Why We Use Plastic Bottles
People often ask us how we can be ‘eco-friendly’ but use plastic bottles? The truth is, the plastic issue is not a straightforward one. We thought we’d answer these questions in this blog in a few brief points.
1. Plastic has its use, but there are many different kinds of plastics. Firstly, we don’t use virgin plastic, but recycled plastic. We also consciously choose to use clear plastic bottles, as they are most widely recycled. The type of plastic we use is: HDPE2.
2. Why not glass?
In many cases, glass can be a fantastic replacement for plastic, however not necessarily in these type of goods. The production of glass bottles is far more environmentally intense than the bottles we use. Glass creates more than 6 times the global warming gases than plastic. Also, the weight of the product is far higher, leaving a larger environmental footprint during transportation. Breakage also is a negative issue. Besides, working on boats, glass isn’t necessarily a good option!
3. Why not biodegradable plastics?
When some biodegradable plastics decompose in landfills, they produce methane gas. This is a very powerful greenhouse gas that adds to the problem of global warming. Biodegradable plastics are made with 5% cornstarch or vegetable oil, and they cannot be recycled because the starch or oil additive compromises the quality of recycled plastics. If a biodegradable plastic or bioplastic ends up in a landfill site it will never decompose. In landfill sites waste is essentially mummified, in a complete absence of light and oxygen.
4. Concentrated products
Most of the cleaning products you buy off-the-shelf, are not concentrated. However, many of our products are 10 X concentrate. For every litre, you get 10 litres of product. This means 10 less bottles than an alternative which does not require diluting.
5. Refills?
This is the goal. And that will become an option one day, when we can logistically implement it (we are a small family business - so the more you support us, the quicker we will get this to happen!). In the meantime, we do sell in large containers, which many boats use onboard to refill themselves. More news coming on this soon!
So as you know, reduce, reuse recycle. Ultimately we need to work towards a circular economy. But more on that next time. Plus, I haven’t even mentioned the eco benefits of the actual products, but if you’ve made it this far, we’ll spare you that for another day!
Thanks for taking the time to read this. And do share if you think it could be useful to anyone else.