Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a technical question about one of our products, email technical[@]amplifygoods.org or if it’s a general order/sales question, please email goods[@]amplifygoods.org for all other queries, please contact hello[@]amplifygoods.org.

About our Social Enterprise

  • Amplify Goods is intersectional at its heart; driven by a dual social and environmental mission to have a net-positive impact on both people and the planet. We support people who are not 'work-ready', to get 'work-ready'.  In the UK, many face barriers to employment, such as disability, homelessness or visa restrictions.  For example, 55% of homeless household are unemployed and 1.4 million have NRPF conditions. Our vision is that every sud and scent product circulating in the UK is like our products - designed for impact and packed with purpose challenging the ‘all foam and no action’ status quo. 

  • Amplify Goods is a unique social enterprise – a net-positive, women-owned B2B hygiene brand balancing function, carbon, plastic and social impact. Amplify Goods sells liquid washes, glass dispensing systems, compostable sponges and accessories, and partners with businesses to reduce and reuse before we recycle bulk containers using a circular business model. Working within a circular model requires systemic changes at multiple levels of society, so Amplify Goods invests a portion of its profits to support individuals working in communities on the frontlines of climate change who play a crucial role in advocating for the changes society needs.  

  • From inception in 2021, Amplify Goods ownership is evenly split between the two Directors, Pasha Michaelsen and Camilla Marcus-Dew. Information is publicly available on Companies House.  Any changes in ownership or ownership percentages will be aligned with our company mission and social impact commitments.  

  • Yes, we are certified by SEUK, meaning we a) have a clear social or environmental mission in our governing docs b) re-invest or donate at least 50% of surpluses towards our mission c) are independent and earn 50% of income via trade and d) are transparent about operations and impact. 

  • Absolutely, we work with a range of social enterprises in our supply chain – from suppliers, to customers and of course, our QCs. Here are some examples: our room diffuser blend is made by a fellow social enterprise employing people displaced from their local communities either through mental health problems, a breakdown of the family unit, substance abuse, gang culture or lack of education, and our bottle return and reuse pilot is also a collaboration with a great community focused social enterprise who focus on reuse. We even sell to Ethical Stationery Company and Social Supermarket – both social enterprise. 

  • Yes, you can find a few options here.

  • We will work with intersectional individuals through partner organisations, such as The Women’s Environmental Network, to identify individuals in their UK network who are working across various lenses of environmentalism including the ‘Just Transition’ and community engagement in biodiversity, water quality, air quality, healthy eating, etc. 

  • We have supported 3 individuals, with 12 months of financial support since inception.  Support for QCs is part of our company mission, and this investment will be made regardless of surpluses.  We are currently evaluating our support structure and creating a theory of change.  

    Our QCs have been identified to us via one or more of the following organisations: Made in Hackney (registered charity: 1176690), Women’s Environmental Network (registered charity:1010397), Healing Justice London CIC (company number: 11811179) and Transforming Local Communities CIC (company number: 12115176). 

  • We want our resources to go towards many different aspects of wellbeing. From mental health with counselling sessions, physical wellbeing with physiotherapy, exercise classes or nourishing food to practical support with childcare or mentoring schemes. Our amplifications (i.e. financial support) is currently designed to last for 12 months. 

  • Engaging in community work to alleviate the effects of climate change can be emotionally and mentally challenging, as it often involves confronting social, economic, and environmental injustices, facing opposition or resistance, and dealing with the complexities of creating societal change.  

    A helpful statistic from The Wellbeing Project found “while 75% of people working in social change felt that looking after their wellbeing was 'very important', only 25% reported looking after their wellbeing 'to a great extent'. 

    Amplify Goods invests surpluses into mental and physical wellbeing, expecting that after having the time to refocus their skills and motivation, to renew and re-centre themselves, Quiet Changemakers will be grounded and ready to affect more vital change. 

  • For us we focus on waste, water pollution and carbon emissions. We’ve worked to eliminate the majority single use non-renewable materials from our products and supply chains. We consider the impact to the water system of our products, looking to reduce toxicity and improve biodegradability. We are measuring our carbon footprint annually, and reviewing materiality matrix to ensure we are focusing on reducing the most significant areas. We’ve invested in R&D to bring products to market with significantly lower footprints – such as our powders. 

About our products

  • Absolutely. We accredit products with the Vegan Society. Other components such as stainless-steel wall brackets, glass bottles, etc are not accredited, but are obviously vegan. To our knowledge, the market does not expect or require such components to be certified.  

  • Subsidiarity (being local) is important to us, and we balance minimising carbon miles, supporting our local community and provision of high quality and durable products. 

    All of our assembly, component packing and starter kit build is currently done in Canning Town in collaboration with Crisis.  Most manufacturing businesses produce their goods on sites outside of London and we have manufacturing partners across the UK. Our liquid soap products are manufactured close to London where our key customers are based, reducing transport carbon miles! Whilst this is positive, we recognise that the various ingredients our manufacturers source to make our liquid soap products come through a global supply chain. The vast majority of our other products by weight are made within 2 hours of London. Our sponges and wall brackets are made in the South of England, with powder coated brackets finished in London.  We source our glass bottles from the North of England, with label printing completed in the North too.  We buy high quality metal top pumps from China because nothing similar in quality or lifecycle longevity can be bought closer (yet!), with (very slow) ship transport to reduce carbon.  

    We will continue to diversify our supplier base, moving towards companies aligned to our values, based on the sustainability principles in our Thrive Strategy and our Supplier Code of Conduct.  

  • Yes, we suggest our unscented hand wash for use in food environments (such as AG1001). Our products meet requirements laid out within and https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/cleaning and various legislations including, The Food Safety Act 1990, The General Food Regulations 2004, The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, Food Information Regulations 2014, Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, and Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.   

    Under these regulations, it’s important for your customers to ensure: 1) the provision, maintenance and cleanliness of sanitary and washing facilities in connection with such premises; and 2) An adequate number of washbasins is to be available, suitably located and designated for cleaning hands. 3) Washbasins for cleaning hands are to be provided with hot and cold running water, materials for cleaning hands and for hygienic drying. Where necessary, the facilities for washing food are to be separate from the hand-washing facility. 

  • Alas not yet, but we’d love to go that way for materials not easily reusable - and the project with ReLondon in 2022 helped us to make a longer-term plan for getting there - in line with circular economy principles.  

    For our wood pulp and cotton sponges^, EN13432, we use certified home compostable pouches and biodegradable labels made from sugar cane waste and hemp linen fibre.  

    Our 5L bottles are still made from petrochemical HDPE plastic*, as are the lids and bulk container labels. The 2x5L boxes also use plastic tape and plastic document pouches, and pallets are currently wrapped in plastic*. 

    *with recycled content ^supplier self-certified as biodegradable. 

    We offer some products to allow businesses to buy compostable products and packaging, and we hope to do this more and more. But for these benefits to come to fruition, they will need to implement compostable waste streams in their business to reduce the risk of contamination of recycling streams, littering of compostable packaging (as some people think, incorrectly that this is ok), or inadequate composting (as they only break down if specific temperature and moisture conditions are met). Through our labelling and social media, where possible we encourage businesses to compost where possible. 

  • Cleaning removes germs and dirt, lowering the number of them and therefore reducing the risk of spreading infection. We have not tested our products against SARS-CoV-2 (the strain of Coronavirus causing COVID-19) therefore we are unable to say if our products would effectively kill the virus. 

    Rest assured we monitor the official research and advice from the World Health Organisation, NHS and UK government about the role of personal hygiene and cleaning products against COVID-19.  Common advice (from the World Health Organisation and many others)1 is to wash your hands with plain soap and water or use an alcohol rub often, for at least 20 seconds, and avoid touching your eyes, mouth and nose to prevent the spread of infection. According to WHO, washing your bare hands often provides more protection than wearing rubber gloves. You can use any of our hand soaps with water to do this. 

  • Anti-bacterial products should be accredited to BSEN1276. We use lactic acid as a natural preservative system. While lactic acid is also an antibacterial agent and will kill some bacteria, we use it at low concentrations and have not accredited the product for BSEN1276.  

    Our daily range is more appropriate for everyday use, leaving the stronger chemicals for the hospitals where they are vital, and studies have show that there is no added health benefit for consumers of antibacterial soap2 and in line with the UK’s plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance3. 

  • We won’t work with any ingredient tested on animals and we do not test on animals. 

  • No, our products are free from SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate) and you can also find more info on our labels or from your supplier/distributor.

  • Please email us at technical@amplifygoods.org.

  • There are very few businesses that can claim to produce goods on a fully circular basis.  Circular implies a systems level change, with upstream and downstream supplier participation. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, of which we are a community member, clearly explains the commitments that must be made by business on the road to circularity.  Read here to learn more. 

    ‘Circular-enabled’ is a phrase coined by Amplify Goods, with a nod to the importance of collaboration across supply chains. From inception, we designed products with circularity front of mind, but also recognising the massive behavioural and cultural shift needed to design out waste in the world. If all actors in the supply chain do their part to design out waste, then we will start moving in a positive direction with pace!  

    In practical terms, we sell things with: 

    • Less packaging (reduce) 

    • Packaging that can be returned for reuse …we’ll encourage that return (reuse) 

    • Packaging that can be composted (renew) 

    • Packaging that can be widely recycled (recycle) 

    In relation to our key product, circular-enabled means: 

    • we have identified supplier and customer partners who have agreed to manufacture containers just-in-time and facilitate the re-use of containers 

    • we have had our business plans validated in 2022 by ReLondon, a partnership of the Mayor of London and London’s boroughs to improve waste and resource management in the capital and accelerate our transition to a low carbon circular city; and 

    • we are investing in EU innovation to bring petrochemical-free options to the B2B market.