We'll update this page for our next Q & A session. Stay tuned!
People + Planet. In that order.
neuterra is Black-owned, women-owned, and Muslim-owned ethical online marketplace. From the first kilometer to the last mile, we provide the traceability story for each product sold. We connect bold + smart indie brands (read: independent, purpose driven, and design conscious) who have transparent supply chains with consumers that care about the truth. We empower consumers to make data-driven buying decisions every time they shop.
Every purchase has a story. We tell that story.
Would you buy a product if the label read, "Made with Forced Labor", or how about, "Waste From This Product Contaminates Town's Main Water Source"? Of course not. And yet, many of the products we buy today have those very human rights violations hidden along their supply chains. We are on a mission to bring transparency to consumer goods products. Our first target - the fashion sector.
At neuterra, we understand that every purchase has a story to tell. We know these stories have very real impacts on people around the world and the communities in which they live. We enable brands to share these narratives for today's most conscientious consumers.
Caste Discrimination + Racism = Climate Crises
"Every single child laborer that I have documented belongs to a low-caste or minority community." - Siddharth Kara, The Harvard Center for Human Rights Policy
It's no coincidence that opaque supply chains hide untold stories of child and slave labor, human rights violations, and environmental degradation.1
"If you are not considered human, human rights do not apply to you." - Moni Rani Das, Dalit woman activist
The exploitation of people of the Global Majority is the reason we're now facing a climate crises. Nearly 81% of all human trafficking cases is a result of forced labor.2 Slave labor is the reason we have cheap clothing options (read: H&M, Shein, Fashion Nova). Yep.
60% of global greenhouse gasses come from consumer goods products' supply chains.3 Fashion alone contributes to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.4 Nearly 50% of sustainability claims are exaggerated or false and 74% of consumers don't know how to identify sustainable products.5 (Psst...that's because many sustainability claims aren't backed by meaningful data. We want to change that.)
"Nature destruction and women oppression are connected." - Emilie Hache, Ecofeminist
Our Solution.
Supply chain transparency is the only real marker of environmental sustainability and ethical practices. So, here's our solution:
- We provide an online marketplace of curated brands with high supply chain visibility.
- We decode the ecological and social impacts of our products' supply chains.
- Our digital assistant enables people to shop their values with every single purchase.
- We compare our brands to a fast fashion baseline to provide the true monetary cost of products - a cost that includes both the ecological and social impacts that accompany the production and use of a particular product.
A note from the founder.
I began this journey because I wanted to solve a problem. I still want to solve a problem. I believe supply chain transparency is the first step in combating social and environmental injustices in Black and brown communities globally.
neuterra centers Black, Indigenous, Asian, and POC voices within the sustainability movement, including all of our intersecting identities. We support ethical and transparent brands owned and operated by Black, Indigenous, and people of color. We highlight the stories of Black, Indigenous, and people of color who work along global supply chains.
Many predominantly white led and operated environmental companies have "carbon tunnel vision", were the focus is primarily on reducing carbon emissions - that's it. As a person of the Global Majority, I've seen firsthand how other metrics are just as important when addressing the climate crises (read: caste discrimination in the United States and abroad, biodiversity loss, water crises, and over consumption).
We're raising $15,000 to help 5 small to midsize businesses bring transparency to their supply chains and to create the MVP for our beta launch. Here's the breakdown (values are in thousands of $):
By prioritizing people of the Global South, we can achieve a climate-safe future because when people are treated well, the environment also benefits.
You're support means everything to us. Please support us by doing 3 things:
- Contribute: Believe in our cause? Yay, didn't doubt it for a second! Contribute today and help us launch in Spring of 2023!
- Subscribe: Want to avoid a serious case of FOMO? Subscribe here and be the first to get notified when we launch!
- Share: Unlike disinformation, please share and spread our campaign on your social media! (Word of mouth is great too!)
Oh, and please don't forget to follow along on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn! I am incredibly grateful for your contribution. THANK YOU for being an early believer.
Wholeheartedly, Fatimah
Sources Cited.
- "Human Rights in Supply Chains: A Call for a Binding Global Standard on Due Diligence." Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch, 30 May 2016, https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/05/30/human-rights-supply-chains/call-b…
- "Human Trafficking by the Numbers." human rights first, human rights first, 7 Jan. 2017, https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/sites/default/files/TraffickingbytheNu… and https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/human-trafficking-numbers#:~:….
- "Consumerism plays a huge role in climate change." Grist,Grist 24 Feb. 2016, https://grist.org/living/consumerism-plays-a-huge-role-in-climate-chang… and "Environmental Impact Assessment of Household Consumption." Wiley Online Library, Wiley Online Library,18 Dec. 2015, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jiec.12371
- "UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion Addresses Damage of Fast Fashion." UN Environment Programme, UN Environment Programme, 14 March 2019, https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-alliance-sustain…
- "Nearly 50% of Companies' Sustainability Claims are "Exaggerated, False, or Deceptive" According to New Probe." The Fashion Law , The Fashion Law , 21 Feb. 2021, https://www.thefashionlaw.com/nearly-50-percent-of-companies-sustainabi…