SUSTAINABILITY
I would consider myself as someone who is very environmentally conscious, and those personal values have definitely planted themselves well within the ethics by which I run my business. While at times I am unable to be idyllically sustainable as it is easy to be financially and practically bound, but I do strive to be as sustainable as practicable.
All of my products are made with ethically-sourced, plant-based ingredients, as I myself live by a vegan philosophy. The products are all Certified Vegan, and are also cruelty-free. I also ensure to source the micas, which are used in some of my bath bombs and soaps, from ethical and fair-trade suppliers. You can view the statement here. I have also made sure that all of the glitters in my bath products are from a plastic-free source as plastic-based glitters will ends up as in the ocean where they add to the ever growing amount of micro-plastics in the ocean.
Sustainability, in terms of packaging, is also important to me. I use a minimal packaging technique (e.g. no product boxes, excess fliers, etc.) and also try to source everything from sustainable sources. All of the bath products (bath bombs and bubble baths) are packaged in biodegradable cellophane, which is made from wood pulp. Meaning, it can be disposed of it in your green bin at home.
The soaps possibly involve the least packaging out of all the products, as I simply print the product information on a paper-based label, and attach it directly to the back of the soap. It can simply be removed before use, and composted in your green bin.
The cartons often used in shipping are made from recycled and recyclable cardboard. All of my orders are cushioned with BioFill, which is compostable/biodegradable packaging peanuts and they water-soluble, so it can be dissolved in the water after your bath before draining the tub!
I also sometimes include thank you notes that are printed on seed cards. The seed cards are handmade by PaperGoRound, who is based here in Australia. Seed paper is embedded with a variety of seeds, which when watered consistently under a thin layer of soil, will germinate and begin to grow. Unfortunately, I am unable to include these seed cards in every order, but I try to as much as I can.
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MORE TO COME
I am continuing to develop my sustainable practices as I become more financially able to, and I currently have plans to transition packaging to being sourced from more recyclable materials. I am currently using lip balm tubes which are plastic-based and are best disposed through specific hard-plastic recycling techniques. However, I am looking into suppliers for biodegradable/compostable cardboard tubes.
The situation is similar for the skincare jars (e.g. for the face moisturisers, masks, and whipped body butter). I am currently using glass jars, which can be reused or recycled, but the presence of the plastic cap motivated me to source more environmentally-conscious packaging alternatives. Like the lip balms, I am considering suppliers for cardboard-based jars. The cost and quantity is my biggest hurdle at the moment, and with the COVID-19 situation, shipping and product prices have skyrocketed. I am also looking into getting the product information printed directly onto the skincare jars and lip balm tubes, or somehow sourcing compostable water-proof labels.
Another project that I am currently working towards is phasing out palm oil in my products. I began phasing out the sustainably-sourced palm oil that used to be in my soaps early last year, but it then came to my attention that there were ingredients present in my bath bombs, bubble bath, and skincare that were palm-oil derivatives. I am still working to phase out these palm-derived ingredients in my bath bombs and bubble baths but am struggling as both ingredients are staple components in my formulas, and are also proving very difficult to find alternatives to, despite my persistent experimenting. I have, however, recently introduced some botanically-coloured bath bombs, which are free of these palm-derived ingredients!
The skincare line has since transitioned into being completely palm free, including lip balm, face mask, skin elixirs, facial creams & balms, facial serums, and my iconic whipped body butter.