Sustainability

 

Sustainable & Repurposed Materials

I am committed to using the most sustainable materials possible in my products, packaging and shipping.

Leather for barrettes and earrings is all either up-cycled scrap leather, sometimes referred to as "pre-consumer waste," which I try first to source from  other makers, thus diverting scraps from the waste stream.

When scrap leather is not available, I shop for off-cuts, or scrap-sized pieces, which aren't quite as easy to work with, but ensure maximum use of leather hides. My preferred vendor is based in the USA and verifies their products are sourced from tanneries that use the most eco-friendly, low-chemical processes, recycling of ingredients, and sourcing hides from free-ranging animals that are also used for the food industry, so not exclusively raised for leather.

I only use leather that is vegetable tanned, the oldest form of leather tanning. "Tanning" is a process to convert animal hides into what we know as leather, stabilizing the proteins and turning it into a durable material. Vegetable tanning uses extracts from wood, nuts, and bark from trees and shrubs which do not pollute the surrounding environment as other types of tanning can. Vegetable-tanned leather is also more readily biodegradable than chrome-, aldehyde- or other chemical tanned leathers.

Packaging is made from unbleached, recycled kraft paper, using only enough paper to neatly display my products for retail or gifting.

For the ultimate eco-friendly hair clip, check out the repurposed bicycle tube designs! 

Sustainability as a practice goes beyond my products, but to my philosophy as a maker and person, looking for uses for many items typically discarded as trash and hunting down products that are plastic-free, durable, minimally packaged, compostable and/or readily recyclable. I hope you are doing this too!

Re-Used Shipping Materials

Almost all my orders are delivered by mail. Since barrettes are small, mailers are actually a bigger volume of the material I handle than anything else. I'm proud to say that almost all my orders are sent in padded mailers or boxes that have been used at least once before. I am simultaneously keeping those old mailers out of the waste stream and reducing the need for new mailers to be produced. And, it also helps me keep my shipping costs low. Oh, and yes, the packing tape is compostable. 

If you can, go ahead and re-use the mailers you receive to send your own packages! Or, if you have nothing to send, the plastic-only mailers can be recycled with plastic bag recycling (available at many grocery stores in the USA), but please do not put them in your recycle bin. 

Plant A Tree With Each Purchase!

One item purchase = 5 trees planted. 

That's right!

I love trees. They make fruit, nuts, shade, provide homes for birds and a variety of other diverse lifeforms.They also pull CO2 out of the air and sequester it underground for safe-keeping. Managed reforestation programs – big tree plantings plus long-term government protection – are a very cool and tangible way to fight climate change. And with your help, I want to plant a lot of trees.  

My store has partnered with Ecologi to fund the planting of one tree for every item purchased on my website. No limits. 

Let's do this!