Economical and eco friendly packaging

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Wow!
where do you live where you can still get paper grocery bags? I envy you that option!
Here in Massachusetts we are almost mostly back to Paper Bags. Plastic bags and water bottles are ruining the landscape around here :( I LOVE the Paper bags for grocery, that is until they start to get thinner like they did with the plastic -that would ruin it lol.
I only use paper bags to put my soaps in for the customers and use cardboard boxes for the soaps.
Recycle is a BIG thing here and I love it
 
Here in Massachusetts we are almost mostly back to Paper Bags. Plastic bags and water bottles are ruining the landscape around here :( I LOVE the Paper bags for grocery, that is until they start to get thinner like they did with the plastic -that would ruin it lol. I only use paper bags to put my soaps in for the customers and use cardboard boxes for the soaps.
Recycle is a BIG thing here and I love it

They have outlawed 'single use plastic bags' in our state as of 01/01/2020 and you either bring your own or pay the store 5 cents for a paper bag. They tried to outlaw plastic straws, but the ACLU stepped in because there are a lot of elderly and disabled folks who use them.

I remember a time when we only had paper bags and we didn't pay for them, but someone decided that plastic would be better. We used have paper straws until someone decided that plastic would be better. I remember a time when we didn't have designer water...which is where the majority of your plastic in landfills comes from. We glass bottles for our soda/pop, ketchup, mayo, mustard, pickles and so on and so forth...it's all plastic now. Frozen vegetables came in waxed cartons as did milk and juice...no plastic.

When recycling first started some 30 years ago, the rules were pretty strict and your stuff wouldn't get picked up if you didn't follow them. Now days, it's just another garbage container and I don't blame China for not wanting our recycling anymore.

Outlawing 'single use bags' is stupid in the fact of all of the rest of the plastic we use. We use plastic bags and plastic cartons for our produce. We use plastic and styrofoam for meats. Deli uses plastic bags. Of the four suppliers I use, Brambleberry is the only one that use glass bottles.
 
Outlawing 'single use bags' is stupid in the fact of all of the rest of the plastic we use. We use plastic bags and plastic cartons for our produce. We use plastic and styrofoam for meats. Deli uses plastic bags.

It is not Stupid, it is a START.
If we did NOTHING untill we could 'do it all' now THAT would be Stupid.
 
We banned single use carrier bags in England a couple of years ago and if you want a recyclable carrier it's now 5 or 10p. Usage rates have dropped to between 90-95%.

We need more stores and manufacturers to stop using plastic, styrofoam, deli bags - they can do it but until legislation forces them, they will keep finding reasons not to.
 
@dixiedragon there's a reason we're top 3 worst ocean polluter - we're surrounded by ocean and there's too much plastic so a lot of waste goes to the water.

Glass is expensive. Plastic bottles are expensive even. A lot of people can't afford to buy a liter of shampoo so companies have come out with sachets. Even mayonnaise bottles have their sachet little brothers.

Too much trash. That also means there's not many things readily available to reuse if I have to get it from others. We at home have greatly reduced plastics. The few we do use, like milk n yogurt cartons are made into eco bricks.

Our lotion bars at home rests on whatever surface we forget them on lol, or on little plates that are the last of their sets.

I have looked into paper. My issue is, with the sweating that goes on here, I've experienced ink transfers on some of my soaps. It's the same issue for lotion bars. Unless it's traveling a very short distance, all the oil will seep through the paper.

Wow!
where do you live where you can still get paper grocery bags? I envy you that option!
The Philippines :)
They've stopped single use plastics in supermarkets several years back. If you don't take your reusable eco bag with you (a lot forget still lol) you'll have to lug your stuff in handle-less paper bags, or a big box that they dispose of by giving it to you haha.

Some fast food chains have stopped single use utensils as well when you dine in. They'll give you a straw if you ask, but biodegradable bamboo straws and reusable metal ones are trending now. People bring their own when they go out. In fact, a lot of people bring their tiffin boxes in for their takeaway orders too.

@DeeAnna I've seen people use cloth. Cute ones. Makes me wonder where they got em. Old clothing in this house gets given to the poor or cut up to use in the kitchen, which I'm hoping people will do when they receive something from me wrapped in cloth. That's another of my issues - using something others can safely throw, in case they're not as eco conscious as we are. I will go through the bin and see if there's something there I can use, thanks for the reminder :)

@Tourmaline thanks, I did not think of fabric stores. I should order glassine to try, but I'm not sure if the lotion bars will withstand the heat. I do make round soaps but not sure yet if I want to buy coffee paper hehehe

@Lindywine and @CatahoulaBubble, same answer as the above for the glassine but I do use local materials to tie my soaps up once they're wrapped in paper. We have lovely abaca or sinamay string, looks better than jute in my opinion, and I've used colorful paper yarn as well.

@SideDoorSoaps the danger is, if people are like my mom they'll forget that bag and then eventually toss it hahaha. Also, it'll up my customer's costs hehe. I'm trying to get handmade soap to others who can't readily afford the other "premium" ones so I'm keeping my costs low.

I love the idea of wrapping soap in catalogs, book pages and magazines. Is there anything in the ink that would cause DOS?
Good question.

@Lin19687 the paper grocery bags are getting thinner here as well lol

Outlawing 'single use bags' is stupid in the fact of all of the rest of the plastic we use.
It's a start at least. Here people are finding ways to stop using plastic. I mentioned utensils and straws and tiffin boxes above. I also sell biodegradable bamboo toothbrushes and bamboo cotton buds. I've used cloth wipes and diapers instead of disposable ones on my baby. We've not bought bottles of shampoo, conditioner nor lotion in years. We use loofahs even in the kitchen. People are urging companies to do something about plastic use. One small thing multiplied by many will make a difference.

@LilyJo you are right. It has to be in legislation, like with the plastic bags. They can slowly do it with other things too. I hope they do sooner than later, for my kid's sakes.
 
I would love love love to get back to the re-usable glass bottles, where you turn them in and get a deposit back.
I would love to experience that. They stopped doing it here while we were elsewhere and by the time we actually lived her they've switched to plastic.
 
@TheGecko - gonna have to disagree with you. We have to start somewhere, right?

I would love love love to get back to the re-usable glass bottles, where you turn them in and get a deposit back.

I live in the original 'bottle bill' state and today we are one of only ten states that have such a program. Originally the program covered beer and soda/pop cans (5 cents) and bottles (10 cents), then was later changed to include plastic soda/pop bottles, then plastic water bottles, then all plastic bottles except for milk and infant formula, and most recently the amount was changed to 10 cents for all. The later was a response to the fact that redemption had fallen to an all-time low despite self-serve redemption machines and now, redemption centers.

While there was a huge resurgence in redemption when the price first changed from 5 to 10 cents (who wouldn't want to get double your money back), the simple fact is, for the majority of people, 10 cents a bottle or can is just not worth the effort to store, transport and redeem.
 
@Dawni: Wow, it's great to hear about all the things the Philippines is doing to combat plastic waste! Makes my environmentalist heart go pitter-pat. :) Colorado really needs to get onto this train. Denver has decent recycling programs but the rest of the state? Not so much. My mom and I have to drive half an hour to recycle stuff. And single-use plastic bags are still a thing here, unfortunately. I bring my own reusable bags to stores but sometimes people look at me funny.

Check out fabric stores immediately after a holiday, or at the change of seasons. I'm not sure if this is the case in the Philippines, but here fabric stores will often have the previous holiday's or season's prints on sale when they're trying to make space for the new season's stock.

@Kiti Williams: Awesome, do you have a pattern for that? Any photos of the finished product? I suck at knitting, but I have a friend who knits and loves the environment as much as I do.
 
Dawni - I’m with you on simple and eco friendly packaging. I print my labels on home printer on brown paper - they look simple, cool and stylish. Check them out on my Instagram. As far as lotion bars - my idea was to wrap them in homemade beeswax wrap and tie with jute twine, however for now I’m just wrapping them in wax paper and place them in small recycled carton boxes.
 
I go swimming in the sea off the north coast of Galicia, Spain, and discarded single use plastic bags are a common sight in the waters round here. There's something badly wrong when non-perishable materials end up in a delicate ecosystem like the sea, and the outcome is self-evident, the number of marine life forms that are killed outright or damged from consuming plastics is scandalous, and the upshot is that we're on the receiving end sooner or later, in the form of the fish on your plate. So I feel it does make sense to oblige people to not use single use plastics, any steps taken in that direction strike me good ones. Spanish law forces stores to charge for bags (0.05€) and it seems to be working.
 
I love the idea of wrapping soap in catalogs, book pages and magazines. Is there anything in the ink that would cause DOS?

Traditionally, some inks have used metal to get their color (black or reds come to mind). I’m sure the consumable nature of society has changed some of that due to cost, especially with news papers being lower quality in general because they know it’s a consumable product. If you only use your local paper for wrapping you can ask about the ink composition to be sure.
 
Have you ever heard of rice glue? You can easily make it yourself. It's been used in Asia for literally ages. It's still used in modern times. Kids make paper kites with it here. It's acid free and so cheap! I have no idea how long it would last but we used it for a paper packaging test tonight and it dried very securely.
 
Has anyone tried glassine bags for lotion bars? They’re made from paper, but have a very smooth finish due to the process used. I ordered three sizes to use for soap and the smallest ones are too small, but the size looks like it would be right for a small lotion bar.
 
Has anyone tried glassine bags for lotion bars? They’re made from paper, but have a very smooth finish due to the process used. I ordered three sizes to use for soap and the smallest ones are too small, but the size looks like it would be right for a small lotion bar.
I haven't used glassine bags for my lotion bars but I do use kraft paper deodorant tubes for them and everyone seems to love them.
 
@Ex-ArmyChick how sweet, thank you for thinking of it. We do however get the stuff here.... It's more my unwillingness to use em lol

Less is more, yes?

I wonder if your friend donates or sells the stuff here? We have a lot of second habd shops selling stuff they've opened from "US bales." I actually buy most my clothes there, on the rare times I think I need a new shirt or something haha

Check this out. I posted it on Instagram and got a DM from someone telling me they now know what to do with their kid's school sheets.

A lady ordered soaps for her prayer group. This lady had previously "donated" to me a whole box of their lectures, songs, etc. printed on what we call groundwood paper. I used those to wrap her soap, clean side down hehe

I like your idea about kids decorating paper!

Re: lotion bars. I started with more beeswax than I'm using now and they were too difficult to use according to me and my testers lol so far no one has carried them in pockets or bags coz it's just too hot n sticky once you leave the house to use or reapply haha so for home use I think my current recipe is ok.

@Mobjack Bay I looked into glassine bags.. Maybe I'll order some as my lotion bar isn't square that's easily wrapped in glassine sheets and making the bags would be too time consuming.

@Zeb Lisik you mentioning rice glue takes me back to my and my teenager's preschool years lol. We used those a lot back then, don't know why I didn't think of that. But the soap I wrapped in the pic has no glue whatsoever and it works in my opinion. What do you think?

Ms. @Sharon Patterson unfortunately kraft paper tubes won't be cost effective for me. I've only found two suppliers so far and they're not cheap here. Maybe when the demand goes up prices will go down but until then..... Also, I haven't found anyone who can tell me if they hold up in our climate.
 

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@Dawni Looks pretty good. I guess you'll know if it stays with just a tie by using it for a while. I'm finding paper wrapping bars of soap so tedious for my big dumb fingers hahaha Let me know how well it all stays together
 
@Dawni Looks pretty good. I guess you'll know if it stays with just a tie by using it for a while. I'm finding paper wrapping bars of soap so tedious for my big dumb fingers hahaha Let me know how well it all stays together
I guess this is another advantage of being small - tiny hands lol

I will update. I have an order that has to travel some distance and I'll know after that.
 

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