Environmental Values
The cornerstone any textile business is the materials that it uses. And at Mika & Milo we believe in using Sustainable Natural materials which do not put any further strain on Mother Earth.
As a former environmental journalist who focused on climate change in particular, this defining ethos was extremely important to our founder Aiko Stevenson.
After all, we are all part of the same whole when it comes to mother Earth and each of us must play our part to protect this beautiful planet that provides us home. Remember, there is currently NO Planet B.
Moreover, it is our moral duty to hand over a healthy world to our children and their children: all future generations on earth literally depend on it.
In the words of Martin Luther King: “We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” And, no where is this more poignant than when it comes to our planet.
Carbon Offsetting
As we all have a carbon footprint, at Mika & Milo we are determined to offset ours. This year we have teamed by with One Tree Planted to plant lots and lots and lots of trees.
Our tall wooded friends are not only majestic, but they absorb the carbon dioxide which is responsible for warming up our planet.
Sadly, 10 of the hottest years have all taken place this century. Climate change is clearly no longer some distant existential threat: it's happening right here, right now.
One need only look to the wildfires which swept across the world last summer to see what a rapidly warming world looks like.
And, we must all play out part to protect this beautiful planet that provides us home.
As we all still need to wear clothes, especially in the winter to keep us warm, at Mika & Milo we believe in buying less and choosing well.
We therefore strive to make beautiful sustainable pieces which will last so that they can be passed down from sibling to sibling, and then of course, generation to generation.
If cared for properly, cashmere is incredibly durable, making it the perfect hand-me-down fibre in this age of sad environmental decline. After all, what could possibly be nicer than to see your own kids pass down their cashmere jumpers to their own Little Ones?
Eco Cashmere
All our cashmere comes from Goats which live in Sustainable farms up in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.
And, they are only sheared once a year in the spring when they no longer need their fine inner coat to keep them warm: temperatures soar over over 30C in summer so the poor goats really do not need the extra warmth.
After all, we all shear our dog's coat during the heat and the same act of kindness applies to these animals.
Once left to roam wild, these goats used to pull out the roots of the grass which they ate which in turn left the soil prone to desertification. As a result, huge sandstorms used to blow down as far south as Hong Kong.
One of our partners up in Inner Mongolia now works with the local famers to keep their goats in spacious outdoor farms, and have planted large forests of trees to keep the soil intact.
Yarn
All our dyes have passed the strictest ethical and environmental standards so that they are not only safe for your Little Ones to wear it close to their skin, but they will not pollute the water supply.
In fact, one of our yarn partners specialises in using environmentally friendly dyes. Also, the factory that have we manufacture with has passed the most stringent of Environmental Standards.
Compostable Packaging
In a bid to be lower our Plastic Footprint, all our products are now packaged in paper recyclable bags up at the factory.
We then send out your items in compostable bags.
These bags literally start to fall apart as soon as soon as you put them in the bin so you don’t have to worry about them ending up in some poor whale’s stomach!
However, as they decompose too easily, they are not very good for long term storage purposes so please kindly remove your items from the bag within a few months of receiving them.
At Mika & Milo, we believe that setting an example is the best way to teach our Little Ones about the importance of looking after the mother ship.
After all, there is No Planet B and surely our children and the Earth which they will inherit deserve only the best.