We are now shipping custom made stamps in compostable packaging bags

During the lockdown we had time for reflection and reviewed our practices for compostable packaging bags.

While chatting with our pickup courier drivers a couple of things became obvious. While the lockdown happened, the roads were eerily quiet. Along with that there were comments of less rubbish on the streets. It appeared the lockdown was a relief to the planet.

My company has decided for less carbon emissions and less waste.

I was feeling mighty virtuous with our electric car, everyone who works here lives local and walks to work.

The Trodat stamps we mainly provide to our customers are carbon neutral. For a while now I had been using compostable cling wrap film and compostable zip lock lunch bags and been happy with them.

Even our bin liner was compostable. I have to admit it feels weird putting what seems like plastic in the compost! We were doing our part even before the lockdown.

However once people were allowed out again the fast food industry packaging was once again seen all over the streets! I remember having quite a rant about that and accosting the family with descriptions of these disgusting habits of our fellow New Zealanders. Single use packaging and marketing being a blot on our landscape.

What happened to Clean Green New Zealand?

While watching a TV1 presentation of a BBC documentary War on Plastic With Hugh and Anita it became obvious that Self-Inking Stamps were contributing to the single use plastic pollution of our planet.

That had to change. New Zealand does not have an effective soft plastic recycling stream. Would or could all of our customers care and separate our parcel bags at their end into responsible waste recycling. If they are the ones responsible for throwing their fast food packing out the window, then maybe not. We have to stop the pollution at its source.

Were we really living and contributing to a Clean Green New Zealand?
Not if we keep pumping our single use plastic courier bags carrying our custom made stamps to you every working day of the year. That is thousands of plastic one way bags!

Having been conscious of this for some time, now was the time to act.

The lockdown slowed everything down. Time to think. Time to research. Wonderful, I had not had that for such a long time. We have a large veggie patch which we grow a lot of vegetables and fruit. Over the years we have used cardboard for mulch, and it does a great job. But the most annoying thing is the plastic packing tape.

This does not break down. It is all through the garden and our compost heaps. So annoying! While getting some exercise and using a broad fork to aerate the soil and incorporate some compost for the next crops it is a great time to contemplate.

We use cardboard to protect our custom made stamps inside our courier bags and for cardboard cartons.

However, we were using plastic packing tape on these items. That has to change too. Oh, so when the compostable bag goes in the compost what happens to the sticky label on the outside with the directions to get your stamps right to your door?

Do you have to peel that off? That is really hard to do. No-one would take the time to do that. Life is busy. Okay that is a problem too, is there BPA (Bisphenol A) in there from the thermal printing paper? What is that doing to the living compost and the rest of the soil food chain?

Go on to the internet and search for New Zealand suppliers of compostable courier bags. The great news was that I found a couple. If you are looking for compostable courier bags try The Better Packaging Co and r3pack who can supply compostable bags.

What about the packing tape? Yes, r3pack could supply Kraft Paper based Packaging Tape in Brown or White. How about thermal printer label for the packages? Yes The Better Packing Co could supply Compostable.

Fantastic! We can make a difference to the waste stream in New Zealand.

Reduced need to extract oil from the ground for a one use product and then create a waste mountain blotting the earth for a few thousand years. Not anymore.

We are feeding the new bags into our system now. You will see the new black compostable bags coming to you soon. We still have some stocks of tape and bags on the shelves and we have already phased these out. They have already been extracted and processed. We will not throw them away as that is even more wasteful.

When you buy custom made stamps from Self-Inking Stamps, they will be shipped to you in compostable packaging. Please dispose all product packaging responsibly. We would really appreciate your efforts. Thank you.

Contact our custom rubber stamp team for more information.

If you are needing something like this custom made contact us and ask whether it can be done. You might be pleasantly surprised. Stay up to date with our latest news and promotions on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google.