In July 2019 we boldly made the pledge that Cycle of Good would be 100% single use plastic free by December the 31st. It is the New Year, but don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten our promise and we’re delighted to update you with our progress so far.
During our October team meeting, we engaged the whole team in identifying what single use plastic we use, the list was surprisingly short considering the amount of shipping, packing, making and mending we do. We identified, bubble wrap, plastic envelopes, shrink wrap, sello-tape etc. So far so good, we should know our enemy!
Then we came to thinking about what people bring in for lunch and how many cups of tea we all drink (it took some convincing that there is actual real plastic in our teabags!) We held what’s known as a “polite debate”, about whether or not we as an organisation can ask people to refrain from bringing whatever lunch and snacks they like to work. We also debated personal responsibilities in contributing to the drive to eliminate single use plastic. If you’re part of a team, we highly recommend having this debate as it really stimulates opinion and thought.
“It was really interesting to see that apart from snacks and tea, most of our plastic use is in the packaging and sending of parcels. Actually, as an organisation we felt that we can already be quite proud of ourselves. But we’re not settling for that and we’ve already made some changes.”
OUR PLASTIC FREE JOURNEY
Since our month of monitoring we have:
- Switched to plastic free teabags
- Switched to glass milk bottles
- Completely stopped the use of plastic bubble envelopes and have begun to use 100% recyclable and compostable brown paper packaging
- Completely stopped the use of plastic packing tape
- On 1st January we will also have phased out the use of plastic bubble wrap to wrap the Elephant Bikes, instead we’ll be using paper bubble and shredded recycled card.
- We have plans to start using re-fills for cleaning products (this is work in progress)
- Sourced compostable bin bags
Committed to saving the planet !
We’re proud of our team and the effort and thought they’ve put into this, especially as it was a journey that not everyone was excited to begin. The one big issue we’ve yet to solve… are we allowed to stop people bring single use plastic lunch wrappers? Can we ban the crisps? What do you think? We would love your ideas, maybe you’ve been through a similar journey to plastic free? Maybe your workplace is also trying to make this pledge, if so, how has it been?
For Cycle of Good, we’re getting there, we’re not perfect yet, but when you order your Cycle of Good product, you’ll find it wrapped in lovely brown paper, sealed with paper tape and of course, the contents are all recycled, lovingly crafted and 100% single-use plastic free!
