These days everyone is aware of the benefits of recycling. Our online business uses a great deal of packaging, pretty much all of it card or paper based, and wherever possible, we try to ensure we use recycled products, and always make sure the packaging we send out is recyclable.
Part of our USP is beautiful packaging. So our gifts can come in gift bags of gift boxes. We do brand both the bags and boxes – but with removable labels. That way, we’re happy to know that if they want to, people can remove our branding and use the bag or box again when giving a different gift. Our boxes are made so that they are strong enough to double up as storage boxes. So rather than encouraging our customer to put these items out for recycling, we’re aiming to encourage re-use – which is effectively the best form of recycling there is.
It’s not always possible, of course, to use 100% recycled and recyclable materials, and we don’t want our birthday and Christmas gifts arriving with recipients damaged, so we do have to include some bubble wrap to ensure the gifts, especially the more fragile ones, make it there in one piece!
However, lately I’ve been buying from a variety of other companies, mostly online, and I’m always really surprised to see how many new looking, often printed and branded cardboard boxes are used to send items out in. Obviously every company has a corporate responsibility to ensure their waste is kept to a minimum, and that they recycle as much of their waste as possible. But we’re pretty sure there are hardly any consumers out there who care about what the outer cardboard delivery box that their parcel comes in looks like. We ALWAYS reuse every single one of the cardboard boxes that we receive in deliveries from our suppliers. Yes, they are ‘second hand’. But providing they aren’t damaged, and that they’re ‘fit for purpose’, there’s absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t be used again.
It might take a little extra time in sorting through the boxes to check what you can and cannot reuse, but surely this is effectively the same amount of time it takes to break down and then put out for recycling. We’ve not yet had a single complaint that the outer cardboard boxes our gifts are sent out in are second hand. They are always of adequate strength to get the job done just as well as a brand new cardboard box. Of course, it saves us money in buying cardboard boxes, something we’re pleased to pass on to our customers.
Recycling is commonly viewed as people putting sorted items in different coloured waste receptacles, and letting them be taken off and put through a recycling plant. Reusing items is surely about the most environmentally friendly way of recycling that’s available to us all, and something that companies should be doing wherever possible.
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http://www.cocooncollection.co.uk – Cocoon Collection for great birthday gifts, Christmas presents, valentines gifts and more. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amanda_McManus |
