Our Responsibility
Designing systems that give back
Each piece that we create forms part of a regenerative system that centers land, culture, and community, showing how design can materially support the ecosystems and people that shape it.
Kaya Mtswakara: The Sacred Forest That Guides Our Purpose
Our commitment begins at Kaya Mtswakara, the ancestral heart of the Duruma people and the foundation of our creative ethos.
Once spanning over 1,800 acres, this sacred forest holds systems of governance, ritual, ecological knowledge, and cultural memory. Today, only 300 acres remain due to deforestation and land encroachment, yet its spirit endures.
Through community-led restoration, we are helping to revive it as both a heritage site and a living model of ecological renewal.
10% of all sales the Kaya’s reforestation, land restoration, and cultural preservation efforts. Together we have reforested 9.5 acres and planted 7,800 seedlings.
To deepen this impact, we co-developed a castor-oil agroforestry initiative that repairs degraded soil, strengthens biodiversity, and provides sustainable income for families replacing extractive models with community-powered regeneration.
The initiative was created to address a core truth: environmental degradation in Kaya Mtswakara is inseparable from economic insecurity. When livelihoods depend on extractive practices, the forest becomes vulnerable. By introducing castor cultivation in degraded areas, we offer a model where community income and forest health grow together.
Castor holds cultural and spiritual meaning within the Duruma community, making it a resource deeply understood and respected. Community members collect wild castor seeds, which are then sold to global markets through our partnership with eco-sustainable social enterprises, ensuring income flows back to the people who steward the land.
Together, these efforts build a circular ecosystem where creativity drives healing, supports communities, and restores the ecosystems that sustain culture.