Less Plastic
A core value of Clara’s Creamery is responsible care of our earth. In all of life there is usually a gap between ideology and practice. However we do our best to use less plastic, create less waste, and make choices that are in line with good stewardship. How are we doing that?
Soap packaging: We use a paper label.
Bulk Purchasing: We currently purchase organic coconut oil and olive oil by the 5 gallon bucket. These buckets are reused. Lye is also purchased by the 5 gallon bucket and buckets are reused. Essential oils are purchased in 8 or 16 ounce glass bottles and the bottles are recycled. It is actually more expensive for us to purchase lye in bulk, however we are committed to creating less waste. The smaller lye containers are 16 oz. plastic bottles, and we decided that purchasing by the bucket is a better choice.
Bags: Clara’s Creamery uses paper bags for craft fair purchases.
Packaging for Mailings: We use newspaper for cushioning of soap. For orders of 1-2 bars of soap, we use a paper mailer, made out of 100% recycled paper. For orders of 3 bars of soap we use a small cardboard box. For orders of 10+ bars of soap we use a larger cardboard box. Currently we are using a plastic bubble USPS mailer for orders of 4-10 bars of soap. For any customers who would prefer to not use the bubble mailer, we would be happy to ship in cardboard with the additional payment of the difference in shipping.
Local Products: Coconut oil, olive oil are all purchased locally, which has an added benefit of supporting our local economy. The lard is a local product, so it does not “ship” at all during its life.
Behind the scenes, we use household cardboard, (cereal boxes, tissue boxes), for soap leveling! We use what we have as much as possible. The bowls and table used for my soap-making are items I already had on hand, before I began making soap.
How do you care for the earth in the running of your business?
Do you have any suggestions on more ways we can practice good stewardship?