Dr. Bronner’s Supporting Organizations in the UK Working for a Better World
Dr. Bronner’s is proud to announce its partners in the All-One UK Initiative for 2023. All-One UK is a chapter of our All-One International Initiative that ensures mission-aligned advocacy is supported by the markets where we sell our products outside of the United States. Through this initiative, Dr. Bronner’s markets can donate a minimum of 1% of sales from the previous year to a range of local advocacy organizations working across the intersections of social justice, animal protection, and environmental sustainability.
The organizations supported through All-One UK represent diverse modes of advocacy that champion a more just and progressive culture. They demonstrate how multidimensional the efforts for social change can be when individuals and organizations come together with a transformative imagination for what an equitable and just world should look like. These organizations inspire me because they advance causes that strengthen the social fabric of our global culture, and they engage in practices that actualize the vision of our core principles at Dr. Bronner’s.
While my role at Dr. Bronner’s currently involves selecting and facilitating partnerships under our International giving program, my initial interactions with the company occurred years ago when Dr. Bronner’s decided to fund my organization Black Vegans Rock. As a previous grantee of Dr. Bronner’s, I can attest to the fact that the financial assistance provided helped my project successfully grow and generate impact. The fact that a dedicated activist company chose to align with my work also provided the affirmation I needed to know that my mission was worthy and my vision for a better world was possible.
It is such an honor to now be in a position where I can help facilitate Dr. Bronner’s selection of organizations to support through the All-One International Initiative. This program empowers the company’s international distributors to make an impact in their local markets, and the All-One UK Initiative is a compelling example of how Dr. Bronner’s can support frontline organizing for positive change.
By the end of 2023, Dr. Bronner’s will have directed donations to four organizations and projects through the All-One UK Initiative. The program supports grassroots groups working on limited budgets as well as larger nonprofits in need of funding for specific projects across three core areas.
Animal Advocacy:
Environmental Sustainability:
Social Justice/Community Betterment
2023 marks the fifth year that Dr. Bronner’s, in partnership with our UK Distributor Healthy Sales Group, has implemented the All-One UK Initiative, with the project first piloted in 2019 in the UK and Germany.
“We strive to take a holistic rather than a single-issue approach to change. That’s why the organizations we are supporting through the All-One UK Initiative reflect a commitment to environmental sustainability, animal advocacy, and social justice,” says Michael Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner’s and grandson of company founder, Emanuel Bronner. “We consider the organizations we are funding to be our partners on the frontlines working for a better world. They are making meaningful impact in their communities and are deeply engaged in bringing our company’s “All-One” values to life in the world.”
Funding Efforts for Social Justice, Animal Advocacy, and Environmental Sustainability
Dr. Bronner’s takes an “ecosystems approach” to the causes and activism we support through All-One International. We believe that change is driven by movements, and effective movements are best comprised of a healthy, diverse, and equitable ecosystems of organizations, projects, people, and strategies. All-One! isn’t just a slogan for us. It’s a value system the company is employing across the world.
“Dr. Bronner’s embraces an approach to brand activism that seeks to build and strengthen social movements,” says Cliff Moss, Managing Director of Dr. Bronner’s UK , and Healthy Sales Group. “We support these organizations in the interest of connecting on a humanitarian level with our broader communities. Together we hope to inspire others to learn about these changemakers and support their work too.”
One of the donations we made this year under the banner of the All-One UK Initiative was to Emmaus Brighton & Hove, a charity that provides accommodations and social enterprise occupation opportunities to formerly unhoused individuals. Due to the rising rates of homelessness in the UK, Emmaus Brighton & Hove serves as a crucial site for impactful work to end the cycle of homelessness by providing time, space, and support to individuals looking for new tools that will produce long-term, sustainable changes for their future. After learning more about the work of Emmaus, Brighton & Hove, I was struck by how multifaceted their efforts are to change the lives of individuals and families experiencing homelessness. The individuals and families they serve are thriving because of their tireless work and dedication to fighting against the root causes of poverty. In a lot of my own activist work and writing, I have always promoted advocacy efforts that are multidimensional, where individuals approach the problem and the solution from multiple angles and vantage points. I believe that multiple social factors and actors are buttressing structural oppression, and Emmaus Brighton & Hove demonstrates how we can start dismantling these oppressive structures by offering different pathways of support and solidarity to those who are disenfranchised.
“The support of Dr. Bronner’s All-One UK Initiative over the last five years has been vital for our ability to directly support individuals and families experiencing homelessness,” says Karen Chapman, CEO of Emmaus Brighton & Hove. “We have been able to provide people with a home, as well as meaningful work in our various social enterprises. Dr. Bronner’s and their UK partner, Healthy Sales Group consistently supported our growth with personal care products for our companions in addition to funding our projects. They understand that Emmaus Brighton & Hove is more than a ‘homeless charity’ – we are a robust coalition of people who are part of the international Emmaus movement, driven by an ethos of solidarity that aims to end homelessness for good.”
Just as Emmaus Brighton & Hove contributes to strengthening our social ecosystems through their groundbreaking work, other UK organizations supported through the All-One UK Initiative seek to ensure that our social ecosystems can thrive within healthy and sustainable physical environments. City to Sea, an environmental organization on a mission to stop plastic pollution at the source will be supported for the first time in 2023 through All-One UK. City to Sea recently absorbed the organization, Less Plastic, which Dr. Bronner’s supported previously, and we can already see the tangible impact City to Sea is making with their proactive approach to plastic waste. The team at City to Sea is composed of dynamic changemakers who know exactly how to insert energy and excitement around a cause. Whenever I interact with them, I find myself invigorated by their dedication to plastic-free living, and in awe of their knowledge about plastic pollution and its effects on various ecosystems.
We are proud to have the opportunity to amplify City to Sea’s work offering plastic-free living alternatives, as well as their Refill app that provides users with a map that locates refill stations, helping consumers stock up on products without additional plastic. Their promotion of innovative and sustainable solutions to plastic pollution has generated a large impact. Due to their incredible work, they estimate that 100 million less items of plastic have been produced thanks to their campaigns.
We are also pleased to be supporting Ecohustler , an independent online magazine and advocacy platform that provides engaging ecological information, links, and tools to empower individuals to become a part of the solution to environmental breakdown. In addition to publishing engaging content, Ecohustler also organize thought-provoking campaigns that expose various industries that are threatening the health of our planet. Ecohustler exists to serve the environmental movement and amplify messages and issues that are often underrepresented. For example, Ecohustler educated me about the devastating effects of salmon farming – a topic I was not very familiar with, despite being a vegan activist. While I have been exposed to information about the abuses of farmed terrestrial animals, I did not realize how exploitative, abusive, and ecologically destructive salmon farming is. Ecohustler’s campaigns to challenge “sustainably sourced” salmon is making waves, and their efforts to reveal the dirty business behind industrial aquaculture is making an impact.
“We value Dr. Bronner’s and deeply appreciate their commitment to animal advocacy and environmental sustainability,” says Matt Mellen, Founder of Ecohustler. “Dr. Bronner’s support has been vital for Ecohustler to continue bringing awareness to the critical issues affecting our oceans and has allowed us to create more campaigns that educate the public about the ecological dangers inherent in the factory farming of salmon. Dr. Bronner’s support allows us to amplify our vision of a more equitable future with thriving ecological systems.”
Surge is another organization supported through the All-One UK Initiative that creatively uses their platform to advocate for a world where compassion towards all non-human animals is the norm. They produce a powerful range of media content that tells the untold stories of farmed animals, as well as the corrupt industries that exploit them. Dr. Bronner’s support has been utilized for their media production work – largely video publications – since 2020. Surge’s video work is so impactful that they recently won a Webby Award for their film Milk . Co-Directed by vegan activist and Co-Founder of Surge, Earthling ED, Milk documents the life of a dairy cow and demonstrates how corrupt and cruel the dairy industry can be.
On top of creating impactful video content as well as engaging in animal cruelty investigations, and even running their own nonprofit vegan diner and cocktail bar, Surge also operates their own animal sanctuary on 18 acres in the rural Midlands of England. Their mission is to offer a lifelong, no-kill, safe haven and forever home to abused and unwanted animals. Surge is the epitome of multifaceted activism. They show us that with enough determination, creativity, and passion, you can change cultural attitudes and save lives.
Together, the organizations supported through the All-One UK Initiative provide a blueprint for how to take action for social change and environmental justice. If you are interested in learning more about each organization we are supporting this year in the UK, please take the time to check out their websites and follow their accounts on social media to get updates on all of the trailblazing work they are doing to transform our culture, land, and oceans.
To learn more about the All-One UK Initiative and the recipients of this program, please visit All-One International.