Why we chose to use new bottles.
In our effort to ensure that we are adhering to our high standards of environmental conservation, we are switching to glass materials for our bottles. WicInd Group produces the "Love, Gaia" brand of natural personal care products. In that line we have lotions and creams (as well as other products) which previously were packaged in HDPE plastic bottles and jars. Although HDPE plastics is highly recyclable and often made with high levels of recycled materials, it still is using plastic. In the use of plastic we have found that there is a small amount of transference of the material to the product over time, and therefore we have decided that our customers will be served better by the use of neutral glass materials. Glass is also 100% recyclable, or even refillable, which leads into our return of packaging program. We will be able to provide additional incentives to our customers to return the packaging to the place of purchase (even websites), for a refund on the packaging, which can be directly applied to the new packaging. We do not have a deposit on our products, but we do offer an incentive for the customer to return the package, allowing us to ensure that our packaging is recycled properly. In most cases we will be able to clean and reuse the packaging for new products.
Ugly bottles make better products.
The specifications of the bottles and jars are also important for product protection. For this we require that the bottle or container be of a dark brown, dark amber, or ruby color. We are most interested in the dark brown color as it allows the least amount of light transmission. Although WicInd Group products do include anti-oxidants (tocopherol, etc.) we do not use synthetic or even naturally derived preservatives, and therefore the dark colors of our packaging helps to protect the product from light damage. We were not able to provide this same protection in the HDPE bottles, even with using the opaque white bottles. Unfortunately this can make for a less than pretty bottle or container. We had considered other alternatives, such as metallic sleeves or impregnating the glass with metallic materials, however these operations create problems with the recycling of the containers. Although WicInd Group would like all their customers to return the packaging to the place of purchase so that we could ensure that they are properly recycled or reused, we can not expect that this will occur 100% of the time, even with the incentives we offer. This being the case we have chosen to use the darkest color of glass commonly available that will still comply with most local recycling systems. The containers may be ugly, but at least they are environmentally safe, and safer for the customer, giving them better value for their money.
Glass Breaks, doesn't it.
There are issues of safety of the containers. WicInd Group has considered the safety of the containers. We are fully aware of the dangers of glass breakage. We have had to make a compromise in this situation. In the case of the consideration of breakage versus weight in shipping. We service many of our customers via the internet, and have to ship the product to them through the common carriers. We also have to consider bulk shipments to our stores from our manufacturing facility. The cost of shipping does present a problem that we are still considering, however we are going ahead with this program, with the idea that if shipment becomes an issue, we will reconsider this program, or find another method to transport the product. Breakage is the other major consideration. How this runs into problems that in order to ensure that the container is safe from normal use breakage, we have to make it quite heavy, and that is why we have problems with the shipment. We have decided to ensure that the container is heavy enough to ensure that it will be safe for the customer under normal use conditions. WicInd Group has a concern that outside of normal usage the product is still dangerous. If the customer is to throw the container against a wall and/or it falls on a hard surface from waist hight or higher we are concerned that it will have breakage beyond what we consider acceptable. We are still testing materials and container reactions to various types of internally developed test. Yes we are throwing our containers around, but in more controlled conditions and trying to find what specifications will need to be considered in the compromise we make for both breakage safety and shipping economy. Our basic objective is to specify a safe container and then consider how we will ship it economically.
- Heavy Glass Container
- Dark Brown color
- Multiple Sizes and Shapes
- Molding to Our Designs
- Recyclable Content
- Recycled Content
- Re-usability
- Adaptation to closures specified
Basic Specifications:
So that's all we got for now. We will post more when test provide additional information. In the meantime we are continuing to use the rest of our inventory of HDPE containers for our products. We are seeking suppliers of glass materials, and are working with several of them to find the best choice based on several criteria, including environmental considerations of the suppliers. As always social considerations are a large part our decision, however we do have to continue to produce products, so we have to make some compromises, but only when we have to.
Thank you,
James E. Doud
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