As I mentioned on my About page, I want to do my best to not trash our poor planet! I'm always looking into more ways I can make my products and packaging more environmentally friendly.
Here is a list of my current efforts ~
âš¡ T-shirt mailing bags are made from a combination of PBAT, a bio based polymer which is compostable, and PLA which is made up of plant materials such as regular field corn and wheat straw. The suppliers use of PLA makes up barely 0.05% of the annual global corn crop, making it a low-impact resource. 100% compostable at home or commercially. The suppliers have a UK manufacturing plant and manufacture as much as possible in the UK.
âš¡ T-shirts are screen printed with high quality environmentally friendly water based ink, by a small UK based business. You wouldn't know the difference from regular plastisol screen prints and they are free of Formaldehyde, Apeo, PVC's and Heavy Metals.
âš¡ Padded envelopes are made with uncoated corrugated paper and are 100% recyclable. I cannot however find the country of manufacture so I will upgrade these to something recycled and more sustainable when I can afford to.
âš¡ My postage stickers are made from cornstarch, and my 'vinyl' stickers are made from wood pulp which won't break down into harmful microplastics. Both are 100% compostable and have a thinner backing than normal stickers to help lower environmental impact [this does not include my square 'Puss Johnson Apparel' branding stickers that I am trying to use up. Those are just paper stickers although they are FSC certified and recyclable]. Made in the UK
âš¡ Any clear baggies I use are plant based biofilm which are fully biodegradable and compostable which means that they break down to CO2, H20 and biomass which can then be reused in the eco system to make new plants.
Made in the UK
âš¡ If I need to use any bubble wrap for packaging larger items it is reused from packaging I have saved. I hope one day to invest in some recycled and fully recyclable paper bubble wrap.
These efforts are my responsibility as a business to keep evolving, and as a result my prices have had to come up a bit. I don't feel I can (or would want to) push my prices up any more, and at the current volume of sales unfortunately I am stuck with using Gildan shirts, which ethically speaking are not the best but arguably not the worst. I hope to be able to afford to switch to a more sustainable brand one day.