HAPPY NEW YEAR! I love the new year, it's a time when everyone can have a clean slate, a chance to start over with new goal, dreams and aspirations.
Over here at Soapsmiths we are busy building up inventory after an awesome holiday sell out season. While we work on that we are thinking about some goals we have both personally and professionally for this year. The biggest goal we have is to create less consumer waste through minimal packaging. Ok so what does that little blurb mean? Well we will be working on changing our soap packaging to not have ANY plastic in it for starters. Second we are looking into the options of using compostable or plantable materials. Yup, you read right, plantable packaging! How cool would that be? Buy a delicious soap and end up with some beautiful wildflowers to boot!
On a personal level we have started to compost which is kind of neat, our trash output has been so greatly reduced since we began. I have also made some re-usable cloth snack baggies which have really come in handy. We switched from parchment paper to silicone baking mats and from paper towels to cloth napkins. I threw our last synthetic sponge away and we have been using these cute little handmade washcloths ever since. We are also lucky enough to live near a co-op so I shop the bulk section there as often as I can and of course, don't forget the cloth shopping bags! The changes came about one or two at a time and sometimes we would slip up and forget but the key is to keep on going and not beat yourself up about it. As I learn of more ways to reduce my waste I will implement them into our lives.
Today, for example, I made some beeswax food wraps which I video'd and will share below, it was very simple and I love that they will not end up in a landfill after one use.
What are some things you all do to reduce your waste? I would love to hear from you.
'Till next time
~Soap'y