Plastic-Free; look for the whale!

We’ve been busy over the last eighteen months working on our new packaging and designs.  You can read more about the design changes here but stay with us now as we explore what Plastic-Free means to us.

In early 2016 we eliminated plastic containers from the bulk of our range (some of you may remember the white plastic bottles and pumps) and switched to green glass jars.  That represented our first step to eliminating plastic in Herbfarmacy packaging.  It was what we could manage at the time but, unfortunately, didn’t go as far as we would have liked.  For example, glass jars have a plastic coating to prevent scratching and we couldn’t do anything about that.  Similarly, whilst the lids we used had a liner inside to prevent leakage, that was plastic coated.

In the time since we took those first steps, the world has become more aware of the harm that plastics – particularly single-use plastics – can do.  Don’t get us wrong, some plastics, used properly, are appropriate and, often, essential.  It’s also true that certain plastics can be recycled (assuming they can be properly segregated in waste processing), though after a period of time they lose integrity and effectiveness.  Compostable plastics are often cited as an alternative, but managing them after use is very specialised and not available when processing household waste.   

The fact is, in the vast majority of situations where plastics are used, there are perfectly viable and effective alternatives.

That’s why we’re switching to aluminium pots and bottles; they can be recycled easily and almost infinitely, without losing effectiveness.  And unlike many others, our aluminium containers are BPA free.

Nor will we require liners in our lids (so no plastic there either!).  We vacuum tested our pots and the aluminium bottles we’ll be introducing shortly, to ensure they didn’t leak.

Our sleeves are made of FSC card and neither they, nor the paper labels we use, are plastic coated.  Sorry, that means the labels can get damaged more easily, but we think it’s a price worth paying.  We’re even using rubber not plastic-based glues and vegetable, not acrylic ink. 

In fact, by the time we’ve completed the changes to the entire range , our packaging will be 100% recyclable and plastic-free.

We promote this on our packaging by using a whale logo. So, if you want to be sure that your product is truly plastic free, look for the whale!