I searched for the ideal alternatives to plastic packaging for my products for 2 years, and I still struggle with packaging. http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/41
My manufacturer/distributor doesn't seem to have other customers who care - I am always positioning my self as an eco freak for complaining about waste and asking pesky questions. Since Free Trade and the economic down turn have killed off all four glass manufacturers in Southern Ontario, I am left with my local manufacturer's Chinese outsourced packaging and a powerlessness over how much plastic sneaks in.
Glass jars and bottles come only with plastic lids. Most of the time, I am able to select bakelite for jars instead of composite and metal trimmed mystery plastic. http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/216 Bakelite is a fairly simple resin without plasticizers (endocrine disruptors). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite It's basically kinda like a rock when thrown out. It has a foam liner that is obviously planet-hostile. Sometimes I luck out and my shipment comes only in a divided carboard box. Sometimes, every lid is in its own plastic baggie. I reuse the boxes and bags, but it pisses me off. It comes from the factory that way to preserve the sterilization. Nothing I can do about it, it seems.
Bottles are a bigger quandry. There are only a few sizes that come with bakelite caps. Most caps are HDPE type mystery caps. I avoid composite caps. Pump bottles are all mystery plastic. The best I can do is reuse these, refill them and take them back from customers, who get a $2-$3 discount.
I always list the cost of the packaging on my receipts so clients understand, and see the benefit of reusing and returning bottles.
Many of my bottles are donated to me, so I can pass them on to clients with tighter budgets after I clean them with soap water and sterilize with high proof grain alcohol - never isolpropyl alcohol!
Metal containers carry their own grief for manufacturers like me. http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/328
I ordered 2 corrugated cardboard cases of stainless steel canisters and to my horror, they arrived individually stapled shut in plastic bags! With the high cost, high embodied energy, and use limited to ointments, salves and relatively solid food storage, I am not able to package most of my stuff in these.
My guiltiest bottle is also simultaneously my greatest anti-plastic triumph. http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/213 Alice bottles are 99%+ recycled aluminum, so they're lightweight, opaque, unbreakable, preserve essential oils and keep products cool. While you never want to cook with aluminum, essential oils and other botanicals are safest and best kept in aluminum. Even stainless steel degrades with some essential oils.
But my darling Alice bottles come in the promising double walled corrugated cardboard boxes ALSO INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED IN PLASTIC! And their pumps, the only ones that work for lotions and thicker things, are of mystery plastic with metal springs! I do reuse the bags to package my 100g DIY supplies, but ARRRGH it's frustrating.
So my advice to keep your family out of the plastic loop is to:
1. Make your own as much as possible. I am happy to teach you! http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/5
2. Find local stores and makers who will refill, reuse or sell to you in bulk. Like me!
3. Choose glass and metal over plastic, and bakelite or metal where possible. You can trust that I've sourced the best I can find, but if you've found better alternatives, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT!
Love & RRRevolution, Tracey