Thinking outside the box
Packaging is a dirty word.
Usually associated with plastic, waste and chemicals.
Did you know that every year the UK generates more than two million metric tons of plastic packaging waste. This equates to roughly 36 kilograms of plastic packaging waste per person. It’s a serious problem.
Most packaging is printed using chemical based, water thirsty inks which leave a toxic waste pool when they end up in our water systems. These are chemicals with complicated names like toluene, isopropanol, 2-butanone, ethyl acetate, and methanol.
When we set out on our vision to create clean clothing. It was a given that our packaging would have the same integrity.
The exploration began to find packaging with a conscience and packaging that has a GREAT story to tell.
The Magic of Mushrooms
We started exploring the fascinating work of The Magical Mushroom Company who harness the natural flexibility and strength of mycelium, the material structure of fungi. These use it to grow protective packaging at any scale by combining it with agricultural waste like hemp, cork and sawdust. This offers a safe, sustainable and totally home-compostable alternative to plastic foams.
We love the innovation. 10/10 guys. Why didn’t we go for this? We needed more versatility in our packaging so it would fit through your letterbox. We will definitely revisit this in the future though.
Who gives a shit? We do
Packaging made from poo. Yes, you heard it right, but the elephant kind. Did you know an elephant can defecate 16 times in one day and its 200 pounds of dung can double as paper pulp? We came across Karl Wald also known as Mr Ellie Pooh to the locals. Karl arrived in Sri Lanka to shadow an elephant veterinarian called Thusitha.
Elephants naturally are not favoured as neighbours by farmers as they trample and destroy valued crops, so are often shot and killed. Soon the two friends found themselves looking for a way to save the elephants in Sri Lanka.
While it may not completely resolve the human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka, Ellie Pooh paper is already going a long way toward raising the tolerance of farmers toward the elephants — by actually compensating them for damage to their crops.
We love a fully circular system and Ellie Pooh is a great example. This is why we used it on the wraps around our knickers. Printed with vegetable inks they are 100% compostable.
Finally, after weighing up all the options of cost, eco credentials, locality, carbon footprint we found our star. And we haven’t even mentioned the hemp, hay, dirt bags we also explored. (Be sure we go above and beyond to find the most sustainable options for you.)
We decided to keep it local, working with a fantastic company called Seacourt based in Oxfordshire who are doing one hell of a job for the printing industry. Even the Queen approves… winning the Queen's Award for Excellence in Sustainable Development four years running.
If that wasn’t enough, they won BEST B Corp printer in the World 2021 being ranked in their Top 5% B Corp in Environment category AND have been recognised as ‘one of the top three leading environmental printers in the world' by a worldwide printing association.
Impressive credentials don’t you think?
But we didn’t just take the Queens word for it. It’s so important to us to visit and meet with all our suppliers, to get to know them personally.
At Seacourt Reg is our prepress manager, he looks after the digital machines and all the plating.
He loves working at Seacourt and who wouldn’t. The air is clean and chemical free so you don’t end up with a headache at the end of the day. On top of that their printing methods are completely waterless. Preserving valuable water supplies for future generations.
Our boxes are fully compostable and recyclable.
Seacourt, we love you. You stole our heart with your commitment to ticking all the boxes.
Learn more about Seacourt at www.seacourt.net
