Packaging. One of the biggest problems for many households as online shopping becomes the norm. The paper bin is always full three days after collection in our house, resulting in an emergency Saturday morning trip to the recycling centre to dispose of the overflow, avoiding the ever increasing cardboard mountain in the corner of the kitchen. Although there is a lot more awareness now around eco-friendly options, some parcels continue to arrive with excessive wrapping, materials that can’t be recycled or in boxes that are unnecessarily large for the item inside. Each of our packaging solutions has been carefully selected to ensure that whilst it is of premium quality to compliment the high standard of our products, it is also environmentally conscious.
When choosing our outer box, we decided on a plain Kraft box with an outer sleeve as we felt that this offered the most versatility in terms of future uses. The box is made from 40% recycled boxboard and is fully recycable, and we made the decision not to print on the box so that it could be used again by our customers should they wish to do so. When initially shopping for box solutions, my eyes were immediately drawn to the bespoke, glossy boxes printed in our branding and finished with shiny gold leaf. However, these wouldn’t make a nice presentation box for the 1st edition of your Dads’ favourite book that you scoured hundreds of bookshops to find for his special birthday. Nor the hamper that you spent so long carefully crafting for your colleague who is leaving for maternity next week, packed full of goodies for her and baby to enjoy together. Nor for your four year old to turn into a new maze for Fluffy the hamster. Many of these boxes wouldn’t even be suitable for the recycling bin as the materials used are not fully recyclable. Not only can our boxes be recycled in the traditional way, they can also be used again and again in any creative way you wish to do so (and we would love to see your ideas on our social media pages #blindbadgercocktails).
Our outer sleeve is printed on paper sourced from sustainably managed forests using 100% vegetable-based ink.
The ‘Checked for ‘Paw’fection’ sticker on the outside of our box not only reassures you that your box has been carefully packed and checked, but is printed on FSC-certified acid free paper using soy ink.
The packing peanuts inside our boxes are a natural, starch-based alternative to polystyrene packaging. As well as using them again if you have a need, they can be added to your compost bin, or if you don’t compost, you can dissolve them in water and they will wash away safely in your sink.
Our doypacks (the little pouches that might come inside your box) are recyclable as they are made from FSC-certified paper and sustainable film, so as well as helping to keep any ingredients that we might send in your box fresh, they can be popped in your mixed recycling once you have enjoyed your drinks.
We use glass bottles as our standard bottling solution as these are the easiest to recycle and have less of an environmental impact (some of our miniatures do come in plastic bottles and whilst they can be recycled this is not our preferred solution but is sometimes necessary). All of our aluminium caps are hand-crimped on the bottle to ensure that they arrive with the tamper proof seal activated but once opened the bottles can either be recycled or re-used. The cork are secured in place with wax and allow the bottles to be used again. The labels on our bottles are made from cane fibre and are free from silicone and wood, so they are compostable and completely recyclable. They can be left on the bottle if you are recycling or soaked off if you wish to re-use the bottle.
The recipe cards inside your box are printed using 100% vegetable-based inks on paper sourced from sustainably managed forests. Whilst we hope that you will keep your cards to use again and again, we have intentionally chosen not to laminate the cards so that they are fully recyclable should you wish to do so.
Our boxes are shipped using a logistics company who are committed to reducing their impact on the environment. They use fuel-reduction strategies, such as advanced route planning, extensive vehicle maintenance and low-emission vehicles, they tailor their facilities to support greenhouse gas reduction and they donate time and funds to helping communities around the world not just to plan and prepare for unexpected events but also providing support should disaster strike. In addition to this, we pay an extra charge per item to upgrade our deliveries to the ‘carbon neutral shipment’ service to show that we care about climate change and that we are committed to reflecting this in our business.
We hope that the care we have taken to choose responsible packaging solutions reflects our commitment to reducing our impact on the environment, not just for badgers, but for all creatures.