Refuse, Reduce, Rethink and Recycle - Turning Away From Plastic Packaging

We all hear messages urging us to be conscious of the environment. Today we'd like to share what Vustra is doing about it, and the quest to adopt eco-friendly packaging materials... let's start with plastic. 
 

Eliminating plastic from your life would be nice. But in the real world, it’s not like flipping a switch or quitting an addiction cold turkey. However, that doesn’t mean that you get complacent. Plastic packaging technologies have moved to minimize the reliance on the material, and where needed, use recycled plastic. Different materials have different numbers and processes for being recycled. Most recycling facilities accept type 1 and type 2 plastics. You can learn more about plastic recycling numbers here.
 

Here at Vustra - we worked with our production partners to embrace eco-friendly packaging by reducing plastic in our products.  As a result, we now use minimal plastic in our packaging and only the type that is >90% recyclable.
 

To paint a picture, each item was individually wrapped in its own plastic bag with various components made of non recyclable plastics. Talk of having the most non eco-friendly packaging, right? We refused to accept the norm and worked with our production partners to identify ways to reduce plastic, while still looking for ways how we can eliminate plastic bags in totality. Some of the components where plastic is a cheaper alternative are shirt butterflies, collar supports and individual plastic bags for each item.
 

We collaborated with our production partners to identify the critical aspects of packaging and industry requirements. Our team then researched alternatives for each component and found recyclable alternatives or ways how we can eliminate plastic completely. That’s 5000 individual bags, 15,000 shirt butterflies and 10,000 collar supports less that will:
 

• Release toxins into the groundwater from landfill sites
• Stay in our environment before breaking down for hundreds of years
• Get into the food chain through animals that ingest particles of plastic
• Waste energy during the manufacturing process

This is just one example of how we’re raising the standards for what it means to be a sustainable fashion brand.  When all of us make a small change, such as reusing a water bottle, opting for eco-friendly packaging and recycling plastic items, it makes a big difference. Shop planet friendly clothes for your closet today.