There has been a long pause in these types of blogs posts, why? I'm not entirely sure. But the time felt right to re-start the monthly eco alternatives blogs.
First i'm going to share some of the B corp business that we purchase from. But first, Have you heard of B Corp Certification? It "Measures a company’s entire social and environmental impact" A B Corp Certification is "...a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials." I'm currently in the very early stages or looking to become B Corp business and currently working on finding out my score to better understand what I need to do to and improve to achieve certification. This isn't a one time thing, its assessed yearly. And its not an easy thing to achieve, all areas of your business are examined in great detail (even the toilet rolls used) and can take months and months to complete.
Rituals: To be honest, Rituals hadn't been on my radar until Chris was on the search for a fragrance that contained a certain note. He had become obsessed with the hand sanitizer from Freight Store, Lewes and so when shops reopened he was on the hunt for something that hand the similar note. And he found it in Rituals. It was then that we learnt that Rituals was a B Corp certificated business.
Since Chris purchase, I treaded myself to a sample of Serendipity. The one I love is advertised "for men" but we'll skip that part. Lots of fragrances advertised "for her" are too floral, or too soft. They just don't suit me. (As a side note, it would be better to perhaps use lighter or heavily note's rather than the outdated "for him" "for her"
I have to say that this limited addition Serendipity is now on my birthday wish list!
Gousto: I never through that we would use Gousto, or any other recipe box company for that matter. Number one reason, waste. And you know how much i hate waste. However after we were gifted a box by a friend who had forgotten to pause her order before her holiday, our minds were changed. Firstly, no food waste. None, Sending perfectly measured ingredients means food waste is cut to zero "both in your kitchen and in our factory" With regards to packaging waste (a huge concern of mine) Gousto shared on their site in August 2019, that "Last year, we removed 75.9 tonnes of plastic from our boxes, not least thanks to our Eco Chill Box insulation, made with recycled paper. Next on the list? Making all Gousto-branded packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2022" This is music to my ears.
There's also the CO2 emmissions to consider. This again was something that really concerned me. And believe it or not, using a Gousto recipe box actually helps reduce your CO2 emmissions! By up to an incredible 23% compared to buying the same food at a super market. Thats a huge amount. And when we learnt that Gousto are B Corp certified, we knew everything they promise they will be delivering on and more. All this combined meant switching to Gousto felt like the right choices for us.
On top of this, Gousto saves us time, we eat much better than we ever have at home, before cooking similar meals for speed and ease, now we ea much more varied and with actual portion control. We split the cooking, It also means that we buy much less food over all each month.
If you are interested in giving Gousto, I have a little discount for you here. This is not a paid for add or in anyway affiliated with Gousto, just all customers get a link to share.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT NOTE BELOW Georganics I have been on a mission with toohpaste and shampoos. And I think I may have found a toothpaste, or should that be toothsoap, that I like. I'm not going to lie, the first day, it felt like, well, i'd just brushed my teeth with soap (had I said a naughty word and my mouth is being washed out?!) Second time the lather somehow shot up the back of my mouth into my nose... but by the third day, I was somewhat use to it. I'll call that a success! My teeth feel smooth and clean, no gritty residue like some tooth paste tablets I've tried. So i'm going to stick with it. I might have preferred the pepper mint flavour but as I use activated charcoal when i feel my teeth need a little brightening, i thought i'd give this option a try. Its super easy to us, I team mine with my bamboo tooth brush, a little water and away I go. I always finish with my tongue scraper. I use to do this first, but it helps remove the funny soap feeling for me doing it this way. As with most things, its just getting use to something new.
Georganics aren't a B Corp, but they are a "Natural, sustainable & effective oral... Our mission is to produce oral care products which are accessible to everyone. Conscientiously innovating products inspired by nature. Everything we do is aimed at minimising the environmental impact of this essential daily routine, utilising compostable and reusable packaging, making a low-impact lifestyle a reality for everyone"
UPDATE: 23.06.2022. Having recently learnt of how Georganics have treated staff, subsequence court case which was won by the employee and them still not receiving their settlement from March, I can't comfortable personally recommend. Georganics as a business.
Arkive: Another B Corp Certificated i've recently purchased from is Arkive, the All day every day conditioner. You need such a tiny amount of this product that i see its going to last a long time. But, i'm struggling to find much information their the website.
Being a B Corp Certificated business/brand means there are certain things they have to be doing, which means i'm spending with a company with a good core, but it would be great to have a little more information about the brand.
I've tried shampoo bars and conditioner bars. I loved a couple but the price and how long they lasted just meant they weren't a finically viable option. I'm happy to pay for quality products but when something last only a 3rd of the time or a 3rd of the uses as advertised, I can't continue to spend my money there. We have to be realistic. I found more pocket friendly ones but they left my hair feeling just horrible and looking like I hadn't washed it. I've now found a shampoo brand i'm liking and will be sharing more soon, but wanted to share my most recent purchase with you with regards to conditioner and not shared conditioners before, having stopped using them in the first lockdown.
I have so much more to share with you. including some good old home made cleaning products But for now, I hope this little insight to my recently purchases with B Corp certificated businesses and a new eco switch, are of interest.
As consumers and as business we can always do more, do better. But as log as we produce and purchase with understanding and a consciousness, look to ask questions, then we are making moves towards a better future.
Thanks for reading,
Rx