Sustainability

Sustainability? A tough one!

There is a lot of vagueness out there. We spent a lot of time deciding how to approach this topic and spoke to academics in environmental management. It was clear that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to sustainability. Having looked at various options we decided that our contribution would be two-fold:

Environment: A more responsible – less waste approach
“Giving back” to a society that would really benefit from our help – where it wouldn’t be a drop in the ocean.

ENVIRONMENT: OUR PACKAGING IS MADE FROM RECYCLABLE MATERIALS

We use recyclable plastic for all our packaging. When it comes to the environment, plastic gets a LOT of stick. “Single-use” plastic is thankfully being obliterated; slowly, but surely, via government pledges.

The plastic we use is a durable but very recyclable material so YES it CAN have other lives! We need to do more though…Recyclable plastic is not being recycled ENOUGH! We would very much like to do more – we need to do more.

This is where we (you and I) come in. We need to make our voice heard by authorities.

So this is our environmental pledge:

We’d like to be more active. I think our generation should vigorously exert pressure on authorities to place environmental issues, such as recycling more plastic, higher up on their agenda.

How can we do that?
By joining forces! See below!

It’s time for less words more action!

So, e-mail your local authority and ask them how they plan to invest further in recycling, because those mountains of plastic need to be reduced. Now, not in 100 years. Show them no mercy! Keep nagging them, till you get a reply.

If you get an official reply from your authority, send it to us! In recognition of your effort, we’ll send you a 10% discount code for your next purchase. We will upload the best letters onto this site so everyone can see what’s been achieved.

If you don’t get a reply send us a picture of anything else you’ve done, e.g. a petition to get more recycling done or a visit to the local authority recycling depot. You’ll still deserve that 10% code and we’ll send it!

Other things we do (or don’t do) as part of our sustainability pledge

We use natural ingredients and when possible, ingredients that are the produce of organic cultivation, as in the case of our star ingredients, i.e. olive leaf extract, grapeseed oil, Cretan mountain tea.
Our active ingredients are exclusively sourced from Greece and other Mediterranean countries, so they don’t need to travel from the other side of the world for production.
Our products are developed with the environment in mind. For example, our fantastic cleanser is wash off – no cotton wool needed, no wasteful wipes with nasty chemicals.
We don’t try and sell you zillions of products you don’t really need… keeping the use of resources and processes to a minimum.
We use the same recyclable packaging for our key products – which reduces the processes and therefore energy used to make each range. They also look more uniform in your bathroom– less complicated!
No unnecessary outer packaging which only gets thrown away. Needless extra packaging is crazy and wasteful… We believe less is more.
We go that extra mile to reduce carbon footprint when designing our offers. Let me explain. If you take advantage of our multi product offers, it’s probably because you want plenty of the good stuff. By ordering more in one go you actually reduce carbon footprint due to reducing transport frequency. We want to pass as much as that back on to you and think our multi product offers are the beez and eez! It might not be much but every little bit counts.

SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT TO US AND WE PLEDGE TO KEEP LEARNING, REVISING AND ADAPTING TO SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS

Alternatives – We checked them out

There are some really weird and wonderful alternatives to plastic out there, but they are way too expensive. This would unavoidably increase production costs, which in turn, would be passed on to you, our customer. I think that’s unfair – period. Why should our generation have to literally pay for the previous generations’ mistakes? Oh, and BTW, the ability to keep the actual product fresh in these alternatives is limited. Shelf life is typically 6 months; after that, the material starts behaving badly. Less shelf life equals more waste!

GLASS? THINK AGAIN!

We looked into glass and found that glass products have way more breakages which again increases waste. Glass is much heavier to transport and therefore produces more emissions. Finally, large quantities of sand are needed to make glass – which of course can’t be replaced (desert sand won’t do unfortunately.)

LESBIAN PRIDE

My grandfather was born on the island of Lesbos, the third largest island in Greece. This is where the poet Sappho lived in antiquity. Sappho had the guts to express her feelings to another woman. Go girl! Sappho is considered The Queen of all Lesbians and this is how the term lesbian was coined. Cool eh?

The island has had world news coverage due to the humanitarian efforts of its residents over the Syrian refugee crisis. The island has suffered though. Tourism figures had plummeted even pre-Covid.

We see Lesbos as a hidden gem. It’s a kind of a “bohemian” island with a much more laid-back approach to tourism. It is an island whereby traditional, less intensive farming approaches have always been abundant – which in turn result in “healthier” soil and therefore outstanding nutritional benefits.

Our key ingredient – the olive leaf extract is from Lesbos and it is organic. We source this from local suppliers because it has a very high concentration of polyphenols (the good stuff in olive products).

As Young Carpo blossoms, we pledge to continue to search for local suppliers. In fact, we are currently in discussions with local suppliers – watch this space!