Eliminating Plastic Packaging from our Stores

 

Single use plastic packaging has really got out of control.  It’s having a massive impact on our environment and the ocean.

Ecodownunder is based on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.   We live, work and play by the sea and it inspires much of what we do.  So it was important to us to make the commitment to remove all plastic packaging from our stores to ensure we don’t contribute to this nightmare of plastic getting washed into our oceans.

From the very beginning our focus has been on sustainability and whilst it’s hard to be both eco- perfect and commercially viable, we do everything that we can to minimise our environmental footprint.  Removing plastic packaging from our stores was a transition we had to make.

It wasn’t easy.  Plastic has been fantastic!  It’s protected our products from dust and fingerprints and made it easy to ensure our crisp white cotton sheets arrive at the homes of our customers in pristine condition.  But we had to be true to ourselves.  Plastic just had to go but we needed to ensure our customers were going to be happy with the alternatives.  

organic cotton shopping bags
We had been using biodegradable shopping bags but these were still just plastic.  And all plastic breaks down into tiny microplastics which end up in the ocean.
So we bit the bullet!  We converted to organic cotton shopping bags which our customers love and use over and over. 

Phasing out plastic packaging on products was a different issue.  After many discussions with our suppliers, we found different ways to pack our bedding without plastic.   Some products like linen, wool quilts, pillows and under blankets are now packaged in specially made cotton bags, designed product by product. Most sheets are packaged with a cotton ribbon.  So far, most customers are happy with our transition to plastic-free packaging.  In fact, we’ve had very positive feedback and people have been so appreciative of the extra effort we're making to eliminate single-use plastic.

We’re just thrilled to be free of plastic packaging.

What Next?  We are setting ourselves more challenges!  We’d love to tell you more about that too! Subscribe to our news and we'll keep you posted!