Sustainability
Real sustainability is a difficult concept to get people to understand.
We are okay with helping guide you and answering any tough questions. To be honest, from a company perspective green-washing is way easier, and tends to be the path most taken. (Vegan leather anyone?!)
But we are environmentalists first, a business second.
We believe in taking the aesthetics out of sustainability.
Customers, especially younger ones, have become more and more likely to buy sustainable products which is frankly, freaking out the big businesses who have been happily creating waste without worry for decades. So they’ve adjusted their strategy to continue to get you to buy: but often they’re selling you claims.
“Eco-friendly” product claims have been found to be misleading 40% of the time they’re made.
Sometimes it’s intentional and we call that out as "green-washing" but sometimes it can be accidental because the company itself is still learning--and the employees themselves are still learning what "sustainability" actually means. Don't cancel a company that is learning--there are people who rely on these places to feed their families.
Cancel the culture of cancelling--and let's encourage meaningful conversations to set their sustainability claims back on track.
Even as green-washing awareness continues, it’s stressful for companies to dip into environmental transparency. Most brands aren’t perfect and that’s something we own up to too. Environmental perfectionists aren’t our people. We know you’re trying, so are we. While we don't buy bottled water ourselves or fill an SUV with a large load, we will buy a single bottle it if there is no alternative as a one-off if a child is thirsty.
Let's be reasonable. Let's be kind to one another.
So at the end of the day we want to say this: our small team does not take sustainability lightly, and we are ok with telling you exactly how it is.
Here is how we are sustainable:
1. Prioritizing small business
We love small businesses--especially surf shops, boutique salons, refill stores, gift shops, apothecaries, zero waste havens... we think that getting people to shop small is the best way to drive them to sustainability by selecting stores that do not receive palletized goods the way big box retailers do.
We avoid a TON of hidden plastic just by offering small minimums for small businesses & avoiding the need for pallets wrapped in plastic over and over.
2. Shipping directly from our manufacturer
The products don't travel anywhere except to YOU. This means when you order online there is the lowest possible carbon footprint we could achieve. Pretty cool, right?
Our manufacturing team believes in what we are doing so much, they made this exception for our little brand.
3. Using dead stock plastic instead of new aluminum or glass
We basically interrupted plastic bottles from their journey to a landfill without getting used, giving them another life. You may not realize how much hidden waste there is behind the scenes in the beauty industry--but we are bringing that to the surface.
It is more sustainable to use these abandoned plastic bottles than to use valuable resources to produce NEW glass or NEW aluminum containers.
Our goal is to have you bring these bottles once you are finished to your local refill store so they can refill it for you. If they don't already carry our products, have them get in touch!
4. Making bars that melt and re-melt over and over and over
Fun fact: not all bars come out perfect the first time. Sometimes they have a dent or are warped and they need to go back into the mix to be reformed. This means no raw materials are wasted on "imperfect" bars. How cool is that?!
5. Using synthetic fragrances instead of essential oils.
This may sound counterintuitive at first, and that's ok. Generally commercial farming takes a very large toll on the planet in terms of labor, pesticide use, displacement of animal habitats, removing native plants, erosion....the list goes on.
As the demand for essential oils grows and grows, so does the pressure on farmers to deliver. And as a crop gets more popular, so do the deep pockets of opportunity that come in and establish larger, competing farms with smaller producers. It's really a mess sometimes.
Anyway, we like synthetics because we think they are more controlled, do not use pesticides, reduce allergens, do not use unethical practices--and are held to a very high standard. Plus, you get some really cool notes that linger a little longer than essential oils would.
6. We pay people well.
This might not sound sustainable, but it is. We find that people are happier if you stop nickel & diming them. We did not start this company to be billionaires. We started this company to give ourselves purpose, help deliver a message to consumers...and yes, make some loot...but we have some fun plans to use that money for good in the world.
7. We are inventory lean
This means we do not over-produce and will not end up in discount retailers like Homegoods, Ross, or Marshalls. Since we ship directly from our manufacturer in the USA, we closely monitor our inventory needs. If you have a big event coming up, and would like to order quantities over 100 units, reach out to us and we can make that happen for you.
8. We formulated our bars specifically so they last a very long time
Less trips to the store or our site, means less opportunities to impulse buy stuff you don't need. We told you, we are ok with selling less--but we hope that you love our mission (and your hair) enough to tell your friends
Here is how we are iffy on sustainability:
1. We buy new underwear and new bathing suits
We will probably continue to do so
2. We do make more than a mason jar full of trash a year
It is what it is
3. We eat meat
Leave us alone about it, we eat much less than we used to
3. We purchased chenille patches because chenille is typically cotton, but instead they showed up with plastic fibers
We are still sending this batch of iron on patches out because the mission is still true--we want you to save your garments from the donation pile and that is the bigger story here.
...but seriously can someone please email us a TRUE sustainable/natural fiber patch company? Kate@dipalready.com