Tena and I have been talking a lot this past few months about the turmoil in the world, much like you have I imagine.  With war in Ukraine, economic hardship here and abroad, and supply chain shortages that are projected to be a problem long into the future.

 

However, for a long time we have discussed how we can use Rebel Herbs to affect real change in the world.  One way we want to make a positive impact is to improve our environmental policies and reduce our footprint.  We talked about buying carbon offsets but that is just not our style and it’s not the way we want to make a difference.  

 

It is estimated that there are nearly 200 million supplement bottles sold each year in the USA. Most of those bottles are plastic and many have outer boxes or additional packaging.  

 

Looking at our current operation we realized that we could make the biggest impact by changing our packaging to a more eco friendly style.  This is a big challenge for us, but it is the area that we have the most control of and in the long term will give us the biggest impact.

 

Because of this we have drafted a multi step plan to make our company the most environmentally responsible supplement company in the world. Big change doesn’t happen overnight and the materials we have purchased already are still here in our warehouse so eliminating them without using them would not keep them from our landfills or reduce the carbon emissions that it took to get them to our location, so we will roll out his plan in stages and as our inventory is depleted we will replenish with our environmental goals in mind.

 

Phase One

Currently our packages include an outer box, which gives us a lot of marketing space to tell a story, but this cardboard box increases the weight of the product by nearly 25% and it is not only more cardboard to be disposed of, but it also comes for overseas, meaning shipping it from Asia releases more carbon into the environment.  If we eliminated this box we would reduce our carbon footprint, decrease the total weight of the product and while the cardboard is recyclable it is seldom recycled so we would be reducing landfill waste as well. So phase one will be to eliminate the outer boxes as our inventory of boxed products draws down, you will begin to see unboxed products take their place.

 

Phase Two

Phase two is less about the environmental initiative and more about making our labels more consumer friendly.  During phase two we will roll out simplified labels that unify the herbal listings and improve on the aesthetics in the absence of a box.

 

Phase Three

During phase three we will be looking at plastic alternatives to the standard supplement bottle. At this point we do not have a suitable solution but we are hoping that by summer 2023 we will be able to replace the plastic bottle with a new environmentally acceptable material.  We ask you patience as we begin to roll out these changes and move to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly product line. Our website artwork will start to reflect our new look and environmental objectives a little at a time as we ease into a new more sustainable operation.

 

Together we can make a change that will preserve the world for our grandchildren and hopefully their grandchildren. Comment below on this new plan, and thank you for being a customer and fellow rebel.