Founded in 1987, Waschbär has been at the forefront of the sustainable consumer product trend in Germany. As the leading environmental mail-order company in Europe, Waschbär’s mission is to protect our planet through the direct sale of sustainable and ecological products. The wide range of household goods and high-quality clothing seeks to inspire people to make their everyday life ecologically sustainable and to protect our planet and its diversity with everyday actions.

In 1987, Waschbär launched its first collection of eco-friendly cleaning products. With the combination of commercial mail order and ecological products, Waschbär’s founder, Leo Pröstler paved the way to raise ecological awareness with everyday products and to make them widely accessible. In the mid-1990s, Waschbär’s product range was expanded to include sustainably and fairly produced clothing. Its catalog, initially 16 pages long, expanded to 400 pages and presented more than 4300 products.

When Waschbär struggled financially in the early 2000s, then-CEO Ernst Schütz took over the majority of the company’s shares as part of a management buy-out. With the aim to protect its mission, he restructured the company and developed it into a profitable and sustainable business. To protect Waschbär’s mission and independence in the long-term and after his retirement, Ernst Schütz sought an unconventional succession solution: in 2017, he transitioned the company to a Golden Share steward-ownership structure. In return for giving up all his dividend rights, he would receive a pension from the company. This model ensured that the company could never be sold, and would instead remain in the hands of stewards who were directly involved in the business’ operations.