At least 98% of the packing material that we use here at A Little Ol’Factory is recycled through re-use. We re-use every piece of packing foam, bubble wrap and Styrofoam that comes through our door. We also shred every piece of junk mail that we can and use it as packing material for our shipments.
In addition to using almost all recycled box packing materials, we are also using more and more recycled packaging for our line!
Our brand new new soap wrappers (to be unveiled on the new site in time for the holidays) are handmade in the US, from 100% recycled paper (such as junk mail), natural botanicals and contain embedded seeds such as Italian Basil and Columbine Flowers – so not only are they recycled and recyclable, but they are also reusable! They can be planted in your garden or a flower pot and grow a lovely decorative or edible plant that you and your family can enjoy!
We are very happy to have announced earlier this year the phasing in of 100% Post Consumer Recycled Plastic ( PCR ) PET bottles. One of ours goal is to, by next year, have all of our items that require bottling in plastic to be in PCR PET bottles. Click here to see these bottles that are more than just aesthetically pleasing.
These are but a few very simple implementations that save us (the company) money, saves us (the growing US population) a LOT of landfill space and saves us (the entire human race) valuable resources that would otherwise be squandered.
According to the Center for the New American Dream in Maryland:
* 5.6 million tons of catalogs and other direct mail advertisements end up in U.S. landfills annually.
* The average American household receives unsolicited junk mail equal to 1.5 trees every year—more than 100 million trees for all U.S. households combined.
* 44 percent of junk mail is thrown away unopened, but only half that much junk mail (22 percent) is recycled.
* Americans pay $370 million annually to dispose of junk mail that doesn’t get recycled.
* On average, Americans spend 8 months opening junk mail in the course of their lives.
With little effort, you can be a big part of the solution, both personally and with your pocketbook.
If you don’t have a way to recycle and reuse your own junk mail, you can stop if from coming to you in the first place! Check out http://junkbusters.com/ for more info on how.
Support businesses that support recycling efforts. Contact businesses that don’t currently use recycled materials and tell them you’d like them to. When consumers talk, business listens!
Have a wonderful week and remember, it only takes a spark (and a little bit of junk mail 😉 to get a fire going!
That is a very good blog entry, Chris! It’s wonderful that you are reusing junk mail…I shred ours and use it in presents instead of the colored shredded stuff from the store. In fact, I’m going to sell bags of it at the farmer’s market during the holidays. Maybe there is a whole new business in just that! (Yeah right, like I’d ever stop farming)
-Annie
That is a very good blog entry, Chris! It’s wonderful that you are reusing junk mail…I shred ours and use it in presents instead of the colored shredded stuff from the store. In fact, I’m going to sell bags of it at the farmer’s market during the holidays. Maybe there is a whole new business in just that! (Yeah right, like I’d ever stop farming)
-Annie
Great post, and great ideas. Blog action day rocks!
Great post, and great ideas. Blog action day rocks!
Hi Chris,
Love your shredded materials, by the time the package gets to me, they have a beautiful scent…Anya’s kit, and I set the shreds in a bowl on the table for a few days befre, I recycled it at our school. They get money for programs by maintaining recycling bins!
Lynn
Hi Chris,
Love your shredded materials, by the time the package gets to me, they have a beautiful scent…Anya’s kit, and I set the shreds in a bowl on the table for a few days befre, I recycled it at our school. They get money for programs by maintaining recycling bins!
Lynn
Hey, the confetti also makes great little ‘peat pots’ to start seeds in…recycling rocks…and farmers rule!
Hey, the confetti also makes great little ‘peat pots’ to start seeds in…recycling rocks…and farmers rule!
Way to go Chris, I just hate all those bits of polystyrene a lot of company’s use for packaging. And they make me sneeze as well.
Love the idea of embedded seeds in wrappers!
Great blog too.
Liz
Way to go Chris, I just hate all those bits of polystyrene a lot of company’s use for packaging. And they make me sneeze as well.
Love the idea of embedded seeds in wrappers!
Great blog too.
Liz