Hey y’all. It’s Climate Strike day.
If you’re out there on the streets, in the cities, if you’re turning down your lights and turning up the noise, our power to you.
I spent the morning reading about sustainable packaging. EcoEnclose has an amazing resource center – if you sell things, or are thinking about doing so, I highly recommend taking a look.
I think I shipped the first Shapeshifters binders in bubble mailers I bought at CVS. Once we had more than a few orders, we picked up a case of the cheapest possible thin plastic (poly) mailers off of Amazon. Overhead costs were hard, and we worked with anything to get us by in those days. Still could’ve thought about it more, though.
Been thinking about it a lot since.
Today we’re using up the last of our cheap poly mailers. I went back and forth for awhile on whether to replace them with 100% recycled poly mailers (lighter, makes a market for other recycling, less carbon footprint to make) or 100% recycled paper mailers (much easier to recycle, biodegradable, won’t end up in the ocean.)
Here’s the thing: we’re here for you. We want to make buying a custom, well-fit garment as easy and accessible as possible for all of you. And though poly bags can be recycled, they need to be brought to a drop-off point at a grocery store or the like, and that’s out of reach for a lot of folks and a pain for many more.
So.
Starting October, Shapeshifters products will be shipped in paper mailers with paper stick-on labels. The whole package will be fully curbside-recyclable and biodegradable. As always, the exterior will be unmarked, with the same Vermont return address and no company name.
Everyone can make changes. Every change counts. We can all get there, making changes where we can, pushing on every front.
We’re working on other steps, too, harder changes that will take longer and have greater impact. We’re planning for a future, and that means breaking habits and fixing problems.
Remember when I said here’s to five thousand more?
I meant it.