Sustainability
Superfly Soap is committed to sustainability in many different areas including preventing pollution, reducing waste, using clean energy, conserving water, using sustainable materials, making sustainable products, and by adopting sustainable travel and delivery methods. We also look for suppliers who try to do the same, as well as those who hold strong ethical values and conduct fair treatment towards their workers and suppliers.
If you’d like to know more in depth on how this happens then read on…
Preventing Pollution
Superfly Soap studio is located in the village where I live meaning my daily commute is literally a few paces into the garden.
Royal Mail, the UK’s largest ‘feet on the street’ network of around 85,000 posties, is used to get your on-line orders to you. Royal Mail plays a key role in reducing emissions and they have the lowest reported gCO2e (grams of carbon dioxide equivalent) per parcel of any major UK delivery company. The post office collect everyday from us as part of a larger route.
Reducing Waste
I adopt zero waste production practices in a number of ways:
Making large batches whilst achieving a balance between size and product freshness/shelf life, ensuring active ingredients are still at their optimum effectiveness. This reduces waste and the amount of energy consumed.
Instead of using single use products such as kitchen roll to clean out my soap pots I use reusable fabric alternatives, cutting down on waste and the volume of water used in the cleaning process. Natural latex gloves and compostable sponge alternatives are used which can be composted at the end of their life. Refillable, eco-friendly washing up liquid is used in the cleaning process too.
Any less than perfect products are sold at a reduced price or given to charitable causes.
Packing materials that arrive with supplier orders are reused as far as possible. Everything from bubble wrap, packing chips, boxes and paper, only when something reaches the end of its life will it get recycled or sent to landfill as the last option.
Our new studio has been constructed in our garden from sustainably grown timber and so there is no commuting to and from Superfly HQ!
Animal Welfare
Cosmetic testing on animals in the UK is now illegal however many larger brands still test their products on animals (elsewhere) in order to sell in other countries. Superfly Soap isn’t one of those and doesn’t include any animal derivatives in any of the products.
Animal derived ingredients can hide in a number of ingredients, fragrance oils, flavourings etc these ingredients are therefore only sourced from suppliers who can confirm that their products are plant based.
Product Packaging
This one’s quite detailed so click here for more information about packing and mailing supplies. You can also get more detailed information on the respective product pages.
Ethics
Services, ingredients and products not made by Superfly Soap are sourced from companies who value the people and communities that work for them. People are paid and treated fairly for their work, child labour is not involved and communities aren’t suffering as a result of diminishing resources.
Accessories such as soap dishes, konjac sponges and volcanic stones come from a family business who continually ensure their producers are working under fair conditions and receiving fair levels of pay. They value forging long lasting relationships with their producers.
Mica, often associated with child labour, is sourced from a UK business who only work with suppliers who do not tolerate the use of child or forced labour in any of its mica mines.
Ingredients are sourced from UK-based, family-owned businesses who value fair working conditions in their own businesses and from their overseas producers. Many ingredients are produced by women’s cooperatives that rely on the commerciality of the locally harvested fruits and nuts that go into my products. The supplier of many of my ingredients says this about the macadamia nut oil “Our product is harvested by hand by locals that rely on the income of this product. Social, economic and environmental audits are carried out to ascertain the wellbeing of this fantastic ingredient and to make sure those that commit their lives to farming are treated fairly. The local sustainable approach to wild harvesting enhances the value of this ingredient as no solvents or chemicals are used in its production.”
I use both essential oils and fragrance oils in my body products. The production of essential oils can be hugely draining on the earth’s resources therefore the use of safe synthetic ingredients can be a more eco-friendly option.
Are we there yet?
No, sustainability is a continual process, whether new packaging solutions come to market or there’s an opportunity to do something a bit better then I’m always on the lookout for ways to improve.