The fledgling company based in Hamburg-Ottensen compensates fresh water consumption and CO2 emissions during production and logistics by means of CO2 certificates for wind energy and by funding water projects. For every towel sold, two additional trees are planted in Hamburg-Klövensteen, Mexico or in Tanzania, Weser pointed out, adding: “We want to plant one million trees by 2025. So far, around 85,000 trees can be found in mixed forests in Germany or in garden forests in Africa. “Kushel” aims to protect the environment and to achieve a positive climate footprint: “By buying a towel, the customer returns more resources to the Earth than were removed for production.”
"Kushel" offering soft towels made of beechwood fibre
21 January 2020
Hamburg-based start-up meeting demand for sustainable and fair trade products
The founders of the “Kushel” start-up are promising plenty and have produced the world’s first climate-friendly, resource-saving towels which are both fluffy and soft. The towels are made to 70 per cent organic cotton and to 30 per cent of Modal from sustainable forestry. Modal is a wood fibre obtained from red beech, which grows without artificial irrigation and added fertilizer and pesticides making the viscose more ecological than cotton, said Mattias Weser, founder of Kushel. The mix of material saves more than 90 per cent of fresh water and 44 per cent in CO2 emissions over cotton.
Positive carbon footprint
Towels as a calculable business model
Weser and the twin brothers Jim and John Tikhachek set themselves the goal of founding their own company in 2017. Tichatschek was already selling “Ethnotek” rucksacks, produced under fair conditions, in Germany. The focus of their own brand was to be more on sustainability. “We wanted to make a difference and at the same time create a product with which we could inspire the mainstream. That’s we decided on towels, which are are used daily all over the world, are not subject to strong fashion fluctuations and are suitable for online sales,” said Weser.
Kickstarter campaigns and crowdfunding
In 2018, the three founders started their business with a kickstart campaign and shipped the first towels last spring. The sale of bathrobes proved successful thanks to crowdfunding. Further products e.g. bed linen and sleeping masks and maybe a hot water bottle and blanket are to be added in future. “Our textiles should reach everyone – not just eco-hardliners,” Weser noted. Beechwood fibre is ideal. It is both environment-friendly, softer and more absorbent than cotton. Hemp would be even more ecological, but irritates the skin.
Alternative to conventional textiles
“We want to set a new standard in the textile industry and prove that it is possible to produce sustainable textiles. The conventional textile industry pollutes the environment considerably through high CO2 emissions, environmently-harmful chemicals and long transport routes from Asia and Africa,” said Weser. “Kushel’s” towels are produced exclusively in Europe – the materials come from Austria and Turkey and the towels are made in Greece and Portugal. The textiles are likely to have been used up after several years, but can be composted as the fibres are biodegradable.
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