Our packaging...
We send out orders in strong paper mailing sacks that have been tested to survive adverse weather conditions and the rigours of the Royal Mail postal system just as well as plastic/polythene does. Our latest discovery is 'grass paper' which is made from grass fibre, and is fully recyclable and compostable. Grass paper mailing bags have the same life span as standard paper but use significantly less water and energy in the production process and there are no chemicals involved. The overall CO2 emissions are greatly reduced compared to standard paper.
The inner 'polythene' sleeves that we use to keep your yarn clean and dry while it finds its way to you are compostable to standard EN 13432 which means they have been tested to break down into pieces which pass through a fine mesh within 12 weeks under industrial composting conditions. This is what the supplier we get them from says:
'End-of-life options for compostable peel & seal bags
After use, please dispose of this product in your food waste bin if available (check local recycling options), as it is designed to biodegrade in industrial composting conditions within 12 weeks. Also suitable for home composting, but this will take longer (timescales vary depending on disposal conditions).’
Books and magazines are packaged in cardboard postal wraps that can be recycled.
We re-use cardboard recycled from our yarn deliveries to protect knitting needles and notions in the post.
We reuse plastic bubble wrap to protect notions (such as eucalan wool wash) if we receive it in deliveries, rather than throw it away.
Knit Pro needles and notions are packed in thin polythene sleeves that are unfortunately, not widely recyclable. We hope that all of the commercial packaging, that is currently beyond our control like this, will one day be fully compostable/recyclable...
