Our environmental report card, how this year has changed us and what we achieved as a company in 2021 to reach our environmental goals

Earth Day 2021 is different from any that we have experienced in our lifetimes.

For the first time since the industrial revolution, carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases have actually declined. The bad news is that this was not the result of successful policies, government intervention, or some sea-change attitude among consumers. This was a result of circumstances beyond our control – the Covid 19 pandemic. We have used less fossil fuels, we flew less, drove less and used less energy on transportation.

The good news is that some of it is going to stick. People will be commuting less since the work/life balance has changed irrevocably. The way we interact with each other has changed, and the way we view professional and personal relationships will never be the same for the generations that have experienced the pandemic. It took this brutal virus to shake up our way of doing things enough to make us examine how we do work and leisure.

Last year we examined the environmental movement and where we thought the emerging pandemic should take us. We exhorted people to think about the source of the virus and how it relates to the food chain that has become increasingly industrialized and disconnected from the people that it feeds.

This year we are sharing a more personal experience with you. We have focused on our own carbon footprint this year. How can a small brand like ours make a difference? The answer is that we need to start examining how make and sell our goods. Over the past year, we have made changes to our packaging and reduced the mix of materials that we use, increased recycled content, increased natural raw materials and strived to make it easier for our customers to recycle and also compost our packaging. In some cases in the past, our packaging was heavier and bulkier than our products! This was clearly a situation that was unsustainable, yet this is the reality that faces many companies.

This year, we examined our packaging and made a change. We hope that this will show others that it is possible to make a difference even on the micro level. If other companies face this issue, we believe that they will find it is not only better for the environment, but better for their bottom line – all it takes is some creativity.

Here are some of the things that we achieved this year:

• Reduced our packaging bulk

• Started using soy inks instead of regular inks

• Used more recycled content in our packages

• Transitioned to clear cellulose (plant based) windows instead of plastic ones

• Created our first all recycled, natural and biodegradeable package