(4-min read)

This month we’re celebrating Plastic Free July - a global campaign urging people to refrain from using single use plastics in their everyday lives from July and beyond.
 
With community at our core, we know how important it is to protect our environment. Here at Essence of Harris we have been working progressively to become more sustainable. We’ve looked at our products, sustainability measures in-store, and changes in our production process.
 
We know we still have a long way to go, but we believe that by taking even the smallest steps we can make a big difference.
 

Eco-Friendly Product Innovations

If you’ve been with us for a while, you may have noticed that our Classics Collection and its packaging have undergone quite a transformation.

Our Bath & Body range comes in bottles which are made from 100% recycled materials and are also 100% recyclable. With sustainability in mind, we introduced our much-loved refill pouches across our bath and body range. Providing a more planet-friendly way to indulge in some me-time, our 600ml refill pouches use eighty percent less plastic than when repurchasing new bottles, and they even refill your bottles twice over.
 
Our Classic Collection reed diffusers have been increased from 100ml to 175ml, prolonging the lifespan of the diffusers. Speaking of our reed diffusers, they come in lovely glass vessels, which can be re-filled time and time again. When it’s time to refill, our diffuser refills can be purchased online or in-store, and once you’re finished with your refill, you can pop it in your glass bin, ready to be recycled.

In-store Sustainability Changes

It is important to us to provide our community with the opportunity to make more sustainable purchasing decisions. The introduction of our refill stations in both our Tarbert and Glasgow stores allow our customers to bring in their empty Hand and Body Wash bottles and refill them in-store. This reduces the amount of single-use plastic waste with the bonus of providing a cost saving for our returning customers.

Our refill pouches can be difficult to recycle depending on your local council areas recycling facilities. For this reason, we encourage customers to bring their empty refill pouches into their nearest store, where one of our team will be happy to take them off their hands and make sure they are recycled correctly.

Planet Friendly Changes in Production and Packaging

We are constantly striving to make our production processes more eco-friendly, and we are proactive in ensuring we use as little single-use plastic as possible. Although bubble wrap is currently still used throughout order fulfilment, we are actively introducing alternative packing like Hexcel Paper which is fully compostable and is a great alternative to bubble wrap. We try to avoid using bubble wrap as much as possible, however, sometimes, it is necessary to ensure our more fragile products meet their destination safely and intact.

You may also find protective air cushions in your package, these are fully recyclable too.
 
We have introduced 100% recyclable tape on our boxes, rather than traditional sticky tape, as well as the use of 100% biodegradable starch packing peanuts. Just pop them under running water, and they will disappear just like magic! Don’t worry if you have disposed of these in the past - if they do end up reaching landfill, they will dissolve naturally over time.

Our Sustainability Journey

At Essence of Harris, we are committed to working towards a more sustainable future. We are proud of how far we have come on our journey so far and we have lots of exciting plans to come. We hope to extend our refill stations to include more products in the future and we plan to introduce more sustainable product options. Our next goal is to eliminate single-use plastics from our order fulfilment.

 
If you have any suggestions on how we can improve even more, we’re always open to feedback. You can email us info@essenceofharris.com

Last updated: 09/10/23