Earth Month, and Earth Day 2023
Being a conscious retailer is something we do with pride at the good tonic. This year, as we work on what this means, growing our understanding of what it means to be in a circular economy, and taking small steps and actions to reduce our own footprint, we thought we would share some of the great initiatives some of the brands we work with are also doing.
We are proud to be part of the ‘Green Room.‘ This is an initiative through Tourism Bay of Plenty. They have launched an exciting initiative to encourage the Coastal Bay of Plenty’s visitor sector to work towards a net zero carbon and regenerative future.
The Green Room is being provided by Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) and is funded by Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which means it’s free for participants, and the aim is to help us gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to actively pursue zero carbon and regenerative goals which align with the New Zealand Tourism Sustainability Commitment.
There is a target to have 100 participants including those from hospitality, accommodation providers, community group representatives and event organisers. The programme supports the Government target for New Zealand to be net carbon zero by 2050, and we are proud to be involved in this.
We have been measuring our own carbon footprint, with thanks to Carbon Click, you can measure your personal Carbon Footprint by using their handy calculator. We currently offset our footprint with a monthly donation, and also offer our customers to option to help by offsetting at checkout. We also use an amazing company, ecotricity. Electricity generation is one of the main carbon emitters in NZ. ecotricity want to change that, that’s why they only source their electricity from 100% renewable, Toitū climate positive certified wind, hydro and solar.
We have 2 amazing brands who both take back their containers to be reused.
Aleph Beauty, have a Circular Initiative, the amount of packaging produced by the beauty industry is overwhelming – as is the amount of waste. Over a billion units of packaging are produced each year, of which most are destined for landfill. Aleph challenge this take-make-dispose model by designing out waste in their products, their packaging, their formulas and their business model. Save packaging from becoming single-use, you can play a role in creating sustainable change – get started with us, simply drop-off your empties and we will send them back to be re used.
Wild Dispensary also offer a bottle return and re use scheme, as we know Global plastic pollution means we all need to do a little more towards positive change for our planet and the species in it. As a business the Wild Dispensary are aware, that they contribute to this issue. Therefore, they believe it is their responsibility to strive for best practice. We collect your used bottles to return to them, and in turn they donate $1 to the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital for every bottle returned.
We also support 2 amazing apparel initiatives:
Little Yellow Bird are on a mission to reduce textile waste In Aotearoa. Most unwanted clothing in Aotearoa ends up in landfill. While clothing often gets shared or sold in the second hand market it almost inevitably ends up in landfill or incinerators when it's no longer fit for use. LYB want to change this by keeping good quality clothes in circulation for longer and finding scaleable solutions for end-of-life textiles.
At present they are testing and piloting multiple textile recycling solutions. This includes repairing, up-cycling, down-cycling (into things like pet beds, home insulation and carpet underlay), and also recycling textiles into yarns for new clothing.
We can take 100% cotton, merino, wool, linen, hemp, silk. This includes natural fibre blends (no synthetic blends please). Socks (any composition). Yes you can include sheets, tea towels, and towels.
No thanks, unfortunately at this stage we cant accept, Plastic synthetics (polyester, nylon, spandex, viscose, acrylic). Duvets, mattresses, carpets. Undergarments. Shoes.
We are also an official drop of point for UPPAREL x icebreaker
icebreaker has partnered with UPPAREL to change the game and give new life to old clothing. UPPAREL reduces the number of textiles that end up in landfill by reusing or re-purposing pre-loved clothing. icebreaker, are here to create a better world for people and nature. As a brand, their focused on removing unnecessary plastic from apparel at the outset, but it’s important to recognise existing product lifecycles and what happens at the end of their life. By partnering with UPPAREL they build on their goal to move to natural, enable a conscious solution for clothing at the end of its life, and offer consumers to try natural.
Want to give your old clothing new life?
To get involved, drop off your preloved clothing to us at the good tonic. We accept all clean and washed used clothing excluding socks and underwear. It can be any brand or condition.
How does it work?
Once UPPAREL receives your textiles the items go through a sorting process which is broken down into two categories.
- Reuse - All items that are in wearable condition are passed onto charitable organisations to ensure they are available for those who need them most.
-
Repurpose - Any items that can't be re-used or gifted are sorted by type of material and colour and then shredded and spun with new fibres for mattresses, pet beds, home insulation... the list goes on.
We hope this has given you some ideas on how you too can reduce your footprint, and become involved in this year’s Earth Month, we would love to hear from you if you are doing something to celebrate this on the 22nd of April.
Stand up for what you stand on! 🙌
Help your local communities by picking up trash 🚮, shopping at local farmer’s markets 👩🌾, or even buying clothes out of recyclable materials🧣. Learn more about Earth Day’s initiative, #InvestInOurPlanet : Visit eartheday.org for more ideas on what you can do.
