Bugaboo Q&A: Sustainability and the Future of Conscious Parenting

Natural Baby Shower and Bugaboo share many values especially when it comes to sustainability and helping parents find the best products for their baby and the planet. We want to help turn good intentions into conscious everyday actions and that’s why we love Bugaboo. They focus on making products that are built to last using low impact materials that cut out waste and minimise their environmental impact which really aligns with our sustainability-conscious values here at Natural Baby Shower.

We caught up with Melanie the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) manager at Bugaboo to talk about sustainability and innovation. Her role ensures that Bugaboo conducts their business with respect to people and the planet.

What does sustainability mean at Bugaboo?

Sustainability has always been a big part of Bugaboo. Since we were founded, the sustainability has been mainly led by the employees. An important part of their job was to make sure that the products are sustainable and produced with the respect of our consumers in mind. Years ago, Bugaboo formalised that sustainable ambition, and now we have a robust ESG strategy in place where we focus on human rights and carbon reduction which you can see in our products.

What becoming B-Corp certified means for Bugaboo and why is it such an important step for the brand?

For a few years, Bugaboo have been B-Corp certified which is a huge achievement for us. This certification means that we have gone through the whole company and it's operations to ensure that we adhere to the highest rules of social and environmental practices. For us, the B-Corp certification is not only ensuring sustainability for the consumers, but we feel that it's also an important way to check ourselves to make sure we are on the right track sustainability wise. We are currently in the process of reassessment under the new standards which are significantly stricter than the old standards, but we are very excited to continue our B-Corp journey.

How early in the design process does sustainability come into the conversation?

At Bugaboo, sustainability is a part of the whole process from the early product design. Sustainability should never be an afterthought because you must think about things such as the materials that you use, compatibility over time and suppliers that you want to work with. At Bugaboo, we have certain steps in the design process where the topic of sustainability is on the agenda right from the beginning.

What are some of the more sustainable fabrics and materials that Bugaboo is incorporating into their products?

Our latest material innovation that we have incorporated is called dope-dye technology. This is a new way of colouring our fabrics that is completely water-free. I am also very proud and excited to announce that we have launched this innovation across our new Donkey 6 model and we will continue to incorporate this into other models in the future. This innovation not only optimises saving water but the colour fastness. This ensures the resistance of a fabrics colour to fading or running. It is not only a sustainability improvement but a product benefit for our consumers. We have also incorporated sustainable innovations across other important materials such as recycled aluminium, recycled fabrics and we use bio-based materials instead of conventional plastics. At Bugaboo we have designers and engineers that really are ‘sustainability freaks’, who love finding hotspots for smart solutions to make sure the environmental impact of their products decreases.

What is one sustainability innovation at Bugaboo that consumers may not even realise exists?

One thing that we must think of is the modularity and compatibility of spare parts between models and repairability which is something that we implemented in the Butterfly 2 model that I really love in the stretch and impact areas that we added which catch the impact when you fold your stroller. This ensures that when it is folded, the stroller doesn’t get damaged and expands the product lifetime. These small things really ensure that the products at Bugaboo can excel to make sure that we think of every element of the products.

How important is it for Bugaboo to work with retail partners who genuinely live and breathe sustainability values, rather than just talking about them and what role do retailers and partners play in helping families make more sustainable choices?

Retail partners like Natural Baby Shower are super important to help guide consumers towards more sustainable choices. For parents, it can be an overwhelming time when buying all the essentials needed for a baby and unfortunately there is a lot of green washing going on. Natural Baby Shower guide consumers towards more conscious and healthy decisions for their baby.

If you could encourage parents to make just one more sustainable change, what would it be?

For new parents but also all consumers, I think if they want to be more sustainable, they need to buy less and buy better, by buying better I mean thinking about second-hand choices, high quality products that last longer and those will also have a better resale value so it can be better for your wallet in the long run. I think small changes like these can have a huge impact environmentally.

Looking ahead, what excited you most about the future for Bugaboo and the wider movement toward more conscious parenting?

At Bugaboo, we are continuing to improve our sustainability through our products. I am very excited to work with Bugaboo’s engineers and designers to find the best materials and best design solutions to ensure that they reduce their environmental impact. I am also very excited about circularity, making sure that our products last as long as possible so that our products can be taken apart to be repaired and refurbished. We are working hard and we are seeing some really cool results already.

Shop sustainably with Bugaboo