WHY I LOVE HANDCRAFTING...
PART 3 of 3
This last installment focuses on things which may or may not be of importance to you personally as a consumer, but they're things that are important to me personally, and as a small business.
They're mainly things that pertain to the environment, carbon footprint, ingredient and component sourcing, ethical sourcing.
As a handcrafting indie, I have a lot of control over how my business functions in relation to these things, because every aspect of how Aromaleigh operates is "in house", handled by me.
This is a situation where being a one person indie shop truly resonates. It does have it's challenges, but this post series has been focused on what I love about it!
Environmental issues and having a lower carbon footprint are things that have been important to me- many of you may remember discussion of things of this nature in my old Aromaleigh blogs, or on the old forum.
As a small handcrafter, I strive to use less resources, at all times.
We hear so much in the beauty/natural care industry about environmental concerns, recycling, "net zero", carbon offsets, etc. This can all be overwhelming because there's truly no way to be 100% "clean" in all regards. And often times, the creation and production of specialty packaging to appear "green" can utilize far more resources than pre-existing, simple and reusable packaging, such as the jars I use).
My goal with Aromaleigh is not to be the stereotypical "green" business, but rather to produce a wide range of simple and skin-friendly cosmetic products that involve minimal production resources. To be mindful of these things, but to also walk the walk through my personal lifestyle.
Here at Aromaleigh, I strive for these things in various ways, such as:
1. Minimal packaging. I utilize simple packaging for products without exterior printed product boxes.
2. No excessive shipping materials, extra paper/plastic/shredded tissue in the box, fancy holographic/metallic envelopes, stickers, etc. I just keep it simple.
3. Use of USPS recycled boxes and/or reusing boxes when possible. Recycling boxes and packing materials that supplies come in- for example, I use cardboard for weed cover in my garden, and add shredded paper to my compost.
4. Printing all color product labels on-site. I purchase labels in bulk from a company just one state over, and print everything here on my color laser printer.
5. Purchasing supplies and ingredients bulk, within the USA to limit the number of miles that supplies need to travel. Striving to order from sources that are closer to me geographically.
6. Offering customers a wide range of sizes, so they can purchase only what they need and aren't forced to purchase a larger size that uses more resources to produce.
7. Keeping manufacturing and packaging in-house.
8. Limiting my personal and work electric usage by participating in peak usage program through my power company.
9. Drawing inspiration from the beauty of our natural world and sharing it through my work, to remind us of our role in caring about the environment.
10. Ethical ingredient sourcing. Because I source and purchase ingredients individually, I'm able to choose which companies I choose to utilize. If I were outsourcing manufacturing of my products, I wouldn't have this same level of control over where each individual ingredient in the final product came from. Being a handcrafter gives me a very high level of control, because I personally select each ingredient's source
PART 3 of 3
This last installment focuses on things which may or may not be of importance to you personally as a consumer, but they're things that are important to me personally, and as a small business.
They're mainly things that pertain to the environment, carbon footprint, ingredient and component sourcing, ethical sourcing.
As a handcrafting indie, I have a lot of control over how my business functions in relation to these things, because every aspect of how Aromaleigh operates is "in house", handled by me.
This is a situation where being a one person indie shop truly resonates. It does have it's challenges, but this post series has been focused on what I love about it!
Environmental issues and having a lower carbon footprint are things that have been important to me- many of you may remember discussion of things of this nature in my old Aromaleigh blogs, or on the old forum.
As a small handcrafter, I strive to use less resources, at all times.
We hear so much in the beauty/natural care industry about environmental concerns, recycling, "net zero", carbon offsets, etc. This can all be overwhelming because there's truly no way to be 100% "clean" in all regards. And often times, the creation and production of specialty packaging to appear "green" can utilize far more resources than pre-existing, simple and reusable packaging, such as the jars I use).
My goal with Aromaleigh is not to be the stereotypical "green" business, but rather to produce a wide range of simple and skin-friendly cosmetic products that involve minimal production resources. To be mindful of these things, but to also walk the walk through my personal lifestyle.
Here at Aromaleigh, I strive for these things in various ways, such as:
1. Minimal packaging. I utilize simple packaging for products without exterior printed product boxes.
2. No excessive shipping materials, extra paper/plastic/shredded tissue in the box, fancy holographic/metallic envelopes, stickers, etc. I just keep it simple.
3. Use of USPS recycled boxes and/or reusing boxes when possible. Recycling boxes and packing materials that supplies come in- for example, I use cardboard for weed cover in my garden, and add shredded paper to my compost.
4. Printing all color product labels on-site. I purchase labels in bulk from a company just one state over, and print everything here on my color laser printer.
5. Purchasing supplies and ingredients bulk, within the USA to limit the number of miles that supplies need to travel. Striving to order from sources that are closer to me geographically.
6. Offering customers a wide range of sizes, so they can purchase only what they need and aren't forced to purchase a larger size that uses more resources to produce.
7. Keeping manufacturing and packaging in-house.
8. Limiting my personal and work electric usage by participating in peak usage program through my power company.
9. Drawing inspiration from the beauty of our natural world and sharing it through my work, to remind us of our role in caring about the environment.
10. Ethical ingredient sourcing. Because I source and purchase ingredients individually, I'm able to choose which companies I choose to utilize. If I were outsourcing manufacturing of my products, I wouldn't have this same level of control over where each individual ingredient in the final product came from. Being a handcrafter gives me a very high level of control, because I personally select each ingredient's source
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