Commitment to Sustainability
At Earthwise Beauty we make every effort to find the absolute best quality ingredients that nature has to offer. In return for these healing gifts, we are doing our best to protect and preserve the Earth.
Our passion for sustainability informs everything we do, from our ingredient selection and product development to our packaging and shipping materials. While many companies these days are committed to producing eco-conscious products, those products are often packaged and shipped in ways that are wasteful and unsustainable. Though it can be surprisingly difficult to find environmentally-friendly options for paper products and shipping materials, we are dedicated to finding the most earth-friendly products available for all our packaging and shipping needs, and are constantly on the hunt for better and more sustainable options.
Shipping Boxes
To ship our products to you we use custom-made boxes from 100% recycled material. The boxes are sized to fit our products with minimal need for fill. For larger orders we use Priority Mail Boxes from USPS, which meet the standards of both the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council. When our shipping needs are even larger than the USPS boxes allow, we reuse boxes that our supplies have been sent to us in. (You should see our storage area; totally overflowing with boxes awaiting a second life!)
Packaging Supplies
Of course, our products must be carefully wrapped before being tucked away into one of our earth-friendly boxes. We use a paper alternative to plastic bubble wrap to ensure that your order arrives to you intact. GreenWrap is a recyclable, biodegradable, compostable, and SFI-certified wrapping paper that, as a bonus, is much prettier than bubble wrap.
In place of standard plastic packing tape, we have found a more eco-friendly carton sealing alternative. Kraft Paper Tape is comprised of a FSC-certified paper backing interwoven with fiberglass threads, layered with exclusive biodegradable laminate and finished with a water-activated, high-performing potato starch adhesive. It's amazing!
In addition to this we are also using corrugated wrap that effectively and efficiently cushions your products as they make their journey to your home. It is 100% recycled material that is 100% recyclable.
Most of our products are packaged in glass, even our small 0.25 fl. oz. sample and travel sizes, and we never enclose any of our products in plastic bags for shipping. We only shrink-band products when absolutely necessary for customs or for retail partners requiring them for tamper-free evidence, and we are currently searching for a natural biodegradable option for the minimal number of shrink bands we do use.
Tea Packaging
Our teas are packaged in eco-friendly clear bags made from cellulose, which is a naturally abundant organic material, then in cardboard boxes for shipping. The cellulose used in the bags is derived from renewable wood pulp that is sustainably harvested from FSC-managed plantations. The bags are certified 100% compostable, meaning they can be composted both by individuals at home and in industrial composting facilities, and are marine degradable, which means that, unlike many other "biodegradable" products, these bags can break down not only in landfills, but also in marine environments.
And perhaps even more important than the materials we have chosen are the materials that we have opted not to use. Our teas are never packaged in individual tea bags or pouches, which produce an enormous quantity of waste that typically ends up in landfill sites. Most tea bags are made from wood pulp or vegetable fiber that is bleached using potentially toxic chemicals, and contain noncompostable metal staples, and many are lined with heat-resistant polypropylene plastic in order to prevent them from bursting open when in transit or in the cup. This means that even tea bags labeled “biodegradable” or “compostable” will, for the most part, not completely break down in a compost heap. We also avoid aluminum tea pouches, which are not compostable, and metal tea tins, which in many cases are not accepted for recycling.
Paper Products
Being an online shop, rather than brick and mortar, we have been able to embrace an electronic filing and communication system. Virtually everything is done electronically, with minimal use of paper for jotting down notes here and there.
The paper products we do use are also carefully chosen to reduce the impact they have on the environment. The majority of our business cards, postcards, and cards with refrigerating and storage instructions are printed on Environment brand FSC-certified papers that are made with 100% renewable green energy, are Green Seal certified, and are archival. The majority of our paper products are printed on paper that is processed chlorine free. As part of our ongoing commitment to finding the most sustainable options available, we are also currently investigating a new brand of paper that uses 100% post-consumer fibers.
In the Production Studio
All of our production processes and materials are chosen with an eye to minimizing our impact on the environment. We are obsessive about correctly sorting all waste to compost everything that is compostable and recycle everything that is recyclable in Washington State, and each of our employees is carefully trained on which items go where, which is essential as city recycling rules may vary widely. Our studio containers are all glass (or, in a few cases, sturdy plastic bags, crates, and trays that were acquired long ago and that we wash and reuse over and over again), and we sterilize our containers by hand, so no electricity is employed. We primarily use a fully biodegradable paper tape for in-studio needs, minimizing the use of plastic tape as much as possible, and we do not use disposable twist ties. We only use natural, biodegradable cleaning supplies, rechargeable batteries, and eco-friendly pencils, and strive to minimize the use of plastic pens and markers by using pencils wherever possible. We use only eco-friendly Post-it Notes, and we cut them into smaller sizes with scissors as needed in order to use as few as possible. And of course, we are always seeking out greener alternatives as they become available and are constantly reevaluating to further diminish our environmental footprint.