It's a term used for businesses who are trying to make people believe they are doing more for the environment than they really are, and with a name like the little green candle company it's something I have been careful to avoid since the beginning. Because I know there's no such thing as a truly eco friendly candle - after all these are luxury, nonessential items. But I do believe simple pleasures are an important part of life, and try to offer a more sustainable alternative for eco-conscious customers who want to make good choices. So I am careful to avoid any of those meaningless and inaccurate cliches that make products sound better for the environment than they actually are...
🌿 We won't tell you that our candles/melts/diffusers are free from toxins or 'nasties' - because any properly made candle is. Or, for that matter, free from any other chemicals which are either absent from the majority candles anyway, or that aren't necessarily harmful (parabens and phlatates are prime examples). Not to mention the terms 'clean' or 'pure' - in terms of home fragrance, they are completely meaningless.
🌿We won't tell you our wax is eco friendly because it is derived from soy/plants/vegetables - coming from a plant doesn't automatically make something eco. And in fact all plant waxes are manufactured through chemical hydrogenation which is hardly a natural process.
Nor will we tell you our wax is special because it's biodegradable - because just about all wax is! Or make inaccurate claims about paraffin wax to make our non-paraffin wax products sound superior - paraffin is no better or worse than any other wax, and claims that it soots/gives off harmful particles etc. have been repeatedly disproven.
🌿 We won't call ourselves eco friendly because our packaging happens to be recyclable - but then include tons of unnecessary and non reusable packaging with every order!
Being eco friendly as a business is not as simple as saying we use this, or we do that, so we are eco-friendly. The reality is more complex and much like our own lives can be lots of little decisions that together make an impact.
What we will do is:
🌿 Always try to be fully informed on the eco-credentials of all our ingredients so we can make the best choices wherever possible.
🌿 Give our customers honest and accurate information and avoid the misleading or meaningless.
🌿 Embed our reduce reuse recycle philosophy in all that we do. For example:
We avoid single use packaging wherever possible, be it recyclable or not;
We offer refill options where safe to do so (we won't refill glassware due to risk of glass shattering upon reuse);
We make simple products free from unnecessary extras like dye, glitter and presentation packaging;
We offer return schemes so our packaging can be reused.
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