Traditionally, we have been led to believe that flashy and excessive packaging is a sign of a high quality product; packaging that often consists of plastic and unrecyclable glass. This is particularly predominant in the beauty world.
At Songbird Naturals, we believe that true beauty is showing that you actually care for the world and what your packaging will do to it. As such, it has been our mission to deliver our products to you in a way that limits the strain on our planet as much as possible.
The postal packaging for all of our orders is 100% recyclable and compostable. Your items will arrive in a recyclable cardboard box, sealed with recyclable paper parcel tape. All of our invoices and paperwork are printed on FSC-certified paper.
As a growing business that ships internationally, it’s important that your items arrive safely but without compromising on our environmental policy. We therefore never use polystyrene packaging at Songbird Naturals. We have instead opted for corn starch packing chips, which are completely biodegradable and compostable (and also look very much like polystyrene, but we assure you they’re not!) To dispose of these packing chips properly, just pop them in your compost or kitchen waste.
What’s more, if you switch to purchasing our Ecotubs, you can make your whole order completely plastic-free!
Which leads us on to discussing the pots our waxes and balms come in. Our products have historically been packaged in polypropylene plastic pots; a material which is, in fact, recyclable, but very few councils have access to the necessary recycling plants. Whilst we believe these recycling facilities will become more available in the future, we recognise that it’s still not a long-term solution.
After looking in to tin, aluminium and glass alternatives for our pots, we discovered that these alternatives create a lot of energy during their mining, creation and recycling processes. We therefore felt strongly that we needed to go down a different path. Enter our Ecotubs; a cardboard alternative that’s natural, sustainable, recyclable, compostable, and a result of growing more trees.
We were delighted with the success of our Ecotubs launch, with 35% of sales within the first 18 months switching to this cardboard alternative. We think this shows a growing thirst amongst consumers for a new way to look at packaging.
Our commitment to sustainable packaging is just the start of our business’ environmental ethos. In our office we reduce our energy use by using efficient lightbulbs and putting on a jumper before considering putting on the heating. We use natural and non-toxic cleaning products, and recycle as much waste as possible. Our beeswax arrives in cardboard packaging, and our olive and almond oils are shipped to us in reusable and exchangeable IBC’s. We also speak with suppliers who are giving us polystyrene and unnecessary plastic and ask if they can change their packaging.
When you shop with us, you can be confident that your products have been delivered with an environmental and social conscience, and a positive approach to the world’s packaging problem.
