Less plastic, more love please!
A fresh new year is always the best time to think about making changes. A bit less of this, bit more of that. And the green shoots peeping through the soil have inspired us to make the final few tweaks to our bid to become a plastic-free business. We've never been massive fans of plastic. Not so much, we confess, for 'holier than thou' reasons; more because we are so concerned with the aesthetics in our lives that we couldn't possibly ruin our home or business with plastic tat! So, yes, we arrive in today's plastic crisis with a better-than-average rating mainly by the accident of our love of natural materials. But, we knew there was room for improvement, so a year ago we began to think about our business; how we made, packaged and delivered things, to see what we could do better. We made a few changes, and growing in confidence when we saw them working, made some more, until we've arrived at today where we've examined every area of our business. Some, but not all, of the things we've done are to switch to Raja recycled cardboard packaging and recyclable plastic packaging, use string instead of plastic postal bag ties, question our suppliers about their plastic use, and switch to 'Who Gives a Crap' toilet roll in the mill and shop. We use glass milk bottles, buy kitchen consumables in bulk when we can, have zero single-use cups, bottles or straws, use paper bags and tape where we at all can, have switched our cello bags for compostable starch bags and go naked where we can (products that is, not us ;)). Many of our bestsellers are part of a circular economy, we reuse packaging where we can, explaining to our customers why their gorgeous product is inside a less-than-gorgeous box. Most recently, we're signed up to refill company, Splosh for our kitchen and cleaning products.
Some of the changes have been easy, five-minute jobs; some have required a bit more head-scratching and expense (that said, we've been surprised at how affordable some of have been). A few are still ongoing, and some we've had to shelve for now. At times it's been frustrating, and, let's be honest, really thinking about your environmental impact can make you want to either find a hole to put your head in or pack it all in and move to the woods. One frustration was the compostable cello bags that we suddenly worried weren't actually compostable. A larger concern that we tussle with is that to make any big changes in our overpopulated world may just create another crisis somewhere else...... BUT, we dusted off our concerns and remembered that at Modo we're in the business of celebrating the small things that people can do to grow and make a positive difference! It's the intention that matters, and doing small things with hope and for the right reasons, matters more than the result. We're super-proud of what we've achieved and the journey that started with a small look around the mill, has inspired us to do more and more, and has been really rather joyful. And when you choose joy, you feel good and when you feel good, you do good. Amen to that and happy Spring-beginning folks!
Check out the following for inspiration...
