We got green(er)
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
As a brand, we always endeavour to make choices that favour the greenest alternatives and we wanted to share a few of the last initiatives we’ve set in motion.
Recycling our perfume bottles
This is not new but our perfume bottles is 100% recyclable. It is made of glass, plastic and paper, which can be disposed of in a household recycling bin. However, there may be a few steps we wish to highlight in order to recycle in the most efficient way.
Firstly, you need to make sure that the bottles are emptied of all their content. The leftover perfumes can be poured into your sink as it is not corrosive. All ingredients are natural and derived from plants, grains, trees and fruits so even if they reach the soil, it wouldn’t pollute it. You should be able to easily unscrew the spray and stem to do so.
Once you have poured away any remaining content, you’d need to rinse the inside of the bottle with hot water to do away with any residue. Repeating the operation twice should get rid of the residue but you can take an extra step by heating up some white vinegar and filling up the bottle with it. Let it set for 30 minutes then discard the white vinegar in your sink and wash the bottle in soapy water before rinsing thoroughly. Put the spray and stem back on and discard in your household recycling bin.
Green packaging
What is new is our use of Herobubble mailers, which are compostable padded mailers. Our items are fragile to ship so we require some soft padding for our mailers. These mailers have a bubble padding made of biodegradable copolymer and refined corn-starch. These mailers can be composted at home by cutting them up and using them as brown materials in compost bins. They will take about 150 days to break down. They are also reusable by our customers! They come with two adhesive strips. We use the first one to ship to our customers and if they cut their package open along the flaps, they are able to use the second strip and reuse the mailer for their own purpose.
When it comes to larger items to ship, we are using carton boxes made of recycled materials and recyclable themselves. For cushioning, we are using biodegradable packing peanuts.
Solar powered
Credit photo: American Public Power Association on Unplash
When companies are mindful of reducing their environmental footprint, one area they are often neglecting in their use of power and its origin.
A few companies are aware and do invest in clean energy. For example, Ikea is now producing as much energy as they consume. They have achieved this by fitting more than a hundred of their stores with solar panels on their roofs. On a different scale, Fargeot Natural Perfumes followed the same idea. We are proud to announce that our workshop is now fitted with rooftop panels, hence solar-powered!
Australia is one of the countries that receives a great amount of sunshine at an average 3,000 hours of sunlight per year. This is approximately twice the amount a city like London receives. This is a fantastic natural asset we have with an opportunity to convert its rays into clean power.
Solar (also known as photovoltaic (PV)) cells are made of materials like silicon gathered in a panel and turn sunlight into electricity. Such energy doesn’t emit pollutants or greenhouse gases and doesn't consume any water. As long as it is fitted on rooftops, it also has a minimal impact on land occupation. A big part to be mindful of in terms of environmental impact is the manufacturing process for solar panels as well as their disposals. The photovoltaic cells require hazardous materials to be produced such as different types of acids that need to be handled and disposed of properly.
For our panels, we chose Canadian Solar panels. Canadian Solar describe themselves as industry leaders in reducing the environmental footprint of solar panels. Their production of solar panels is strictly monitored to adhere to international standards and ensure minimal environmental impact as well as guaranteeing a lifespan of 25 to 30 years for their panels. In Australia, they have even developed a solar panel recycling program with the recycling company Reclaim PV Recycling so solar panels that have run their lifespan don’t end up in the landfill and are being disposed of properly and safely.
More organic
"Organic" can be a word easily thrown around and used lightly so it's important to know its exact definition.
Organic products are issued from organic farming. Organic farming is a set of holistic principles designed to look after soil organisms, plants, livestock and people alike. It mainly means only using fertilizers from organic origin such as manure and favouring techniques such crop rotation, companion planting and biological pest control.
In Australia, products labelled organic need to fit strict criteria under the Australian Standard (AS6000). However, this is a voluntary standard, which means that the standard requirements do not need to be met for a product to be claimed and sold as "organic" in Australia. Businesses still need to be able to back their claim that a product is "organic" though. The next step is an organic certification by an external body. Certified products carry a logo as such. Certification is also essential for export.
At Fargeot Natural Perfumes, we endeavour to use organic products whenever we can. It can sometimes be tricky to find certified suppliers to ensure organic claims are correct or just to find organic versions of certain products. However, we have been working in the background for a while now to refine our sourcing of organic ingredients and are proud to announce all our perfumes are over 75% made of certified organic ingredients and the smell of our perfumes is as beautiful as ever!