Short answer: we’re not doing enough. Longer answer: we do more than most of our competitors, but that doesn’t mean we’re perfect. Here’s an honest look at what we do, what we don’t, and why green marketing usually makes us vomit.
Repairing is the best environmental policy
The headphone industry mostly works like this: the device breaks, the device gets tossed in the trash, the customer buys a new one. Everyone wins – except the planet and the customer’s wallet.
We do things differently. We have our own service center in Kajaani, where Hannes and the rest of the team repair devices daily. Pads get replaced, drivers get replaced, circuit boards get fixed. A single pair of headphones can live for years and years because every part is replaceable.
This isn’t a marketing gimmick. It just makes sense. From an environmental point of view, the best headphones are the ones you don’t have to throw away.
What we don’t do
We don’t plant a tree for every order. We don’t put a card in the box that says "Together we save the planet." We don’t pay offset fees so someone can plant eucalyptus trees on the other side of the world just to make us feel better.
Our packaging materials aren’t perfect. Our products are made in China, like everyone else’s. A cargo ship burns fuel, and that’s a fact a 14-person company from Oulu can’t do much about.
We could, of course, print a green leaf on every box and write "eco-friendly" in gold letters. But that would be greenwashing, and greenwashing gives Raimo a rash.
What we actually do
- We repair devices instead of automatically sending a new one. This is a big deal, even if it doesn’t sound sexy.
- We design for durability. Our headphones have replaceable parts. Pads, cables, headbands – everything comes off and everything is available as a spare part.
- We don’t release a new model every year. VMK25.2 is an updated version of VMK25 because the original had room for improvement. We didn’t invent a new product out of thin air just because the marketing department needs something to post.
- Packaging is simple. No three layers of plastic and tissue paper. The headphones come in a box that protects them in transit. That’s it.
The price of honesty
Would it be easier to write "we are a carbon-neutral company" and stick a certification sticker on the site? Yes, it would. But that would be lying, and we don’t do lying.
Here’s the truth: every electronic device burdens the environment. The best way to reduce that burden is to keep the device in use for as long as possible. That’s what we’re good at.
If you want headphones that last and can be repaired when they break, you’re in the right place. If you want a green feeling without substance, we recommend our competitors’ marketing pages. They have beautiful pictures of rainforests.
We’d rather spend our money on a service center and better drivers. And on the Death Star, of course – but that’s a long-term investment too.
