It's the first day of April! Know what that means? Today is the first day of Earth Month!
Here at Akinz we work hard to make our products and practices as sustainable as possible. Unfortunately, we often forget to talk about all of the things we do to reduce our carbon footprint, reuse and recycle material, and support local businesses! We're releasing this blog in honor of Earth Month to increase transparency and spotlight our most sustainable products and practices.
Let's talk about packaging; did you know that more greenhouse gasses are produced by packaging waste than by cars? Packaging is even responsible for half of global waster produced each year — that's 78 million tons of packaging waste.
We do a few things to combat this:
Compostable Mailers
All of our online orders are shipped in recycled cardboard boxes or compostable mailers. These mailers are made from corn and other plant material and can be thrown straight into the compost bin. You can learn more about our compostable mailer here.
No Extra Packaging
We never use extra packaging in our boxes or mailers; that means no packing peanuts, no bubble wrap, no plastic bags. Instead, we use a layer of recyclable tissue paper to protect items in transit.
Recyclable Bags
You'll never walk out of our store with a plastic bag; we only use recyclable paper bags in-store, and only if you need one.
From intentionally sourcing our materials to repurposing scraps, we work to make our production process as sustainable as possible.
Locally Sourced
We make 95% of our products in-house, and work with US-based suppliers — and, when possible, Colorado-based suppliers —so that none of our materials have to travel very far to get to us.
Check out some of our suppliers! We get our hang tags, paper packaging, and stationary from InkWorks in Fort Collins, and our bags and shipping boxes from Snow Globe Packaging in Fort Collins.
Repurposed Material
Instead of throwing out leftover yarn that doesn't make its way into one of our classic beanie color ways, we use ends of skeins to make one-of-a-kind multi-color scrappie beanies and scarves, like the one below:
We're big on making sustainable products that last and, when possible, using recycled fabrics for our clothing.
Our 100% cotton tea towels are made in the US and handprinted in-house and are a great way to start being more sustainable at home; once you start using fabric towels and napkins, we promise you won't miss the paper ones ;)
All of our leggings are made in Denver, less than 60 miles from our store. Even better, they're made from recycled water bottles!
We partner with MudLove to produce sturdy clay mugs with our own designs; for every mug made, MudLove donates one week of clean water to someone in the Central African Republic.
8% Salty Tee and Mountain Park Organic Tee
Our 8% Salty and Mountain Park unisex tees are made from a combination of organic cotton and recycled RPET polyester (each shirt is made from approximately four recycled plastic water bottles)!
To learn more about our commitment to sustainability, make sure to follow us on Instagram! We're going to be spotlighting these practices and more all month, as well as launching a fundraiser for Earth Day.
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