soulbottles is the best b corp company in Germany
We have some really great news! In our recent recertification as a B Corp company, we have g randiose score of 167.5 This makes us the Number 1 of the German B Corps and are among the Top 10 B Corps worldwide!! (maximum 200 points possible, as of January 18, 2023)
We were so excited that we almost dropped the soulbottle from our hands! You can find out what this result means and how we got there in this blog article.
Employee management, ecological improvement and social impact are not compatible with profitable entrepreneurship? And how! More and more companies are becoming part of the B Corp movement, and soulbottles is one of them! Who, how, what, why, wherefore, what for? Let's take a little excursion into the world of sustainable business.
the best companies FOR the world, not in the world
How can a company contribute to the to change the world for the better
our path to B Corp
soulbottles was founded with the goal of making our world more sustainable and plastic-free . Justice, fairness and resource conservation
Saying that you care about sustainability and social responsibility is relatively easy, and some corporate giants also claim this about themselves.
But how do you know that these are companies that are serious? That is difficult and anyone who has ever dealt with eco and fair trade seals knows that an emblem is not enough. Even if many seals are intended to offer customers orientation and security when making a purchase decision, they often only cover a part of the area. However, we are concerned with the holistic work and impact as a company.
At soulbottles we see a clear responsibility in various areas: we want to create a meaningful product from We want to produce our products using fairly traded, sustainable materials in a process that protects people and the environment. We also want to treat our employees well and pay them fairly. We want to bring issues such as sustainability, water scarcity and plastic awareness to the public and give less privileged people the provide access to clean drinking water .
We therefore set high standards for production, sustainability and fair treatment of employees right from the product development stage. We work with family businesses with a strong sense of tradition to guarantee good working conditions, high quality and short transport routes.
With our organizational model Holacracy , which we introduced in 2014, we ensure flat hierarchies in areas of responsibility and efficient decision-making processes that all employees support. We also believe in empathetic internal and external relationships, train all our employees in non-violent communication and provide both time and budget for personal development.
We have been very aware from the beginning that not everyone can live as well as we do in Germany and can simply fill up drinking water from the tap. That is why, since soulbottles was founded, part of our income has gone to Viva con Agua's drinking water projects, and since 2021 even to our own WASH'n'soul project, which we are implementing together with Viva con Agua and BORDA in Zambia. In total, we have collected and passed on over €1.6 million (as of 2023).
Are we alone in having these high standards of responsible corporate behavior? Is our claim a completely utopian idea for which there are no seals or certifications?
Exactly! Because more and more B Corps think like we do: the power of entrepreneurship can be used for good!
“Using business as a force for good”
soulbottles was among the first 100 companies in Germany to be awarded the B Corp seal . In Germany, Ecosia , Coffee Circle ,share and Startnext are now on board. Worldwide, we are one of over 6,300 companies that are rethinking entrepreneurship
The certification process examines the entire company in great detail, from employee management to environmental compatibility to social impact.
Since we tried to build our entire company as sustainably as possible from day one, we did not have to change anything in our production processes to obtain certification – and have officially been part of the B Corp family since the end of 2015.
soulie Patrick receives the "Best for the World - Community" award 2022
But we have not rested on our laurels: since then we have repeatedly looked at our processes and production conditions, made adjustments and stepped things up a notch. And we were rewarded with a brilliant result in our most recent recertification that we ourselves could hardly believe: With a
This means that we have increased our score by almost 100% since the first certification
This is an incredible result and makes us very proud. Because let's be honest: Dedicating ourselves to our heart's issues every day and sending lots of soulmates out into the world is one thing, but it is also To receive external and independent confirmation that we are doing quite well is just an incredibly great feeling!
In conjunction with our outstanding result in our GWÖ certification, we can now claim to be double frontrunners: because We are also number 1 in Germany when it comes to GWÖ ! GWÖ – what was that again? Read more about our certification as a common good economy company here and take a look at our impact report .
what is B Corp? the little ab - corp
Are you curious and want to know more about B Corp ? Then watch the official video from the umbrella organization B Lab, which explains what B Corp stands for in just 2 minutes.
And now: off to work and continue saving the world, because we are far from finished!