Statistically speaking, if you're reading this, you've shopped online in the last 30 days. I do it often, my own mother does it every so often, and I know my grandmother has done it at least once this year, and she's nearly 70. It's easy, it's satisfying and it's quick, and we’re now in an era of online-everything.
The convenience of online shopping hasn't always been paired with eco-conscious packaging though, and we've increased our plastic consumption because of it. While easy deliveries come with a cheap thrill, only 14 per cent of plastic is recovered from landfill for recycling in Australia, so the impacts are ongoing even after the unboxing excitement has worn off. All those post satchels, all that protective plastic wrapping and all those fun fillers - it’s all unnecessary, it’s all going to landfill, and some of it is ending up in the ocean.
I hear you. "Online shopping is too good to give up in the name of a little plastic pollution and the feeling of filling up a virtual cart in my underwear from the couch is just so efficient." I get it. Online shopping is convenient, but all the packaging is a problem.
What we’ve come to expect with packaging - the extravagant multi-layer experience with boxes inside boxes, ribbons and bows, three different types of tissue paper, bubble wrap, polystyrene - is just unnecessary. It's just stuff you end up throwing away.
This wasteful packaging and plastic pollution problem is what inspired a better alternative from The Better Packaging Co and their plant-based sustainable packaging solutions are changing the e-commerce industry one online order at a time.
Now that I've partnered with The Better Packaging Co, I can proudly say, The Fashion Advocate packaging is plastic-free and eco-friendly. My tissue paper is toxic-free and biodegradable, the inners of my orders are ethical and sustainable, and now, my packaging aligns with my environmental values too.
It's not just recyclable, it's not just plastic-free, but it's 100% home-compostable and zero-waste. This is the definition of packaging perfection to me, and what it lacks in shininess and flashiness, it compensates in positive impacts.
I can’t praise Kate Bezar and Rebecca Percasky enough for the business they’ve launched. Kate and Rebecca have created a truly sustainable packaging solution, and they’ve consciously considering the complete lifecycle impact from raw material sourcing right through to end-of-life disposal. They've moved away from the traditional confines of a linear economy (make, use, dispose), and they’re championing a circular future.
Through The Better Packaging Co, Kate and Rebecca work to reduce the amount of plastic waste associated with online shopping with three different packaging solutions; comPOST packs, OPACKS and SWOP packs. Each postbag is a combination of plant-based, biodegradable, home-compostable, recyclable or reusable components, the entire product range is sustainable.
Aligning with The Better Packaging Co makes perfect sense to me, and now, each and every one of my deliveries are just as good on the outside as they are on the inside. Plastic-free, guilt-free, ethical and sustainable online shopping has never looked or felt so good.
The Fashion Advocate x
