Helping The Environment...One Parcel at a Time

It is no secret that we need to be protecting the environment now more than ever. With a rapid yearly increase in the population comes an increase in the damage to our planet. It's becoming clear to many scientists (and subsequently us) that we are putting too much strain on Earth's resources which is having irreversible consequences. If every single person made small, eco-conscious differences, this can, and will, have a huge impact.

Throughout my college/university years, the majority of my artistic work was underpinned with environmental influence and I always aimed to highlight the damage that society is causing. I studied Fashion & Textiles so a lot of my focus surrounded the production and disposal of clothing. When I opened The Doodle Shed, although not a clothing brand, I knew that I had to make every one of my processes as eco-friendly as possible. This is an ever-changing world and I am by no means suggesting that as a business, our eco-footprint is perfect, but we are constantly researching new ways to improve. I wanted to highlight a few amendments we have made in the hope that it may inspire you to take a closer look at your lifestyle and see what changes you can make too.

| Recycling

I think (or hope) that nowadays most UK households are recycling or at least are aware that they should be recycling. Many County Councils have amazing and simple schemes in place to aid your recycling process such as coloured wheelie bins and bottle banks. As we run our business from home, the amount we have to recycle is probably more than most so our bins get filled up pretty quickly...especially during the Christmas rush! One way we have been recycling alternatively is by using cardboard boxes in our garden beds/allotment. They are particularly good for the soil as they break down into organic matter releasing additional nutrients plus the cardboard makes a good habitat for earthworms which are also amazing for the soil! We have also experimented with putting cardboard on top of the raised beds. This is perfect to prevent the growth of weeds in between our flowers/vegetables.

| Our Clay

We get a lot of questions in regards to the clay that we use to make the majority of our products. Whilst ceramic/polymer clays make for a sturdier finish, we choose to use air-drying clays for our products as not only does this decrease our processing times, meaning our customers get their orders a lot quicker, it is also a lot better for the environment. Air-drying clay does not have to be fired which means a lot of energy is saved during the drying process. It is also naturally non-toxic and made from biodegradable materials. 

| Processes

There are many different processes that make up The Doodle Shed and we try to make them as environmentally friendly as possible. We have made a number of small changes (and big ones) but to name a few:

• Not using plastic straws to stamp holes in our clay We invested in a metal straw to reduce the amount of plastic waste
• Ordering in bulk We re-organised our studio and were able to invest in more shelving which meant we have more space to order materials in bulk. This means less frequent deliveries and therefore reduces our eco-footprint
• Upcycle/Re-use We never throw anything away and save every scrap of thread or material to be used in another future project
• Thermal Printers & BPA-free labels A thermal printer means no ink or toner and also requires less energy. We make sure we use BPA-free labels as there are chemicals in some thermal papers that are bad for the environment
• Reducing Studio Heating We live in an old Victorian Townhouse with lots of fireplaces. This causes heat loss and draughts. Whilst our energy company is 100% renewable (Octopus Energy), investing in Chimney Sheeps means less heat loss and therefore less heating (good for our wallets & the environment!)

| Packaging

Our packaging is probably where most of our eco-conscious decision-making has occurred as this can have such a detrimental impact on the environment and has very simple fixes. We pack all of your orders in brown cardboard boxes/envelopes that can either be re-purposed or recycled. We get a lot of questions regarding why we don't use bubble-wrap. Bubble-wrap can't be recycled so instead we use acid-free tissue paper padding which provides a safe environment for your order to travel in and it can be recycled. For larger orders such as our vases, we use bio-degradable packaging peanuts which dissolve in contact with water. As mentioned previously, our labels are BPA-free and we also use eco-friendly packaging tape which can...yes you guessed it...BE RECYCLED!!

| Delivery Service

Whilst there are a whole host of delivery companies to choose from, we go with Royal Mail on nearly every occasion (unless we ship something HUGE which RM aren't able to facilitate). Royal Mail are the greenest delivery company for multiple reasons such as holding the highest electrical van fleet of around 5,000 electrical vans, they purchase 100% renewable energy across their whole estate and they have deployed 10 million litres of biofuels in their fleet of heavier trucks!

These are just a few ways in which we are making an eco-conscious effort but we recognise that business/processes are constantly evolving so we are continually researching into our most eco-friendly options. We are quite proud of where we are now but know there is always room for improvement! I hope this blog post has given you a further insight into our business and perhaps inspired you to make some changes of your own. We certainly won't be stopping there!