Ever since the launch of Laine des Iles, I have been searching for the most environmentally-friendly packaging possible for my orders. Unfortunately, until very recently, the choices have been very limited. Cardboard boxes are great for bigger orders, but heavy and too large for smaller orders, and so add too much to the shipping costs. But bags were only available in various types of plastic, so we had little choice but to use these.
However, our main packaging supplier has finally added paper postage bags to their range, and so we will now be making the switch to completely recyclable paper and cardboard packaging for all of our orders. As soon as our remaining stock of plastic bags and padded envelopes has run out, we will not be using these any more. They will be replaced as follows:
Yarn orders – all yarn orders will now be shipped either in paper postage bags or cardboard boxes. All tape used is paper tape. So you will no longer have to strip the plastic tape off the box before putting it in the recycling.
Books and magazines – these will now be shipped in rigid cardboard envelopes.
Needles and other small items – these will now be shipped in 100% paper padded envelopes. We will no longer use envelopes with plastic foam or bubble padding.
Exceptions – where it is necessary to attach documents to a shipment, we need to enclose these in a plastic “documents included” wallet. There is no alternative to this, but once our current stock of these wallets is used up, we will be switching to a greener version made of 60% recycled plastic. Occasionally, for extra protection, we may wrap needles in bubble wrap. However, this will always be re-used (but clean) bubble wrap that we have received in incoming packages. It will never be new bubble wrap that we have bought for this purpose.
Unfortunately there is always a downside. Paper packaging is more expensive, and also heavier than plastic. This means that this will increase our costs not only for the packaging, but also in some cases for shipping. Despite annual price increases by La Poste, we have kept the same postage costs for 3 years. We intend to hold our prices until the summer, and will always try to offer the lowest possible rates. However, rates for some postage categories may have to increase slightly in the autumn. But we think that this is a price worth paying for a cleaner planet.