In the words of Scouting’s Founder:
Leave the world in better conditions in which you found it.
Here’s how we are doing it.
With all of our shipping, we are doing our best to be conscious of our carbon footprint and the impact of running our business has on the environment. We may be a small company, but every little bit counts. Given that most of our work is with Scouts – we’ve assumed that you would prefer a more eco-friendly solution that meets your needs as well as doesn’t damage our planet. Here are a few things we do to keep our footprint in check:
Products we use:
All invoices, packing slips, and cards are printed on Sugar Sheet paper. What we love about Sugar Sheet paper is it’s made from discarded sugar cane in India that would otherwise go to waste. While the shipping to Canada does create a footprint – it’s reusing discarded materials that would otherwise create more emissions as it composes. Want to learn more about Sugar Sheet? Check out Social Print!- 75% of our boxes are made from recycled cardboard boxes. We are slowly transitioning all of our shipping materials to be made from recycled materials and that are able to be recycled.
- Our polyesterien bags we ship apparel and some times badges in are recyclable! An important note is that you should double check with your municipality to ensure that they are able to be recycled. We are based in British Columbia, Canada and our recycling centers allow flexible and soft plastics. Source: https://recyclebc.ca/what-can-i-recycle/#1527883662152-d44ada22-433c
- The clear bags we use to wrap and protect things are made from number 2 plastic which is also recyclable, please see the above for more information. This took us a while to find.
Locally sourced:
All apparel items are locally sourced, as much as possible. This means that if it’s a good match we will always provide local products. Our definition of local is based on our ability to go to the vendor/warehouse to pick something up. If we can accomplish this task within an 8-hour window – we consider it local. This enables us to have a greater variety while doing our best to minimize the transportation of items.- We focus on doing the ethical sourcing of products we offer to our clients. We are currently working on making a Supplier Code of Conduct that will help guide our selection of suppliers. It’s not the most common practice, but we are wanting to do our part to make it become the norm.
Shipping:
- We do our best to optimize shipping parcels to be as efficient with space as possible. This means that the larger shipments will be overall more efficient. If you’ve ever ordered from Amazon, you have most likely seen their… creative use of boxes and space. We use our actual paper recycling to fill empty spaces – the most common is Business in Vancouver.
- Whenever we ship, we either use a plug-in electric or hybrid vehicle with the priority going to the electric. Our province is powered by hydroelectric power, which makes it an easy choice for us.
- We are trying to work our timelines to enable more ground shipment methods. The impact of always rushing shipping isn’t aligning with our sustainability goals.
Office Space:
- Our work stations are on a UPS – meaning that they optimize power usage.
- Our office lights are smart – this means we can set routines and turn off forgotten lights remotely.
- Scouting Merch’s office space is based in our home. We do this to cut overhead, optimize space in the city, and to keep costs down overall. We are able to compost, use low flow toilets, and sort everything and cart it down to the zero waste center as applicable.
Policies we are currently developing:
- Merchandise End of Life Policy
- Environmental Policy
- Supplier Code of Conduct
Do you have another suggestion with how we can become more sustainable? We know that being zero waste for business is a challenge at the best of times – but we are doing our best.
