We're turning One on Thursday 10th October and we're really excited! We were founded in late 2018 by four friends (Amy, Anya, Becky & Gabriela) who, frustrated by the lack of plastic-free alternatives to everyday items, decided to put their skills together to try and create a solution.
With more than 8 million tonnes of plastic entering the world’s oceans each year, endangering our marine wildlife and land mammals, it’s a steep mountain to climb. But nearly one year on, we've already grown with a team of staff, a range of our own branded products and we've got big plans to keep expanding. Read on to see some of our favourite accomplishments over the past year that we're so proud of.
2,855 Trees
This year, we planted 2,855 trees. We know, that's a lot of trees! In fact, it's enabled to offset up to 62 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 40 years. That's equivalent to taking 15 cars off the road this year.
Trees — all plants, in fact — take carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen. As a tree matures, it can consume 48 pounds of carbon dioxide a year (among other greenhouse gases) and release enough oxygen for you to breath for two years! Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing oxygen in its stead also helps limit global warming, providing for a cleaner, healthier climate.
703 Shampoo Bottles
We sold 703 shampoo bars this year - thanks so much for your help! Shampoo bars cut out the need for some plastic and also come in recycled paper instead. What's more, shampoo bars usually outlast liquid shampoo by two or three bottles, meaning you get more for your money and can cut down your shampoo's carbon footprint by around 66.6%
273,600 Makeup Wipes
This is actually one of our favourite stats! Makeup wipes can be an easy and effective way to cleanse our face at the end of the day, but traditional disposable wipes are a disaster for the environment! Most don’t disintegrate in the sewage system; they are a huge factor in blockages that cost water companies around £88 million a year (in the UK alone) to fix. If they do make it through the system, they can end up in our seas and consumed by sea life – having a negative impact on the environment that’s similar to the microbeads that have been recently banned. It’s said they can linger for up to 500 years in the ecosystem, so they’re unfortunately just as bad as throwing out a plastic bottle.
By adding our Reusable Makeup Remover Pads to the site, we've helped you prevent 273,600 makeup wipes going into landfill, entering our oceans and creating fatbergs in our sewers in the next year. And this number is just based on our shopper using the pads for just 12 months, we're confident you'll actually be able to reuse them for even longer!
55,300 Water Bottles
Can you believe that the average London adult buys more than three plastic water bottles every week - a startling 175 bottles every year per person? In total, some 7.7 billion plastic bottles are bought across the UK each year, resulting in so much plastic waste! This year we sold 316 water bottles, helping prevent around 55,300 plastic bottles being used just this year.
463 Toothbrushes
Every single (plastic) toothbrush you've ever used still exists and will still be around for hundreds more years - what a shocking realisation! Bamboo & Beechwood Toothbrushes, however, only need around 6 months to compost. What's more, our toothbrushes also have a lower carbon footprint, as no oil has been extracted to make the material for the body of the brush. In just one year, we've helped replace 463 toothbrushes with compostable alternatives. Not made the swap yet? Check them out here!
34,825 Bin Liners
Plastic bin liners are some of the worst offenders of plastic waste. By helping our customers switch to a natural, biodegradable alternative, we've helped replace 34,825 plastic bin bags. Check out our Compostable Bin Liner Collection today.
74,200 Cotton Buds
We're sure you've seen that picture of the seahorse carrying a plastic cotton bud in its tail? High usage and improper disposal has meant that cotton buds make up a significant portion of sewage-related debris found on UK beaches. In fact, between 2015 and 2018, cotton buds were in the top 10 items found during the Marine Conversation Society's Great British Clean. During 2018, 22 cotton buds were found for every 100 meters of UK beach2 surveyed.
But don't worry, we're helping reduce this shocking stat! This year, we replaced 74,200 cotton buds with biodegradable bamboo alternatives. Check them out here.
550,860 Dog Poo Bags
We've helped replace a staggering 550,860 plastic dog poo bags with natural, compostable alternatives - that's a gigantic 1.3 tonnes of plastic prevented. Thank you for your help, we couldn't have done it without you!
9,931 Kitchen Cleaning Utensils
Did you know most kitchen sponges and scourers are actually made of non-recyclable plastic? They'll take years to break down and release harmful microplastics into our waterways and oceans as you're washing up! Well, this year we've helped replace 9,931 kitchen cleaning utensils with natural, plastic-free alternatives in 9,202 households. Check out our Cleaning Collection here.
53,340 Bags
We could never be without our trusty tote bags, they're a great way of avoiding the scourge of plastic carrier bags. With the average person using 140 plastic bags a year (shocking how they add up, isn't it?!) or just 12 minutes each, by swapping to our reusable tote bags, our customers have saved approximately 53,340 bags just this year! By reusing those same bags next year, think how much plastic we could save.
3.34 Tonnes of Plastic
All in all, together we've prevented approximately 3.34 tonnes of plastic being made in just one year! Thank you so much for all your help, we really couldn't have done it without your support and we can't wait to see what we can all achieve in the next year!