In this blog, we are shining the spotlight on some of our favourite sustainable brands from the world of pet care and beyond, celebrating those who share our vision of a world with less waste, and more wonder.
With Black Friday around the corner, this is a great opportunity to #Paws4Thought and encourage conscious consumption, supporting waste reducing and sustainable businesses.
First up is Noggins & Binkles, a luxury and ethical cat, dog and human accessories brand from London.
Natusan fans will no-doubt recognise N&B from our giveaway competitions.
We caught up with Rose from Noggins & Binkles to talk a bit more about their wonderful wares, how the brand came to be, and what the future holds...
Tell us who you are and what you do
We are Noggins & Binkles, a luxury, ethical and vegan cat, dog and human accessories brand named after our two rescue cats, Mr Noggins and Mr Binkles.
We design and make a range of beautiful collars, leads, ID tags and beds for cats and dogs as well as toys for cats using sustainable and eco-friendly vegan materials.
Where are you based?
We are based in London, where we have our own studio in which all of our products are designed and made.
How did you get started?
Our founder, Rose, lived in the Indian Ocean for over seven years and during that time made many accessories for Mr Noggins and Mr Binkles (and our friendly Labrador neighbours next door) because the quality and aesthetic that was desired was not available locally.
In 2018 Rose moved back to London with the cats and Noggins & Binkles was founded to continue making beautifully designed and ethically made cat, dog and human accessories.
Tell us more about Noggins & Binkles (the cats, that is)
Mr Noggins (who is actually a girl) was rescued in the Seychelles and Mr Binkles (who really is a boy) was rescued in Mauritius.
The vet in Seychelles told us Mr Noggins was a boy when he was a small kitten, but we soon found out he, or should we say she, is a girl!
We knew Binkles was a boy from day one so no confusion there!
Both are intrepid travellers having moved back to the UK, via France to start their new life in London.
They are the inspiration behind the brand and test all of our cat accessories!
How do you go about designing and sourcing your eco-friendly products?
We make all of our products in our London studio and everything starts with what we think Mr Noggins and Mr Binkles (and some of our special doggy friends) would like to wear or play with.
We take great care to only use vegan materials in the design of all of our products and also have an eye on being sustainable and eco-friendly.
Which is your favourite product?
That's a difficult question because we love all of our products but if we had to choose one it would be our vegan cork 'leather' cat and dog collars, which come in a range of beautiful colours to suit every cat and dog.
Whenever we see a cat or dog wearing one it puts a big smile on our faces.
If you asked Mr Noggins and Mr Binkles, they would probably choose our vegan recycled felt catnip toys because they can't get enough of the generous helping of organic catnip inside the toys!
What is your top tip to be more sustainable?
Sourcing sustainable materials for our products is really important but we also keep a careful eye on the packaging we use to send our orders out to our customers.
All of our packaging materials are made of recycled materials and are fully recyclable and we don't use any plastics in our packaging.
We approach life in a similar way too, considering what we consume and being sure to recycle!
What does the future hold for Noggins & Binkles?
At the moment our key focus is to keep making beautiful products that our customers and their furry friends love.
Where can we see your products?
You can find our products on our website www.nogginsandbinkles.com
Where can we follow you?
We love to see our customers' photos of their furry friends wearing our products and so we often share these on our Instagram (@nogginsandbinkles) and Facebook (Noggins & Binkles) pages.
Who is your favourite sustainable business?
We love Plenish, who make a range of juices and plant based milk alternatives using organic and sustainably sourced ingredients.
Their organic cashew nut 'milk', which is made with fair trade cashews, is in our opinion, the best milk alternative on the market and makes the perfect cup of tea!
If you have a favourite sustainable brand, let us know so we can spread the love!
06/11/2020 by NatuTeam