Earth Day 2021
We have something embarrassing to admit. We are not always the most environmentally sensitive family in the world. We use Ziploc bags from time to time, we don’t always rinse out milk jugs before putting them in recycling, and we are often accused of leaving too many lights on in the house during the day. I know. Shameful. However, as we formed Dabble & Dollop, we wanted to be more sensitive, more purposeful, and, quite honestly, we wanted to be better as a brand than we are as a family.
So, you are probably asking yourself, “how can a company that ships plastic bottles of children’s shampoo across the country be environmentally conscious?” Well, here are some of the decisions we made, some big and some small, to try and ensure our company has as low an environmental footprint as possible. In some cases we have done well, and in others, we can (and will) be better.
Our most impactful decision was insisting on having as many of our components, ingredients, and packaging as possible be sourced from the USA. Why? Three reasons. First, U.S. manufacturers produce the highest quality, safest and most pure ingredients in the world – just what we wanted for our formulations. Second, as small business owners, we are big on supporting American job creation and get goosebumps thinking about the myriad families touched in small ways by our company.
Finally, and most importantly today, by sourcing close to home we significantly lowered our supply-chain’s environmental footprint. No Diesel container ships chugging in from China full of shampoo. No empty plastic bottles molded overseas and freighted here waiting to fill. No 20Kg drums of liquids bobbing across the seas while higher quality drums sit here ready to go. This has proven to be an expensive choice for us – but it is one we would make again for our environment and so many other reasons.
What else have we done well? We hope:
- Choosing sustainably sourced and sustainably processed ingredients (see more about this from our November 2019 blog here);
- Developing USA-made custom, soft-touch bottles using 100% Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) Resin (which are in turn recyclable);
- Designing and producing Deco Boxes for our Bubble Box and Bath Bombs from recyclable US-sourced corrugated here in Southern California;
- Avoiding Styrofoam, plastic air pouches, styro-peanuts and other non-recyclable fill during shipping.
But we certainly are not perfect and feel there are many areas where we can improve environmentally as a brand. With that goal in mind, we will be taking the following steps immediately, and in the days and weeks ahead:
- Exploring recyclable refill packs for our 3-in-1 products. Like many larger brands, we too want to offer a larger, environmentally friendly, cost-effective solution for “buying again.” These packs would allow customers to re-use our durable PCR bottles over and over, further reducing our use of plastic and streamlining our shipping;
- Eliminating the use of all bubble wrap and non-recyclable bubble-padded mailers. Keeping shipments from cracking and leaking is of course a priority. Bubble wrap/padding is effective (and cost effective), but we know it’s generally not sustainably produced. So, we are working with a company called Eco-Enclose (as well as others) to source and test new 100% recyclable mailers and post-consumer recycled padded envelops that allow us to ship single bottles bath bomb boxes in a more environmentally friendly, but still protective, manner;
- Investigating non-plastic based solutions for protecting our bath bombs. Currently, each bath bomb is encased in a thin, recyclable film. However, we would love to find a solution that is just as economical, but does not use plastic. We have discussed algae-based products, paper and others, but there does not seem to be a great solution at present. If you have ideas, please reach out and let us know!
We know we are not perfect – but seeing little areas where we can improve gives us motivation to be continually better. We continue to be proud of the company we are building here at Dabble & Dollop, and want to be your trusted source for clean, natural, sustainable children’s bathing products for years to come.
If you have any comments, suggestions or feedback, we’d love to hear from you at info@dabbleanddollop.com.
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