The list of switches that I’ve made all feel like positive changes to me

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