Avocado x raeri
Some things are meant to be together.
Like PB & J, campfires & smores, Jim & Pam. When Avocado brought us on as their first partner in NYC, it was a perfect match. We caught up with Joy Joseph, a Subject Matter Expert on the Returns & Donations team, about our partnership & mutual love for The Trash Walker, New York City, and making landfills obsolete.
Could you share a bit about Avocado and what makes it different from other brands?
Avocado is a lifestyle brand that creates sustainable items (mattresses, bed frames, pillows, sheets, skincare, and clothing). We cater to people who really care about the environment and want to move into a healthier lifestyle.
What sets us apart from other companies is we really believe in our model and our mission and we live it.
We take the time out of our day to make sure that customers are satisfied and understand the products they have and make sure that we're being open and transparent about our company, our business practices, and our mission is as well.
Beyond creating amazing products, could you speak more about what Avocado’s mission is?
Our mission is to focus on making sure that the materials that we use are really sustainable — we use the best materials that we can find. We've had lots of certifications to back it, but we also have a giving nature. We are a 1% for the Planet business and we give a lot of monetary donations to different organizations. We also have our Return and Donations program, which makes sure our returned items go into the hands of people who can use them.
What is your role within the company?
My title is Subject Matter Expert. I'm essentially a supervisor on the returns and donations team.
It’s amazing that Avocado has such a robust, dedicated sustainability team.
We do. My team is the last leg of the race for customers. We make sure that when customers come to us, they have a meaningful experience, and that they understand what we're doing and why it's so important. We get a lot of questions like, why are you donating something that's used? We try to explain to them how their donation really makes an impact in people's lives.
In our time partnering, there was a heartfelt story of the woman who lost her home in a house fire and providing her a bed to sleep on was the literal foundation of rebuilding her life. What direct impact have you seen in your work?
I've had many donation clients who told me that this is the first mattress they've ever had in their lives.
A lot of people are surprised and ask:
People with lower financial stability are often told to go to Salvation Army or Goodwill to pick up something, but that can cost hundreds of dollars for the mattress versus that hundred dollars going towards your rent or your food. It does make a difference when you are able to provide direct resources or aid.
Some people leave transitional housing with just the clothes that they have that they came in with and they're left to start their whole life again, with nothing in that apartment or that new home. So we step in and help them start that building that foundation.
It's such a mindset shift when so many businesses are solely focused on the value that can be extracted in a monetary sense.
It really is.
How has that evolved into building a partnership with raeri?
For the longest time, I have been looking for a brand like raeri for our team.
One of our biggest goals is to make the returns process as streamlined, and as simple as possible for our customers. At the moment, 30-40% of the volume of work we do is manually scheduling drivers who assist with pickups. raeri fills that niche for us not only as a removal partner but also as a donation partner.
Your team is incredibly reliable. From every single customer interaction I’ve heard about with raeri, they've absolutely loved it. More personally for my team, this process has been so hands-off. That's the biggest comment I have for the entire raeri organization. It works for our customers and us, and that is so hard to find on both avenues.
Our team would love a partnership like this nationwide. It takes so much off our plate. Plus, you all really stand behind what you do and are definitely making a difference. I can see it. A lot of people would be happy to have a service as quick as yours.
Another amazing thing is just knowing where your item is going. At Salvation Army and Goodwill, we all know it's going to be resold back to their store and yes, those profits do go somewhere. But giving those items to someone directly in need or a partner who puts it in the hands of someone in need tends to be way more beneficial than any monetary profit from secondhand resale.
Who inspires you most in the sustainability and environmentalism space?
Do you know of The Trash Walker? She inspires me so much. She has done such a good job at inspiring the masses and spreading her knowledge of waste. It's so disheartening to see all of the stuff that’s being thrown out from all the stores we shop at every single day.
She's a major mutual inspiration for us here at raeri! She reminds me that there's nothing that made me more aware of waste than my years living in New York.
Waste is such a big thing. It shouldn't just be on nonprofits to solve it. It should be on government officials and large-scale businesses. Corporations should be held accountable for all of the waste they produce. We’re doing this every day and trying to show a lot of the brands in our space that they should join us as well. We should all do what we can for our communities and our planet as a whole.
Where do you find your joy and optimism towards sustainability?
For me, it's knowing that I have a team and friends who share my same mission and values, and that there are a good handful of people in this world that are working hard to create change.
It helps keep you optimistic and knowing the work that you're doing every day is so important. Everything we do is crucial to the environment. It's crucial to people. It's amazing to know we can change people's lives and see it firsthand.
We get so many videos and letters from people who've gotten our beds and who are so happy to have it. It keeps us going, and keeps us grounded to know the impact we’re making is so important.
Where do you feel most grounded and most at home?
New York City! It's so diverse. Life never stops. Things are always happening. I never have the same day.
Everyone has the same energy, which is so hard to find. Even though it's a big city, we're still close-knit as well — it's still a really small world. I love it.