This is a tiny, family-run shop, as I always stress, and it’s very important to me that our values are reflected in the shop. We are a zero waste transition family – we’re making changes in our lives where we can to reduce waste and our carbon footprint. It takes time but we believe it’s an important measure to take! I’ll write a post another day about eco choices in fibres (spoiler: Tencel is wonderful! And many more) but today I wanted to catch you up about where we are in eco steps with our packaging. I did a bit of a review in the chatter group before Christmas and have made solid progress since, so here’s an update!
BOXES
We’ve used up pretty much all of our (formerly) familiar yellow/gold or white packets. Nearly all orders now are shipping in cardboard boxes, nearly all from recycled fibre sources, and are fully recyclable. We also have received lots of feedback that people are reusing them. That’s great!
Some single cone orders are still shipping in the remainder white packets – those are in theory recyclable if you pull out the bubble wrap. Once we use those up, they are done and we have no current plans to get them again. The larger cones we sell, like rose viscose, are already shipping in boxes, as they need that bit more room.
Occasionally we will re-use boxes if they fit an order absolutely perfectly. It hasn’t been happening often lately but if you receive an order in a slightly strange, reused box, please understand.
TAPE
We have used up nearly all of the traditional packing tape we had and have sourced biodegradable durable paper tapes. We’re trialling two right now so your order may arrive in one of those. Again, a few orders are still shipping with plastic tape but those should finish up soon!
DOCUMENT WINDOWS
We’re very proud to be a global shop, and source yarns from around the world and sell to around the world! Because many of our orders need customs documents and all orders need shipping details visible, we use document windows. We have sourced fully biodegradable ones and are in the process of switching over.
BAGS
We’ve looked into all sorts of alternatives for the plastic bags that protect orders but none stack up to our requirements of excellent protection for orders. Because of how rare and precious these fibres are, and the high value of them, we have found no acceptable alternative to the plastic bags. So we’ve decided to continue investing in the heavy duty, ultra durable plastic bags. They come at a significantly higher cost but we cover that and think that it’s the right thing to do. The good thing is that they can be reused many times – I use the same ones over and over to store my yarn while it’s dyeing! I just dyed Suvin cotton recently and it batched in reused yarn bags. Feel free to share your pictures of reusing your yarn bag in the Facebook chatter group!
OTHER BITS
We’ve asked our suppliers to keep packing to a minimum so our orders are usually received in cardboard boxes, which are recycled, and large, thin plastic sheets that protect the yarns. I personally reuse those as dyeing sheets until they can stand no more and then they are recycled at my local supermarket!
For our stock storage, we use a provider that uses solar panels to generate a significant proportion of its own energy and is reducing its carbon footprint year on year, every year, as well as taking many steps to conserving electricity and water and reducing emissions across the board.
We are always looking at new ways to minimise our footprint and hope to keep making improvements this year.