COOL & CONSCIOUS

At Ateljé, we consciously work towards being as sustainable as we can and reducing our impact on the planet. This is where we are at the end of 2023.

We aim to brighten up your day with cool, colourful and conscious accessories. We are aware that making consumer goods is not sustainable at is core, but we motivate shopping responsibly and truly try to do our part in the best way possible as a young brand.

As one of our core missions - and something we believe has set us apart from competitors since the start - we're getting greener step by step, month by month.

While we feel that we're far from perfect yet, and sometimes struggle to find the right answers or ways of working too - we do think it's important to share steps along the way instead of just big end results. So here we go.

1. PRODUCTS

  • NEWLY RECYCLED PHONE CASES
    A sensible place to focus our sustainability efforts (time, research, money, sampling) into is our best sellers. Ever since the start of Ateljé our transparent phone case has been the #1 product.

    Right now, after over three years of testing, we finally managed to produce a phone case mould that is compatible for 100% recycled plastic (TPU) material. This year (2023), we are happy to say that ALL of our transparent cases are made of recycled plastic. And all of our colorful cases have been made of recycled plastic (TPU), after being made of PLA first.

  • RECYCLED PHONE CORDS
    For our cords, we have been able to convert our nylon cords to 100% recycled nylon as early as 2021.

    And... Big news that we're yet to announce in a big way: the man made artificial pearls in our best seller Cloudy pearl and Pearl drop cords are now also fully made of recycled plastic (ABS).

    As these are our best sellers, and we create these in the highest volume of our assortment as this is a Never Out of Stock style, this is directly impactful.


  • IMPROVED HARDWARE
    Ateljé phone cases are known for their gold rings and hooks. In 2022 we launched "Ateljé 2.0" as we call it, using all gold filled hardware. Our hardware had been proven to need some focus, making it both stronger and less sensitive to discoloration.

    We've managed to significantly improve the quality and therefore longevity of our phone cords and cases. We're also switching to new, well tested and even stronger hooks in SS24.

  • RECYCLED BAGS & LAPTOP SLEEVES
    After launching our phone cases as a passion project, we decided that moving forward, instead of trying to make existing products more eco friendly, we're implementing that question in our design process.

    After a whole year of development, this resulted in our first laptop sleeves in late 2021. It was a long, quite difficult journey trying to find fully recycled materials for this product and truthfully: we almost gave up.

  • Because going the sustainable route is often the hardest. With a manufacturer that believed in us, were able to make our laptop sleeves from 100% recycled polyester. From the shell, to the lining to the puffy filling.

    Latest bag additions are made out of recycled post-consumer polyester as well, such as our bow bag, work bag and foldable bag.
Delivery by bike Atelje

2. PACKAGING & SHIPPING

  • SHIPPING

    We love to do it the Dutch way, by bike! That’s why we send 25% of our packages within the Netherlands with Cycloon. This delivery company is known as the leader in green and social delivery, something we really like! 


    Cycloon operates in more than sixty cities in the Netherlands and that number will continue to grow. For the areas that don’t work with Cycloon yet, we deliver with PostNL. When it comes to cross-border packages, we ship with DHL.

  • REDUCING RETURNS
    With Ateljé, we’re trying to motivate our consumer to shop responsibly as well. The tendency to order a lot of items online to return most of them, impacts the environment heavily. That is one of the reasons we aren't able to offer free shipping and returns.

    Do you have any tips, feedback or personal experience as a consumer? Let us know so we can improve our products, which could lead to fewer returns.

  • PACKAGING
    If you purchase an Ateljé item, you'll see it comes in a FSC certified paper, plastic free packaging. They are recycleable and we've deliberately chosen a uni-material packaging because of that.

    Our wrapping paper and stickers are made by the lovely people at No Issue, working exclusively with recycled paper and coloring with soy ink. Our stickers are plastic free.

    For smaller deliveries, we've recently switched to grass paper envelopes, eliminating bubble wrap.

3. OUR MANUFACTURERS

Since the beginning, we've worked with a Dutch production partner who has relationships with some of the best factories in China - the place where the tech accessory business is mostly based. Both factories qualify for the certifications that are important to us, such as BSCI, GRS, FSC and GOTS and have regular professional audits by external parties.

Both of the factories Ateljé is produced in, have water treatment systems, solar panels and a strong waste policy in place.

Would you like to get more specific information about our suppliers and way of working? Please feel free to contact us - info@shopatelje.com.

sustainable

4. PEOPLE

WE ARE FEMALE FOUNDED
We’re proud to be a female founded (and self funded) brand. With only 17% of start ups being female founded, it's something we're particularly proud of.

INCLUSIVE CONTENT
We strive to make Ateljé wearers feel good about themselves, and focus on creating inclusive, uplifting brand content. It is important to us, that you'll be able to recognize yourself in our content and on our website.

EXTRA LONG CORDS
Setting us apart from other competitors, we shortly after founding the brand started creating extra long versions of best seller cords. Because we want to make sure that if you're a bit taller, are curvy or simply just prefer it that way, you'll be able to wear Ateljé too.

OUR SUPPORT OF PLAN INTERNATIONAL: GIRLS FIRST
Ateljé’s founder Yara Michels is a proud ambassador of Plan International. Change a girl's life, and she will change the world, is a shared vision between them that we are passionate about at Ateljé.

Plan International is a Girls First organisation, meaning they focus on the wellbeing and human rights of girls and women firstly. It allows anyone to donate to specific programs - from fighting against child marriages to improving menstrual health worldwide, to the right for girls' education. At Ateljé, we make a yearly donation on the International Day of the Girl.

5. OUR OFFICE RESPONSIBILITIES

WORK SPACE IMPACT
Albeit small, our own, daily human actions as a team make a difference too. After all, we're in the office more days than not! We bike to our Amsterdam office, only drive electric when we use a car for work, bring our own refill water bottles, recycle our coffee capsules, eat vegetarian at the office. We promote a largely paper free office using digital and cloud solutions.

SUSTAINABLE INTERIOR CHOICES
Our office is energy-efficient, running on green energy, but we also have 100% recycled table tops and quite a bit of second hand furniture. Giving items a second or third life is a fun way to decorate.

Let's talk!

Did we miss anything or do you have suggestions on how we can improve our green game?

We’d love to hear from you! Please send an email to: info@shopatelje.com. We’re always looking for fresh ideas to make our planet a happier place.