Running a business while being eco-friendly.

We all know having an eco conscious footprint is hugely important at the moment, and running a product based business I am aware that things can get wasteful if you aren’t careful!

From bubble wrap to jiffy bags, cellophane sleeves to sellotape… it has been REALLY important to me to make sure my orders are sent as low waste as possible. I get questions all the time about my packaging so I thought I would give you the lowdown on how my products get sent out.

TISSUE PAPER

Our postal boxes come with a lovely sheet of branded tissue paper inside. We get this printed at No Issue and it is 100% recyclable. No Issue is a great company to work with because sustainability is the number one priority in their business model. All their products are eco friendly, meaning creators like me can offer customers an exciting unboxing experience without costing *too much*! 

POSTAL BOXES

If you follow me over on Instagram then you will know the joke surrounding my postal boxes… so I’m not going to link those bad boys here! BUT all you need to know is that they’re cardboard, they fit through the letterbox, they’re PINK and they are also 100% recyclable. Woohoo!!

PAPER PADDED ENVELOPES

You can now get a 100% recyclable option which comes with corrugated paper (or shredded paper) inside instead of bubble wrap! Praise the lord Tormund himself. While these options are more expensive (which tends to be the way with eco friendly options) we love using these. It just gives me that tiny peace of mind that we aren’t sending out hundreds of pieces of single use plastic EVERY WEEK.

Thanks to their paper outer and inner, these padded envelopes are 100% recyclable. Their paper corrugated fluting provides a cushioning internal layer to protect products throughout the transit period, helping goods get to their destination in the same condition they leave my little office in.

RECYCLING

If you ever get a small rectangle of bubble wrap, usually in the phone case orders, I have reused that from packaging that has been sent to me. Sometimes I get supplies through in jiffy bags and unfortunately I can’t control the amount of single waste plastic another company may use - but what I can control is how that plastic is then used. I try and reuse everything I get and I hope that my customers reuse it again too!

NAKED CARDS (OOH-ERR!)

I no longer use cellophane bags - of any kind! Even the “compostable” bags take a loooong time to break down so I decided, what not just send them naked? Usually we will pop them, with their envelope, inside a paper bag straight into the box. We’ve only ever had ONE complaint - and it was literally last week - about a water damaged product (out of 30,000+ orders and 5+ years of business!) so we don’t see why EVERYONE isn’t ditching the plastic!

Do you do anything in your everyday life or business that helps you become a little more low waste? Let us know in the comments!