Short answer: no, not enough. Longer answer: we do more than most 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 want to throw up.
Repairing is the best environmental policy there is
The headphone industry mostly works like this: the device breaks, the device goes in the bin, the customer buys a new one. Everyone wins, except the planet and the customer's wallet.
We do it differently. We have our own repair shop in Kajaani, where Hannes and the rest of the team fix devices every day. Ear pads get swapped, drivers get swapped, circuit boards get repaired. A single pair of headphones can live for years and years, because every part can be replaced.
This isn't a marketing gimmick. It's just common sense. The best headphones for the environment are the ones you never have to throw away.
What we don't do
We don't include a card in the box that says "Together we'll save the planet." We don't buy offset certificates so someone can plant eucalyptus trees on the other side of the world to make us feel better about ourselves. There is one thing we do: we plant a real tree for every pair of headphones sold. We call it our greenwashing campaign, because in all honesty that is exactly what it is.
Our packaging isn't perfect. Our products are made in China, like everyone else's. Cargo ships burn fuel, and that's a fact a small Finnish company can't do much about.
Sure, we could 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 devicesinstead of automatically shipping out a replacement. This is a big deal, even if it doesn't sound sexy.
- We design for durability.Our headphones have replaceable parts. Ear pads come off and are sold as spare parts on their own; everything else gets replaced by our repair shop at a fixed price.
- We don't release a new model every year.The VMK25.2 is an updated version of the VMK25, because the original had room for improvement. We didn't invent a brand new product out of thin air just because the marketing department needed something to post.
- Our 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're a carbon-neutral company" and slap a certificate sticker on the page? Sure it would. But that would be lying, and lying isn't something we do.
Here's the truth: every piece of electronics has an environmental cost. The best way to reduce that cost is to keep the device in use as long as possible. That's what we're good at.
If you want headphones that last, and that can be repaired when they break, you're in the right place. If you want a warm green feeling with no substance behind it, we recommend checking out our competitors' marketing pages. They've got some lovely rainforest photos.
We'd rather spend our money on the repair shop and better drivers. And on the Death Star, of course, but that's a long-term investment too.
