Packaging
Business growth is a good thing.
It showed we were working hard.
It showed that we had popular products.
It showed in increasing order numbers.
But with more orders, came more plastic courier bags.
It was time…..
As a child growing up, my parents taught me about growing our own food and composting food waste. Saturday mornings were not spent at sports but doing the groceries – first to the butchers, then Bin Inn with all the empty containers, then onto the supermarket and home via the fruit and vege shop. Recycling was collected and taken to the depo before there was a roadside collection and only one rubbish bag went out every two weeks for a family of 7!
My family values have stayed with me and I’d been thinking about compostable bags for a while. There were several challenges to overcome first:
- Sourcing good quality compostable bags
- 100 bags in each size was the minimum order quantity so we needed to be actually using them and not having them just sitting!
- An competitively priced new courier system with printed labels to attach to the bags
- A courier that would collect from our door around 3pm each day (this was the hardest part as we’re “rural” for several courier services)
We’re very proud to be using Parcel Port and R3pack bags for all our orders now. If you’ve had a look at our product listings, there is a note to say how each product is sent.
Please note that compostable bags need to have the courier label and all adhesives removed before composting. I suggest cutting around the label – I purposefully chose a printer with a small label to reduce how much goes to landfill. Its not a perfect system but we believe even one bag being compostable makes a difference! We’re looking into compostable labels (shout out if you have some!).
Are we doing anything else to reduce our business waste??
We sure ARE!
- Plastic bubble wrap has been swapped for a cardboard alternative.
- Sellotape has been swapped for paper tape.
- Individually wrapped plastic wrapped thank you chocolates or lollies have been swapped for stainless steel pegs. Lucy, our oldest daughter is the inspiration behind this and has started selling pegs to help pay for her ballet (and hopefully horse riding) lessons. (Changed to refillable ball point pens with Covid supply chain issues – usually NOT individually wrapped but again Covid)
How can our customers get on board?
- by requesting digital (ink) or sublimation prints instead of vinyl – digital and sublimation prints have considerably less waste than vinyl prints.
- By using your local waste sharing pages to find a compost bin for the courier bag if you don’t have your own.
Your continued support means the world to us – it literally keeps food on our table and a roof over our heads!
With growth came change.
And this change was definitely for the better.
It was time…..