Pulse October 2019 | Page 40

UNSEEN WASTE BY JAMISON STOIKE Sustainably Manufacturing and Packaging Products When consumers visit the spa, they encounter an end-user experience of sustainability: low-flow showerheads, LED bulbs, reusable cups. Yet, true sustainability can only be accomplished by overhauling the aspects of spa that guests may not think about, including the sustainability of the products that spas use on a daily basis. If you’re a resource partner looking to make your products greener, here are five real-world strategies that you can use to rethink how you approach sustainability: 1. START FROM THE BEGINNING the first step, according to Kerstin florian international’s Public relations & marketing manager ellie Dvoracek, is to source local manufacturers. Kerstin florian’s recently-launched anDa skin care line made sustainability part of its core values; to that end, Kerstin florian worked to make it environmentally-friendly from the ground-up, beginning with its manufacturing processes. Local manufacturing, notes Dvoracek, leads to reduced shipping distance and a lower carbon footprint. Work with your product manufacturer to see if there are ways to reduce power consumption or water usage during the manufacturing process itself, such as by switching to more efficient machinery or air-cooled systems. if you manufacture your own products, conducting an energy use and water use audit of the manufacturing facility is the best way to gather data that show where a more sustainable option may be possible. 38 PULSE ■ octobEr 2019 2. REDUCE OR ELIMINATE CARDBOARD as consumers pressure spas to reduce the packaging they use in their retail areas, spas have begun passing that pressure on to their providers. “Spas are more aware of product packaging and are requiring higher standards of sustainability,” according to Dvoracek, by asking suppliers to use less packaging than ever. for example, ethica Beauty, a supplier of hair care products, no longer boxes its products: they ship ‘naked’ in a recycled carboard box that holds 12 products. anDa uses miron glass bottles for its products—a more sustainable choice than first-use plastic—which neces- sitate shipping each product with its own box. however, Kerstin florian has designed the boxes to “be tight with the package” with no extra panels. Dvoracek says that this reduces the total amount of material used, lowering costs while increasing sustainability. if you do have to use cardboard, try sourcing cardboard that’s verified to be sustainable by the Sustainable forestry initiative.