Ethical practice at the heart of Australia’s first pillow recycling program

Founded on a circular model of sustainability, kindness and treading lightly, B Corp #GoKindly aims to close the loop on pillow wastage.

#GoKindly co-founder Laura Conti always wanted the business to be more than a bedding brand. 

As a certified B Corp and social enterprise, #GoKindly is an ethical movement, existing to drive social change. Now, as the nation’s first pillow recycler, it’s expanding its environmental impact. 

Informed by sustainable capitalism and profit for purpose models, Conti intended to launch #GoKindly with a recycling offering from the very beginning, but quickly realised there was no local, ethical or affordable way to do so.

“We started with the idea that there should be a way for brands to do good at every touch point in their cycle, in their supply chain,” says Conti. “I just thought that when I started I would offer recycling. I very naively presumed that there would be ways to do that.”

“To me, building a product that wasn’t circular didn’t make any sense so I was pretty horrified that there was actually no way in Australia, especially onshore, to do pillow recycling when we started out.”

Conti compromised and started #GoKindly in early 2019 without an operational pillow recycling program. It eventually launched three years later in April 2022, after a local fabric recycler came on board. So far, 360 pillows have been donated, which cannot be recycled by council services and would otherwise end up in landfill.

“Pillows have a short lifespan of two, maybe three years, depending on how well you look after them. Once they’re done, they just end up in landfill,” explains Laura.

“We are proud to have given our community a better alternative of recycling their pillow instead of landfill.”

The recycling process is fairly straightforward. An old pillow is sent to the partner recycler in Melbourne, where its fabric and filling is separated and sorted by colour, often by hand. The material is then taken back to yarn and, due to low demand for yarn in Australia, is shipped to India for reuse in manufactoring new goods and garments.

In exchange for recycling their pillow, customers are given a 15 per cent discount for future #GoKindly products.

#GoKindly is the only pillow recycling program in Australia, and currently only supports recycling its own products. Other large retailers, such as Sheridan, offer programs to recycle linen and towels, but in a very limited capacity.

Conti sees the responsibility of establishing a circular economy in the retail industry falling on big businesses. But while she’s noticing an upward trend in consumers actively seeking ethical goods, she’s also seen a rise in powerful PR campaigns that represent brands in ways that may not be entirely accurate.

“I think consumers are demanding more. I think the average young consumer who is only just starting to get disposable income really does care about where their stuff comes from and the ethics behind brands,” explains Conti.

“Unfortunately, lots of brands have worked that out and they are washing it, whether that be purpose-washing, green-washing or diversity-washing. What becomes important is being able to hold brands to account to actually deliver, and not just say that they do.”

“[Recycling] is very labour-intensive and expensive and I think it’s a big responsibility for retailers to start owning,” she continues.

One way for consumers to hold brands accountable is by educating themselves and seeking out certified B Corps, which set the highest standards of social and environmental impact for businesses.

#GoKindly is just one of two bedding brands across the country to obtain B Corp certification. It achieved an impact score of 90.5, a significant feat when compared to the 50.9 median score awarded to the average business.

The social enterprise took inspiration from leaders in the ethical practice field, including Who Gives a Crap and Thankyou, to design a bedding basics brand that delivered everyday goods which were ethically produced, high quality and gave back to the community.

“I’m driven from a place of believing that brands and businesses exist for the pure purpose of making the world better,” continues Conti.

#GoKindly donates 50 per cent of profits to supporting women experiencing homelessness and housing distress, partnering with not-for-profit organisations Juno and Women’s Housing Ltd.

It also offers a 25 per cent discount to students, pensioners and low-income earners to help them access ethical and sustainable goods that they would otherwise be unable to find from mainstream retailers.

Other ethical practices include local manufacturing, paying fair wages to all involved in the production process, employing people from diverse and under-represented backgrounds, and using no single-use plastic packaging, which last year, prevented almost 3,900 kilograms of plastic from entering the supply chain.

“I think large brands have lost sight of the reason they exist. They don’t exist to give people jobs at minimum wage. They don’t exist to make a profit for shareholders. They exist because they should be giving back to the world. They should actually be meeting the needs of their consumers in a way that’s kindest,” concludes Conti. 

“That’s why I created my own brand because I don’t see big brands and businesses pivoting to that in a way that is authentic.”