Do you think, like we do, that CSR and Sustainability can be challenging to understand? Read this and get answers to some of the questions we receive from, for example, our retailers, and learn about how we at OYOY Living Design relate to CSR and sustainability.

 1. What does CSR mean?

CSR is an abbreviation for Corporate Social Responsibility. CSR initiatives are activities that aim to create value for society and corporate stakeholders.

 2. Can you clarify OYOY Living Design’s experience with CSR and Sustainability - do you have a strategy on the subject?

Let’s start by stating that, despite working with CSR over the years, we are far from experts. As far as possible, we try to navigate this topic and adapt OYOY Living Design to meet tomorrow’s, and not least our own, requirements to CSR.

We do not have specific certifications that we can document these efforts with, but instead we have a number of requirements for our suppliers that ensure a high standard and that we can guarantee.

We will return to that strategy later...

3. That was a bit unclear - what requirements do you work on?

Yes, but it was also a very unclear question. All products are unique and there are different requirements for the different products and materials - just as there are often higher requirements for the products to be used for and by children. We try to live up to all these requirements, which include:

REACH, which stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances. This is the name of an EU regulation aimed at ensuring that the various types of chemicals used in the EU do not endanger human beings and the environment. All products sold on the European market are subject to this chemicals legislation. OYOY Living Design’s products meet the requirements of REACH, as we ensure that our products do not contain substances that are prohibited.

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 is a product certification that requires no use of chemical substances that are - or are suspected of being - harmful to our health. The certification is one of the world’s leading textile health labels and is known by the brand ’Trust in Textiles’. The vast majority of our products are made of OEKO-TEX certified textiles - including in two different classifications in relation to OYOY LIVING and OYOY MINI products:

• Products for babies and toddlers up to the age of 36 months fall under PRODUCT CLASS 1.
• Products in the form of home decor and decoration materials, such as carpets, tea towels, upholstery fabrics and textile flooring, fall under PRODUCT CLASS 4.

We are continuously working to producing even more of our products in accordance to the requirements of OEKO-TEX.

GOTS, which is an abbreviation of the Global Organic Textile Standard, is a certification that controls everything about production - the product from raw material, through processing to finished product. The certificate provides a credible guarantee of environmentally and socially responsible production to the end user. The reason why our products are not labeled GOTS is that we as a company are not GOTS certified yet, but we strive to choose suppliers that are.

This means that you as a customer or end consumer can count on the high standard of the individual products. In fact, the most important thing is not whether we are GOTS certified, but more importantly that our suppliers are - and therefore also our products.

FSC is a certification that ensures that no more wood is removed for production, than the forest can reproduce. At the same time, the FSC is a guarantee that animals and plant life are protected, and that the affected employees in the forest are well educated and properly ensured safety equipment and wages.

It is very comprehensive to become FSC certified, both for us and for our suppliers, but we try as much as possible to choose suppliers that use FSC certified wood.

4. Well, it sounds like you know what you’re talking about ... But is there any- thing else that should be mentioned?

Yes, we spend a lot of time being up to date on the subject and using it in our way of working and designing, but we are still learning. For us, one of the most important things when talking about environmental responsibility is; the lifetime of the product. We strive to create honest and durable designs with a long life. Products that can last for many years and are passed on through generations.

We are proud of our Danish design heritage and history, which is also characterized by high quality - in other words: design that lasts for a long time. In our opinion, this is a very important feature of a product if we want to use the word sustain- able. How long the product lasts will of course vary from product to product, but when we design smaller and larger furniture etc., we want the end-consumer to keep the furniture for many years, after which it can be passed on.

5. It all sounds very good. But CSR is about much more than the environment and climate. What would you say to your defence?

Yes, that is right. For OYOY Living De- sign, our social responsibility is also extremely important. We demand that all our suppliers and partners comply with the Global Compact’s 10 principles on human rights, labour rights, the environment and anti-corruption https://globalcompact.dk/de-10-principper/

We, as a company, try to create a framework and an environment in which we adhere to the Global Compact’s 10 principles. We care about the environmental problems that exist on our planet and therefore, we want to support and help wherever we can. For example, we donate for the following purposes:

WWF - World Wildlife Fund: At OYOY Living Design, we are very compassion- ate about our world, especially the wild endangered animals. This is exactly why we have supported for many years and will continue to support WWF. Together, we must create a world where humans live in harmony with nature.

6. Does that mean you are not yet a 100% sustainable company? But what do you do and where can you get better?

We cannot do everything, and we are aware of that, but we can start by being honest, which this is an attempt to. We believe that the most important thing is that we are open about our current efforts and that we have a proactive mind- set.

In the ideal world, we want to get better at all points of CSR, but as said several times above, it is a process that takes and requires an effort every day. We are constantly working to improve and have the following goals for the future:

• Moving production to Europe

We want to move a significant part of our production to Europe. This is a process that we have started and which we are working on every day.

• Communication

We aim for long-term partnerships with our suppliers based on challenging dialogue, as well as open and honest communication. Of course, this applies to all suppliers and partners.

• Quality assurance

We expect ourselves to design and produce based on principles that support our own and external requirements for quality assurance.

• Certifications

We want to be able to use multiple certifications to document that our products meet various requirements and expectations, cf. point 3

• Packaging

We work hard to reduce the use of plastic when packaging our products. In the case of shipments of goods from OYOY Living Design’s own warehouse, we recycle as much packaging as possible.

• Measurable strategy

We will increasingly implement a measurable CSR strategy that extends across all departments in the company, as well as becoming an entrenched part of our collaboration with suppliers and business partners. That is, we are not done yet, but we will be.

7. So what do I, as a retailer of OYOY Living Design’s products, say to my customers when they ask me about OYOY Living Design, Sustainability and CSR?

You must tell your customers that OYOY Living Design has high expectations and requirements to themselves and their products when it comes to quality and sustainability. But you must also tell the customer that there are many requirements in this area and that it can be difficult to live up to all of them. The most important thing is that we take a stand and we are honest about where we can do better.

If your customer has questions that you do not find answers to here, please feel free to send them to us at customerservice@oyoy.dk

Then we can give you and your customer an answer as well as update this text so that other customers are able to find this information as well.

We appreciate your help.