PLASTIC FREE
Plastic-free July? Plastic-free ALWAYS!
You may have seen lots of newsletters and items on social media about it being the month of "Plastic-free July"! Even though we are always plastic-free where possible, we do appreciate these months exist to create awareness, and to get more people thinking about how they can change their daily habits when it comes to plastic.
At A KIND CLOTH, we like to have sustainability at our hearts on all matters. When choosing sewing patterns companies, we choose brands that have a similar mindset. We love it when the paper they use are either from recycled sources or from sustainably managed sources. We also notice when they send out their stock to us, there is no plastic in use.
Fabrics are a different matter. We understand that to protect the fabrics from getting dirty, especially when shipping in from abroad, they are packaged in a plastic film. We have noticed that many of our suppliers are finding alternate methods of packing and have really limited the use of plastic, so that is very positive.
When we receive our stock, we can end up with a lot of packaging. Here, we re-use everything that we can. Mostly we find we can use a lot for re-packaging, so if you find that your packaged orders look a little tattered, it's most probably due to re-use! The plastic we receive from some of our suppliers are either used as re-packaging or are re-purposed to use as storage protectors, or given away to family and friends for use as dust-sheets or otherwise. We try our utmost to reduce things going to landfill.
At A KIND CLOTH, your orders are packaged with minimal items, no excess marketing materials or unnecessary packing slips/receipts. (These can be requested digitally if required). Our packaging materials are made from either sustainably-managed sources, or from recycled matter. Even our stickers, and postage labels are all biodegradable and compostable. If you do find plastic in our packaging, it will be from re-using packaging we have received from our suppliers.
We try to pack our orders to you in paper envelopes/bags that can be easily opened so that you can reuse it again, either for re-packaging or for other purposes before it has to be put into a recycling program at the end of its life.
There is often the assumption that it is okay to use/buy plastic covered items if you make sure to recycle the plastics at local supermarkets or within your local council kerbside recycling scheme. However, there are continuing reports claiming that the items you thought you had recycled have actually just gone to landfill.
Recycling plastic can be a minefield of problems. Look at how many things are wrapped in plastic at the shops. Think about how difficult it is to identify what plastic each item is: therefore trying to recycle each and every piece of plastic produced is pretty much impossible, especially where technology is limited in certain recycling plants.
The best way to tackle this crisis is, if possible, to avoid the use of plastic in the first instance, especially when it comes to single-use disposable items.
Remember the 3 R's in order: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!