Our Environmental Packaging Ways

Here at Little Ren Studios we have always been conscious and thinking of better ways to help our impact on the environment, not just for our business, but in normal everyday life too! We are well aware of the importance of it and that has made it's way into our packaging over the years.

Reusing Other Businesses Packaging

Whether it's orders from suppliers or personal shopping, usually the packaging is in perfect condition to be used again. We've been known to post orders out in another company's branded box, a toy box or even a shoe box. By doing this, it gives another purpose to those materials and limits the need to add more into the system.

Sometimes, there is a bunch of bubble wrap, packing peanuts or similar.. We keep all of that and reuse it to protect our products. Anything we don't use, we mostly shred or put into the recycling bin.

And Reusing Our Own Wastage..

We invested into getting a decent shredder and it is amazing! Not only does it get rid of paper/cardboard materials that we can't reuse from others but we shred things like our mug and tote bag paper after it's been printed, our paper scraps and everything you'd find inbetween. We keep a little shredder box next to our work table which is really helpful to just toss them into and do a big batch together.

We use that shredded paper for protective filler in our orders and even share it with others. We have a neighbour with animals that use it for bedding.. and in return they also keep their cardboard boxes from Amazon , bubble wrap or any other useful materials that otherwise would be thrown out - we get to give them another use! Our family and neighbours are great for this, it helps keep everything sustainable and we are very grateful for it.

Those Paper Shopping Bags Come In Handy!

When we've been out shopping and they give you a paper bag for your bits, we always keep them. Just put them into a paper filler box and you'd be amazed how many will stack up over time. I like to then rip them down the side to open them up fully and scrunch them up a little to use as protective filler in boxes that need that little extra packaging. Big bags from places like Penneys and TK Maxx work great for this!

Another tip: We usually grab a free Aldi booklet to see what's coming in next week and then when we finish reading it we either tear the pages out and add it to the paper filler box or the shredder box. Nothing gets wasted and we find the value in things like this. Especially all those promotional election leaflets that do come flying in with the post, they do come in handy for shredded packaging!

It's Like Christmas Morning..

Quite literally, Christmas morning is when paper waste is an all time high in most households. Don't be surprised if you receive an order from us in June that has Santa themed paper filler inside! Again, our family and friends really show up for us here and gather the wrapping paper in black bags for us to either reuse, shred or recycle properly. Also, birthdays or other occasions are great. There is no need for these things to be used just once when they are in perfect condition!

You Can DIY Most Things..

You'd be surprised how much you can do with what you have. Sometimes it's easy to think that you need to buy certain items but in reality, you might already have everything you need! Take this for example.. We needed to protect a large stack of art prints from getting damaged in the corners during transit. We could go and buy those special 'corner protectors' online BUT we could make it using what's in our studio. We had just finished a pack of sticker paper, they come in a strong cardboard envelope. We simply cut the corners of it and used that to protect our stack of art prints and it worked perfectly! The same kind of logic applies to so many little things.

To Sum Up..

That is just a little insight into some of our packaging habits and how easy it is to help make a difference on the environmental impact packaging has on us all. We do, of course, often need to purchase new boxes/envelopes or other items and that's okay. We just hope that it reaches another business owner who can treat it the same as we do or to a neighbour who can share it with a local business or even just to recycle it. We actively try to find suppliers with good materials and swap out plastic packaging where possible. This is something we will always continue to do and strive for.

Thanks for reading,

Ren