ICEGRIPPER - Reducing Our Carbon Footprint

Last year we wrote an ICEGRIPPER blog post entitled 'Whats in Your Bag'? We discussed how customers are becoming increasingly conscious of their environmental footprint.

https://icegripper.co.uk/blogs/news/whats-in-your-bag

We explained why and how we decided to start using LDPE bags, which already contain 30% recycled material and are widely recycled in kerbside recycling facilities.

However, we had already implemented a number of other recycling initiatives. Nothing as technical as analysing and considering the pro's and con's of different packaging types, but simple, common sense actions...

Recycling Waste Paper (and shredding!)

Whilst recycling waste paper seems simple, when you are a business it's not so simple as just ripping stuff up! There are other considerations...

We have to safeguard any customer data which may be printed. As an example, the packing slips which are put into your package with your products, might have to be re-printed because the printer smudges or gets clogged. What happens to the original, which might have your name and address on it?

Or, confidential company documents, such as old bank statements and invoices. What happens to them after a few years? We can't just put them in the bin - because they might contain bank account information, which could be copied and misused.

It's then put into recycle boxes and collected by our recycling provider. A small amount has been known to be diverted and find its way into rabbit and hamster hutches as a soft, comfy bedding material!

Customer data secured, paper recycled - win win!

Recycling Cardboard

We flatten and rip up all our unwanted cardboard and put them into containers ready for collection by our recycling provider. This might seem obvious but it's surprising how many companies don't recycle their cardboard. While out and about delivering our ice grips we often see cardboard dumped into skips, outside business premises. This is going to landfill, which is a shame because it's one of those materials which recycle and can be re-purposed very easily. Most cardboard boxes are themselves made of recycled materials or lumber industry by-products like sawdust and wood chips. Recycling boxes reduces processing pollution by 95% because the fiber has already been processed. BTW did we mention that all ICEGRIPPER orders of £100 and over attract FREE SHIPPING?

Returned (LDPE) Bag Recycling

We also have a recycling box for returned packing bags. We check all bags for the recycling code. If they are code 4 (LDPE), they all go together with any of our own damaged or unusable bags for recycling. We have been doing this for some time and it's interesting to learn about the different types of plastics, understanding what they are used for and which ones can and can't be recycled. For example plastic products marked with the triangle containing the number 3 is PVC, which is still not recyclable, despite it being one of the oldest and most widely used plastics.

Lighting (& Heating)
It might seem obvious to turn off lights, but judging by the number of office buildings which seem to be illuminated all night, you wouldn't think so?! At ICEGRIPPER we are religious about turning lights off in areas not being used...Remember your Dad always shouting at you about leaving lights on around the house...? 😉

General Office Waste
We have recycling bins for tin cans and glass and as already explained we recycle paper, cardboard and plastics. What's noticeable is that our waste bins take a lot longer to fill up these days.

ICEGRIPPER Own Brand Products

We have started the process of looking at the environmental impact of the products we sell. This is a quite a difficult process because of the complicated supply chains involved in the manufacturing of most of the products we sell. It also relies on our manufacturing and brand partners being aware of and looking at the products they make.

As a starting point we deliberately make all ICEGRIPPER own brand products unboxed. It seemed nonsensical to us to put a robust product in a flimsy box. So most of our own brand products simply come in a useful drawstring storage bag - rather than - a box!?

Do you notice the packaging used by different online retailers and e-commerce companies? Is it important to you? Is it clear that the packaging can be re-cycled? We'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. Let us know in the comments below, or via our social channels - see the footer links. Or, drop us an email via our contact page

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