Some thoughts from Me….
Before I begin, I would like to first say that I have a master’s degree in Environmental Science. I have multiple degrees, one in chemistry, the other biology and a minor in math from my undergraduate studies. I only list my credentials because what we do here at Good Earth, is based in chemistry and what is best for the environment. I am trained to understand molecules and how they impact humans and the planet. An example is our Squito Spray. I learned of catnip, the active ingredient in our bug spray, from a paper published by the American Chemical Society way back in 2011. It really does repell those pesky mosquitos better than Deet at the same concentration level.
A little about me. I have been advocating for the planet since I started the first recycling program at Lincoln High School in Manitowoc, WI in 1990 and earned the beloved nickname the Lorax (psst…. It is one of my favorite books). I have chained myself to trees to save Spotted Owl families in the Pacific Northwest. I was a Water Quality Scientist for 15 years working for a government agency. During my time working on the Great Lakes, I became known for my discovery of the Dead Zone in Green Bay. An area of water that is devoid of oxygen in a certain segment of the water column, usually near the sediment. No life can live without oxygen. It is like putting a plastic bag on our heads and asking us to breath. Aquatic life cannot be sustained in these dead zones. There are many of these dead zones throughout the world. They result from excess nutrients entereing the water bodies; mostly from humans, agriculture being the main contributor.
I have devoted most of my adult life to making the planet a better place. My LOVE for Mother Earth runs deep.
Plastics. Until the last few years, plastic were not an issue for us as a company. It was part of how we lived and did business. Now, for good reason, it has come to the forefront of my thoughts. People are shining a critical eye on plastics and their detriment to the environment. As of 2020, we are slowly moving towards using as much sustainable packaging as possible. I just purchased $7000 worth of paper tubing for our lotion bars. That is 4 times the cost of our old packaging. I hope our customers love them. It was a big investment for a small company like ours.
Soap. I used to wrap my soap in paper labels. Then people would touch the label and ruin the label with their fingerprints. I had no choice, but to change to a to a material that could withstand handling in a retail environment. Our new website allows you to buy unwrapped soap as a zero-waste option. Yay!!! What took me so long to do this? No clue...
Packaging. The bottles I originally used were aluminum. I went to plastic bottles because every time I ordered aluminum bottles they were dented (and they still are). Or worse out of stock. Due to Covid-19 our supply chain is in shambles. I can no longer source the bottles we used as I write this. Thus, we are going back to aluminum for certain products. They are more costly. Also, the energy expenditure to make aluminum is much higher than with plastic. Thus, the carbon footprint is fairly substantial. We can offset that through TerraPass, a company that offsets carbon emissions.
Statistics. On average it takes 450 years to break down plastic in landfill. Aluminum is 500 years. Glass will never break down. Aluminum is the most recycled substance in our waste stream. I feel good about using aluminum. We have also offered a refill option for our bug sprays, so another large piece of plastic is eliminated - the sprayer. In the next year, we will change over our garden balms and shea butters to aluminum containers also.
Shipping. The last thing I would like to speak to is Free Shipping. We are a small manufacture. Almost every day I hear the words free shipping. Thank You, Amazon. Nothing is really free though. The cost of shipping a product is added into the product cost or you get to pay a prime fee. We do offer free shipping on your orders over $75 and don’t charge you a fee or bake it into the cost. The average cost of shipping via the Postal Service is $9.50 a package, we charge $6. We also ship carbon neutral through UPS and offset our emissions for postal service packages. Not even Amazon does that. We switched to paper tape this year. A small thing, but all of our shipments are now 100% recyclable. Our peanuts can be dissolved in your kitchen sink or composted. The paper tape and the boxes we ship can be recycled, even the paper we use to print your invoice on is 100% recycled paper.
We are truly trying at Good Earth to do good by you and the environment. It is a complex world we live in. We are trying to navigate it the best we can and not be part of the problem. We love what we do and want nothing more than to be a company that you love too.
Thank you for helping me live out my dream. Without you and your loyalty, I would not be able to be live the life I love every day. Thank you for reading my ramblings… I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes.
“In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught.”
- Baba Dioum
XO ~Tracy
