Reducing Waste

As customers, you may have received a box from us that had an amazon.com swoop on the side or a Brambleberry box. We purchase shipping boxes so that we have the proper sized boxes to ship your orders in, however, our studio is half filled with boxes from all of the supplies that we order to make the products you order. It seems irresponsible to buy boxes and then recycle all the others and not reuse some that would work just fine, right?

So instead of buying boxes and recycling ALL the ones that come into our studio, we have made the decision that if an order fits perfectly into a box that is in-house, whether it has been shipped before or not, and it is in good, sturdy condition, we will use it. Or should I say, reuse it.

We have always tried to be environmentally responsible. We recycle, reuse when we can and we use sustainably grown organic palm oil in our soaps so that the orangutans aren't massacred. Please read this article if you haven't already, on the palm oil issue, especially if you soap with it.

If you get your order in a box from amazon.com, you were chosen to be a part of our reusing/recycling efforts. Be proud with us! And no, we don't use anything from amazon.com in our products, but my husband reviews things for them and loves books.

I'm Not A Plastic Bag

The re-usable tote bag has become quite a fad these days, but a fad that helps the environment is a win-win situation for everyone. Any "un-plastic" bag can be re-used to carry home groceries and limit the ever polluting plastic bags that we, as consumers, use for grocery shopping.

The two here are quite sleek and not at all frumpy like the older canvas Barnes and Noble ones we had in the 70's (did I just date myself??). There are quite a few out there that have hit the market and have become wildly trendy, such as the "Paper Nor Plastic" bag (below) that has sleek lines and is more sturdy looking than the Anya Hindmarch's bag (shown to the left).

The "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" says, “We are what we do” on the back and is made of polyester and vinyl, it's sturdy, and doesn't create the hassle of storing a bunch of bags in your kitchen pantry (or wherever you stuff them all). The bag was designed by Anya Hindmarch in collaboration with We Are What We Do, a group dedicated to change for the environment, communities and health. It's an interesting organization or "movement" as they call themselves. "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" can be found at the Anya Hindmarch site.

The "Paper Nor Plastic" bag can be found here at papernorplastic.com. They have a section on their website that sheds light on the impact we are having on the planet. I will quote directly:

"According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the United States in 1997 alone used 955,000 tons of paper bags. That means approximately 14.8 million trees had to be cut down.

+ According to the EPA, 11 barrels of oil are saved when one ton of plastic bags are reused or recycled. One ton is equivalent to approximately 132,000 plastic bags. And according to the ELC (Environmental Literacy Council), it is estimated that somewhere between 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are consumed each year throughout the world. Can you imagine how many barrels of oil can be saved?

+ According to the San Francisco Department of the Environment, San Francisco shoppers consume about 50 million bags each year. An environmental study also shows that the city spends $8.5 million each year to dispose or remove bags from streets
and storm drains.

+ According to the EPA, ELC, The Ocean Conservancy and many other agencies, plastic bags pose a threat to marine life. Sea turtles and whales have mistaken plastic bags for natural prey like jellyfish and squid. Ingesting plastic bags can cause blockage to the digestive tract which leads to starvation. In 2002, a whale washed up the coast of Normandy had 800 grams of plastic elements, including plastic bags, in its stomach."

They are originally $15, but are on sale for $10, and buy three get one free. So if you want one, go get them while they are cheap!

Enough said. I remind myself all the time about everything in life: Baby steps. Baby steps.

Going Green

In the beauty business, judging a book by its cover is part of the industry. I do it, you do it, it is part of the consumer experience. When I pick up a jar of anti-aging cream, for instance, in a department store, there are three things I notice.
1. Jar and design.
2. The miraculous claims.
3. Finally, the price.

If the jar is a heavy, glass jar with simplistic labeling, I am more inclined to pick it up. Once it is in my hands, I read on. The claims of the miracle cream making my 36 year old face look younger in 14 days? I'll buy that! Does it ever make me look younger? I try to think it does so that it justifies the pricey purchase. We all do. However, if I see the same cream in a flimsy jar with a less than stellar design on the jar, I probably won't pick it up and read the back or consider the purchase.

Packaging has really been an important part of our process. From the beginning, I always insisted that the more expensive packaging made sense because it was elegant and classy and of high quality. If I were in a store, I would pick up my own Cream because it looked special. Because the Cream was in the heavy bottomed expensive packaging, it feels more special and in turn, makes the consumer feel special after they purchase it. At least that is my experience as a consumer.

The "foot in the door" theory was my big pitch for keeping these expensive jars around. Unfortunately, there is an 8-10 week lead time for delivery of the jars, because the manufacturer makes them to order. The lead time can be a problem because if we get a large order from a retailer, we can get stuck unexpectedly and end up running out of the good jars.

We realized recently that the thick jars we use do not have the recycle logo on the bottom. Can't be recycled? No good. At that moment, we decided that it was more important to make the move to going green. We try very hard to make choices in life and in business to have the least effect on this earth. We use suppliers that use natural clays to refine our shea butter, not chemicals, we support our local sugar supplier who minimally process their sugar, we support organic farmers where we can and we pack our retail boxes with newspaper that we actually read, instead of purchasing filler (because even if we purchase recycled filler, it takes a truck burning loads of fuel just to get it to us!). So when you get our boxes with your goodies, we ask that you recycle the newspaper on your end.

So when our supply runs out on the jars, we are going to be using recyclable jars. Not as pretty, but there is a benefit for you in addition to the recycling component. It holds MORE product, and we aren't raising the price. The jars are cheaper so you not only are part of the movement towards going GREEN, you get more for your money! And what is better than more Crush On You for you?!?

Stay tuned. I will be posting our switch-over when we get close to finishing the jars we have. In the meantime, please reuse the jars. They can be used for holding paper clips, tacks, loose change, sea shells, jewelry....whatever. Reuse, recycle, reinvent. And let's join together to make a small difference.