Powering you, empowering the planet

Launched by Fashion Revolution, #whomademyclothes is an important initiative that upholds businesses to show what is behind their curtains — enter The Hive. gngr bees has traced its entire supply chain so that you as the consumer are able to see everyone involved in the journey from our textile purchaser to the quality control and packaging management team. 

At gngr bees, we’re empowering the people that work with us and make our ideas come to life, which in turn enables us to support many other projects and communities we have and partner with. Everyone that works for us is known by us and has their voices heard, and because of that, we’re able to bring new ideas to life together and support one another in unique ways. 

Every time you purchase a product created by The Hive, gngr bees gives thanks directly from you to them by putting part of the profits back into The Hive. 

Launched in July 2020, The Nursery Project supports the plantation of trees to promote reforestation and restoration of biodiversity in areas around Nuku’alofa, Tonga, as well as the development of a community garden created to promote food security in the community. 

When I had the opportunity to visit the gorgeous Pacific island of Tonga I was able to meet the people who were an absolute joy to be around and extremely welcoming. The population consists of mostly subsistent farmers, however, their food, land and diet have seen a big shift as their land often gets cleared for agriculture settlement and as other countries have started exporting tinned food to the country. With The Nursery Project, we’re able to help plant native trees that bear fruit along with helping to support a community garden. 

None of this would be possible without the support of Pita Faiva Taufatofua, an Agricultural scientist, and Nili Tui’pulotu, a farmer who uses different types of organic agriculture methods and incorporates waste into his creations — a man after our own heart! Pita has extensive knowledge of the best environmental practices and how to best rehabilitate the ecosystem. Together with Nili, who works on the fruit crops and has kindly donated space on his farm for our gngr bees fruit seedlings, the two work to source, plant and identify land to carry this project forward as well as manage how the fruit and vegetables are distributed to the community.

In partnership with Nara Guichon, a Brazilian artisan that resides in the island of Florianopolis, Santa Catarina. Nara has devoted her life to reducing waste in the ecosystem and part of that mission includes caring for waste that ends up in the oceans. Together, we have created the Nexit bag — a sports bag made from 100% rescued fishing nets. 

It is estimated that by 2050 we will have more plastic in the sea than fish and although its common knowledge that single-use plastic bottles, plastic bags and packaging make a big percentage of this waste, it is nothing compared to fishing nets, which alone account for 50% of the waste in our oceans. 

Other than killing marine life and disrupting and killing corals, fishing nets also shed microplastics which affect even the smallest beings in our oceans. This is an issue far beyond measure and needs to be tackled hands-on, which is why with the help of fishermen from the coast of Brazil we rescue fishnets and process them so they are clean and safe to wear. The nets are then designed to be comfortable and durable into the perfect size handmade bags you see today! Did we mention they’re also tested to endure weight so you can carry whatever you want?