How we stay sustainable when we're wrapping your online orders

As you'll all know, we take sustainability very seriously here at For the Love of the North. From plastic-free card packaging to organic t-shirts and hoodies, we try our best to minimise waste and reduce our use of plastics. At For the Love of the North, it is our mission to produce and sell fabulous North East themed cards, gifts and prints without harming the planet. 

So, for this FLOTN blog, we thought it would be a great idea to show you all a little behind-the-scenes of our wrapping process. This year more people have turned away from the High Street and towards online shopping which, inevitably, produces more waste. When our online sales began to shoot away during the first Lockdown we breathed a huge sigh of relief, but we soon realised we needed to rethink our packaging to make it more friendly to the planet. 

Before we can begin wrapping any order we usually lay out all the products that are needed for every order and list them with the order number. Since there is usually only one or two of us wrapping it can get a tad overwhelming so we love this method for keeping everything nice and organised. After we've done that, it's time to wrap! 

Wrapping and packing your lovely orders

Wrap it up...

Even though we wanted to make our packaging as sustainable as possible, we didn't want to compromise on the aesthetic. We decided to use brown wrapping paper to individually wrap all of your orders which is a low-waste and plastic-free way to pimp up even the smallest of items. We took inspiration from that magic Christmastime feeling, wanting to make every item feel like a personal gift just for you. The brown paper wrapping is also super helpful for anyone who is sending a gift directly to a loved one- it's essentially free gift wrapping! 

Brown paper packages tied up with string...

Once we're happy with the wrapping we move on to the string and Tourist Tip. Each mini package is hand-tied with brown string and a Tourist Tip is looped around it. For those of you who don't know, these Tips are small tags that detail some of our favourite things to do and places to visit in the North East. You don't need to be a Tourist to get one of these tips though- don't worry! 

Brown paper package tied up with string

Adding the finishing touches...

After we've wrapped each item within your order we'll decide whether it needs to go in an envelope or a box. Larger orders will usually go into one of our cardboard boxes which are fully recyclable. Instead of sealing the box with sellotape or plastics, we use an extra-strong water-based tape to hold everything together. We'll fill the box with scrap materials and recyclable stuffing then it's ready to go!

Sustainable Packaging

Of course, we don't send any of our parcels without our For the Love of the North 'Love Mail' sticker which, unfortunately, is the only part of the wrapping process that isn't completely sustainable- we're working on it, we promise and just as soon as we've used up the current supply of stickers we've found the perfect recycled and recyclable stickers.

 

When we're finished we take all the orders for the day to our friends at the Post Office and send you an email to let you know your order has been posted. 

We try so hard to keep our packaging super fun and in keeping with the For the Love of the North brand but sustainability is our number one priority.

So, next time you're wondering where to grab that Birthday gift for a friend be sure to have a look on our website for a parcel that is as beautiful as it is sustainable.

 

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