UNSEEN
WASTE
BY
JAMISON
STOIKE
Sustainably
Manufacturing
and Packaging
Products
When consumers visit the spa, they encounter an end-user
experience of sustainability: low-flow showerheads, LED bulbs,
reusable cups. Yet, true sustainability can only be accomplished
by overhauling the aspects of spa that guests may not think
about, including the sustainability of the products that spas use
on a daily basis.
If you’re a resource partner looking to make your products
greener, here are five real-world strategies that you can use to
rethink how you approach sustainability:
1.
START FROM THE BEGINNING the first
step, according to Kerstin florian international’s
Public relations & marketing manager ellie
Dvoracek, is to source local manufacturers. Kerstin
florian’s recently-launched anDa skin care line made
sustainability part of its core values; to that end, Kerstin
florian worked to make it environmentally-friendly from
the ground-up, beginning with its manufacturing
processes.
Local manufacturing, notes Dvoracek, leads to reduced
shipping distance and a lower carbon footprint. Work
with your product manufacturer to see if there are ways
to reduce power consumption or water usage during the
manufacturing process itself, such as by switching to
more efficient machinery or air-cooled systems. if you
manufacture your own products, conducting an energy
use and water use audit of the manufacturing facility is
the best way to gather data that show where a more
sustainable option may be possible.
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2.
REDUCE OR ELIMINATE CARDBOARD
as consumers pressure spas to reduce the
packaging they use in their retail areas, spas
have begun passing that pressure on to their providers.
“Spas are more aware of product packaging and are
requiring higher standards of sustainability,” according to
Dvoracek, by asking suppliers to use less packaging than
ever. for example, ethica Beauty, a supplier of hair care
products, no longer boxes its products: they ship ‘naked’ in
a recycled carboard box that holds 12 products.
anDa uses miron glass bottles for its products—a more
sustainable choice than first-use plastic—which neces-
sitate shipping each product with its own box. however,
Kerstin florian has designed the boxes to “be tight with
the package” with no extra panels. Dvoracek says that this
reduces the total amount of material used, lowering costs
while increasing sustainability. if you do have to use
cardboard, try sourcing cardboard that’s verified to be
sustainable by the Sustainable forestry initiative.