A bag full of broken glass and sunscreen!
We typically choose glass for our packaging due to its infinite recycling properties and reusability options; however, that would not work with a product that needs to travel with you frequently.
Glass is also heavy and requires extra materials to protect it in transit, which adds to its carbon footprint.
We chose 100% sugarcane to house our new sunscreen for several reasons:
- Physically and chemically identical to traditional petrochemical plastic, it can be recycled in kerbside collection as #2 (unlike other bio-based plastics, which cannot be recycled this way). Or even better, refill it and reuse it.
- It is generated from sugarcane pulp, a non-edible byproduct of the agriculture industry.
- Renewable and fast-growing crop. As it grows, it removes carbon from the atmosphere. Commonly planted on degraded pasture land, sugarcane helps recover the soil too on otherwise unusable land.
- Unlike traditional plastic, produced from non-renewable petrochemicals, sugarcane reduces fossil fuel needs.
- Reduced energy consumption in processing.
We believe this packaging choice is currently the most sustainable and suitable option for our sunscreen. It is not a 100% zero waste solution; however, it is a significant improvement on alternative materials. Our ultimate goal is zero waste; however, at this point in time, there is no silver bullet.