Part 1: Wrap Stars
Since the beginning of our business, folks have written us with notes about our packaging.
Some people loved the burlap bags, and some felt they left lint everywhere and were a big ol' waste (which is why you haven't received one in the past 3 or so months... we decided we could find lint-free solutions and replaced them with muslin bags). The burlap bags were inexpensive, though.
So we ordered muslin bags, and those have been a fine, albeit expensive, touch for the packaging. They literally and figuratively tied the package together. Several people asked us to omit their bags for their orders, because they didn't feel right throwing out cloth, but they also didn't know what to do with all these bags.
The last thing we want to do is create more nuisance trash for people!
In addition to the cloth bags, we were sure to wrap each bottle in a plastic resealable bag. We reasoned that it was possible some boxes may meet crushing blows, and our little plastic bags would help the contents of the box survive.
However, over the last year since we've been using these plastic bags, we've only heard of about 5 instances of spillage or damage that was prevented by these plastic bags. And yet we are / were (foreshadowing) sending out somewhere around 40,000 of these plastic bags every year. YUCK.
Now, it's possible that our customers are very kind and don't want to trouble us with the breakage that was rescued by the baggies... which is why we always ask that you tell us what's going on with your package (ahem... not that package. We'll leave that to your pants, thank you very much).
But of course, less plastic is better.
For this experiment, we decided to try to {ripping noise} just rip the band-aid off and start shipping our liquids totally naked and to see what happens.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let us know if you have any issues with receiving the liquids (or any of our packages, for that matter).
So we're trying a little experiment:
- What if we eliminate as much packaging as possible?
- What if we strip down the package and only send you as close to the essentials as we can, while still keeping the little extras that you've told us you love (the rubber chicken, the soap sample, and the sticker)?
- What if we favor the padded envelopes in the place of boxes, creating more efficiency in transport?
