CSR commitments

Boasting 2,954 hectares of remarkable forests and 450 hectares of mangroves, Nosy Boraha has been listed as a top-priority site for protection by the state of Madagascar. Tourism and intensive human activity especially has undermined forests, the coastline and marine ecosystems.

To restore these ecosystems, GRET set up a project with local residents in 2016, to help with reforestation and to protect forests and mangroves, supported by the Maisons du Monde Foundation. A core feature underpinning this project is the creation of viable jobs that do not exploit the environment. And going yet further, steps have also been taken to create a Natural, Protected Area to safeguard the 260 remarkable species listed on the island!

Funds raised via the ARRONDI en caisse operation will help to:

• Improve knowledge of wildlife biodiversity in Nosy Boraha forests, in order to protect and restore them
• Obtain Natural Protected Area status
• Reinforce capacity for the Protected Area’s future governance body (made up of local residents)
• Improve the local economy by developing agro-ecology, tree nurseries for reforestation etc.

If you’d like to find out more, go to the project page on the Maisons du Monde Foundation website or the NGO’s website!

Home to a large percentage of the world’s biodiversity, the tropical forest of the island of Borneo is under threat from human activities along its coastline (animal breeding, oil business, etc.). These activities are particularly damaging to the mangrove, a forest that grows in the water.

To restore the mangrove and protect its environment, Planète Urgence’s project is to replant trees with the help of local populations. The association also wants to offer populations alternative economic activities, such as sustainable shrimp farming.

The funds collected via the Round up operation will help to:

• Plant 135,000 trees in order to restore the natural area of the mangrove
• Train 45 farmers in planting techniques
• Train 30 fishermen in sustainable shrimp farming
• Raise awareness among 800 schoolchildren and 3,000 villagers of the challenges of climate change

To find out more, visit the project page on the Maisons du Monde Foundation website or the association’s website!

This year, Maisons du Monde received the 1st prize for its commitment to a global CSR initiative. This prize rewards our team’s work on our responsible range, our environmental performance, the CSR network’s actions in headquarters and in store, as well as all other functions, in transforming the company!

Two other R-Awards also reward our commitment to sustainable development:

• The « Social action» prize, for our partnership with Emmaüs France, to which we donate customer returns which cannot be repaired or put back in stock and which Emmaüs can repair. Our sofas, for example, are donated to Emmaüs Défi and resold at a lesser price to people who gain access for the first time to long-term lodgings.
• The « Climate initiative » prize for our ambitions with respect to climate change, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. By 2030, we have committed to reduce by 50% the greenhouse gases emitted by our stores and warehouses, and by 15% the emissions related to our products, their transportation and our customer transportation.

As the last chimpanzee habitat in Senegal, the Dindéfélo commune forests are threatened by deforestation, caused by human activities (such as agriculture) and global warming, which cause droughts and floods.

When their natural habitat is threatened, chimpanzees migrate to villages in search of food, which creates conflicts with humans and in turn threatens the survival of their species even more.

To counter this phenomenon, the Jane Goodall Institute leads reforestation of chimpanzee natural habitat initiatives and works on economic alternatives to poaching for local populations. The association carries out most of this work with women, who bear the load of agricultural work in the community.

The funds collected through Round Up operation are used towards:

• reforestation initiatives for chimpanzee habitat
• Work with local populations on economic alternatives to poaching.

For more information, click on the Maisons du Monde Foundation project page or on the association website!

Thanks to the success of this first operation, the business collective “Together for the Climate” and the association “Arbre & Paysage” is launching further actions all over France with a view to planting more than 5,300 trees in farms following the agroforestry model. These planting projects are open to all and will take place from 19 December 2019 to March 2020.

It’s easy to take part! Go to the microDON platform to see the dates and sites of the forthcoming planting operations. You can then sign up directly on the site which will gradually be updated.

The project supported by the Maisons du Monde Foundation aims to recycle off-cuts of balsa, a rare exotic wood from South America used in boat building. HTS will be able to use the waste from this to make new wooden boards and sell them.

In this way, the association undertakes to set up balsa waste collection at a shipbuilder. This waste will then be processed at Les Herbiers ESAT (Work-Based Disabled Integration Enterprise) by the 50 disabled employees, all within a perimeter of 3 kilometres! In particular, the money collected by the Arrondi operation will help to train the 50 employees.

Also, HTS will organise several workshops at schools in the town of Les Herbiers (85) in order to raise awareness of waste, environmental protection and disability among children thanks to the donations of Maisons du Monde’s customers!

The money from the Maisons du Monde Foundation will help to:

• organise the collection of balsa waste from the shipbuilder,
• train the 50 disabled employees in wood recycling,
• organise workshops at schools in the town of Les Herbiers in order to raise awareness among children.

To find out more, discover the association’s website.

Accompanied by its 6 partners (the eco-organisations Eco-mobilier and Eco TLC, the association FSC France, the consultancy firm EVEA, the ADEME, the Fondation pour la Nature et l’Homme, and the DIY and interior design magazine Marie-Claire Idées), our brand wants to raise awareness about eco-design among the public and designers of the future. Training of buyers, taking into account of the sustainable management of wood, identification of sustainable products in order to sell them, etc., strong commitments by Maisons du Monde which are highlighted naturally by these Awards and the promotion of young talent.

Students and young graduates from French design and fashion schools are invited to ask themselves: What is eco-design for furniture and decoration products? How to each include it in each step of the product's life cycle How to innovate in order to reduce the impact on the environment and preserve the beauty of the product? All questions which 152 students from 17 schools have already asked themselves since the creation of the Maisons du Monde Sustainable Creation Awards in 2016.  Among them, winners who have changed their way of working in order to offer innovative projects. Some, such as Toscan Giri from ESADSE Saint-Etienne with his Diane bench/daybed, have been rewarded by their project being marketed by Maisons du Monde.

• The “Furniture” prize: a €2,500 cheque, the chance of a work placement with the Maisons du Monde Designer teams, and the creation of the prototype.
• The “Decoration and household linen” category: a cheque for €2,500€, the chance of a work placement with the Maisons du Monde Designer teams and the creation of the prototype.
• A FSC® France special prize: Maisons du Monde FSC® certified furniture worth €600.
• The “Like it” public award: all of the preselected projects will be presented on the  Facebook Maisons du Monde page. The project that receives the most “likes” will be awarded €500 in Maisons du Monde vouchers.
   

Not to mention that the rewarded projects will also be produced by Maisons du Monde!

It’s quite simple and involves three steps:
1. Download the application folder
2. Complete it by outlining your talent
3. Send it to trophees@maisonsdumonde.com before 21 February 2020

Don’t forget to read the competition rules and do your very best!

Left to right Fabienne Morgaut, CSR Director of Maisons du Monde and the Maisons du Monde Foundation under the aegis of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation, Nicolas Hulot, Xavier Marie, Founder of Maisons du Monde and Chairman of the Maisons du Monde Foundation under the aegis of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation and Gilles Petit, CEO of Maisons du Monde. 

In keeping with the solidarity actions undertaken by Maisons du Monde since 2010, the objective of the Maisons du Monde Foundation is to support seven projects every year and to monitor them over three years, with substantial financing up to a maximum of €30k per project per year.

These projects are in addition to the NGOs and actions that Maisons du Monde has supported for several years, and which will now be financed and supported by the Maisons du Monde Foundation.