Our Eco-Plan
We thought we'd share with our customers what we are trying to do to prevent waste and conserve energy, which will hopefully result in doing a little something to help nurture our planet. It's the only one we have and we need to treat it with care and respect. Any suggestions on how we can do things better are extremely welcome, just email them to sales@somethinspecial.com.
We do not do any animal testing (only human testing on willing family members and customers) and none of our suppliers participate in animal testing. We checked. And double-checked. We've have long term relationships with most of our suppliers for over 10 years and consider them business partners and friends.
We've tried to prevent using paper, but when we do, we print on both sides (never just 1 side is used) and when we archive our orders, we shred and use for box fill. We also do the same for file folders, we flip and when both sides of the tab are used, we shred and use for box fill.
When we receive supplier shipments, we reuse the boxes and packing materials (that includes bubble wrap, peanuts, newsprint). If we don't use the boxes, we break them down and take them to the recycling dumpster.
When we buy peanuts, we purchase the cornstarch peanuts which are bio-degradable and disintegrate in water leaving no toxic waste. We do re-use the regular peanuts we receive from our suppliers, so please keep these away from children and pets.
If I use tissue paper to wrap your small items in your orders, it is 100% recycled.
I have requested that my suppliers not send us paper catalogs, but if they do, I email them to be removed and shred for box fill.
I shred all junk mail, extra envelopes and any scrap pieces of paper.
Our packaging, either plastic or metal, is recycleable. We are investigating using already recycled packaging. All our product packaging is made in the USA.
We recycle ink jet cartridges and toner cartridges.
We do most of our printing in draft or economode, to consume less ink and toner.
We have a thermal ship label printer so we do not consume ink or toner when printing shipping labels.
We recycle all our cans, emptied plastic jugs and bottles.
We turn our computers off at night.
We shred any clean cartons or thin boxes (such as soda and cereal boxes) and reuse as box fill (yep, our shredder is very busy).
Since I have a home-based business, I do not drive to work every day. I very rarely have to fill up my gas tank.
Small things, lights off when I leave a room, don't leave the water running when not being used.
For grocery shopping, I have big cotton reusable bags that I bought from Meijer for .99 cents each.
I unplug my cell phone charger when it's not charging.
I've cut down on my electric treadmill use at the fitness center by taking good, old-fashioned outdoor hikes at my local state parks, which are very beautiful and peaceful.
We just replaced all our light bulbs with CFL bulbs and replaced all faucets with low flow showerheads and faucet aerators.
Once again, all suggestions welcome!
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