Environmental impact of tetra packs

Did you know that tetra packs, like oat milk packs, are usually disposed of in a completely wrong way? As a result, a proper recycling of the packages is prevented. Beyond that the food industry acts barely transparent by claiming that a whole 71% of a tetra pack is being recycled. The Environmental Action Germany DUH on the other hand states that solely 36% of a tetra pack is recycled in total. In comparison to the food industry the DUH also takes it’s disposal  (e.g. missorted packs), the plastic and aluminum proportions and the sealing cap (which accounts for 20% higher greenhouse gas emissions!) into consideration. Due to it’s lavish composition tetra packs cause a total of 721.000 tons of plastic each year!

Our fellow companions

Subsequently we got in touch with local cafes who confirmed us that all those empty milk packs cause a vast amount of waste on a daily basis. Just take a moment and image the enormous wastage worldwide. However, we decided to team up with cafes in the surrounding of our office in Hamburg, such as the Nord Coast Roastery, Was Wir Wirklich Lieben, Copenhagen Coffee Lab and Soul – Vegan Coffee Bar. These committed cafes decided to support the matter and provided us with quite some quantities of oat milk packages.  

Eco-friendly packaging process

And what now? To guarantee a hygienic and clean packaging we contrived a process concept for each milk box. Starting with cutting it open at the back end and scrubbing it out in a water-efficient way. The next step requires a disinfectant spray, which consists in a natural-based liquid.

Wake Up call for the Fashion Industry

As mentioned above we designed a sticker in order to create more transparency regarding the ongoing events of the fashion industry. As we decided to use Oatmilk packs as our new packaging design we especially got inspired by Oatlys message printed on it’s carton. Oatly demonstrates perfectly the food industry’s intransparency when it comes to it’s damaging impact on our environment in terms of the numbers of greenhouse gas emissions amongst others. For instance, did you know that the food industry accounts for twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as all transportation combined? Yet most companies still dont’t see why they should communicate the carbon emissions for each of their products in order to provide comparisons between various products and spread awareness towards the endconsumer. The same goes for the fashion industry. Though many fashion companies claim to operate sustainably, only a moiety does so. The PVC-free stickers we designed for our packaging contain our callout for change to the industry and a warning to our customers and everyone who reads it to be careful with the industry’s sabotage! Here is what we claim:

HEY FASHION INDUSTRY,
STOP FOOLING EVERYONE!

Nearly every fashion brand claims to be „sustainable” these days. But what does being sustainable in fashion actually mean? Like for real! Not just on a campaign title or an Instagram caption. The truth is, it can mean so much, yet so little. Fast fashion brands fool its customers by only telling them half of the truth. Sustainability has too many facets to express its meaning in just one word. Most facets get concealed behind misleading marketing campaigns.* We have this vision of being a company that creates for the better instead of profits. One that is fully transparent and approachable so that you can be part of our journey. We also wanted to prove for the sake of an industry change that it is possible to build products, a brand and a company based on social values. That belief gave us the strength to create WONDA as a symbol for the power of honesty, true relationship, and empathy, portraited in timeless slow fashion products that stand for jointly working on a better future. Be part of the change by staying persistent and demanding. And please, dear fashion industry, let’s be honest… Get your shit together!

*The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity’s carbon emissions, is the 2nd largest consumer of the world’s water supply, while polluting our biggest water reserves with microplastics and toxins (sources: UNEP, IUCN, UNECE).

To conclude, we saw the opportunity to make the world a bit better by taking advantage of an obvious win-win situation: reusage of waste, extending the lifetime of each tetra pack and an original packaging concept.

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Let’s not cause huge quantities of wrapping paper waste considering it’s single use. Let’s not throw away tons of food, because of a lack in meal planning or storage issues. Let’s not buy an artificial Christmas tree, because we think the carbon emissions are lower than getting a real one. They’re not. Let’s not purchase new Christmas decoration items, because we got tired of the ones from last year. Let’s not gift unwanted presents, which end up in the farthest corner of the cupboard or – even worse – become garbage. 

Let’s do better.

A massive ongoing waste generation worldwide is undisputable and there are no signs for it slow down. On the contrary, the overall estimated amount of municipal solid waste will reach 3.4 billion metric tons in 2050, which would represent an increase of 70% according to a prognosis from statista. However, during Christmas season consumption and a resulting waste generation reaches it’s peak.

ABOUT SUSTAINABLE WRAPPING ALTERNATIVES

For instance, producing 1kg of wrapping paper takes 50 liters of water and 5 kilowatt hours of energy. According to this roughly 435 million liters of water and 43,5 million kilowatt hours of energy are consumed. This equals approx. the annual energy demand of a small town with 12.500 inhabitants. Aren’t those numbers shocking? But – no worries – I’ve got good news for you: we can do something about it.

In the first place, switch to recycled wrapping paper. There are lots of beautiful designs! Producing recycled paper takes half as much energy and only a third of the amount of water.

Consider wrapping up your presents in magazine or book papers. Your present will definitely stand out this way!

Upcycle (brown) paper bags or spare craft paper and paint it yourself for an individual touch. This way you can also include nice illustrations!

Buy vouchers of your favorite restaurant, café, cinema or clothing brand. Thereby you support your locals, avoid a bad buy and you won’t need to make use of any wrapping paper at all.

You even have some fabric leftovers? Great! Why not reuse them as attractive wrappings?

ABOUT A LOW WASTE CHRISTMAS FEAST

Let’s talk about Christmas dinner, which for most people is the favorite part during the festive days. Sole in Germany the food industry, retailers, distributors and private households dispose 12 million tons of food waste every single year. Private households account for a whole 55% of it, which results in 82 kg food waste annually per person. In Europe a total of 80 million tons of food waste arises per year. Wasted and lost food along the supply chain account for a 10^th of all our greenhouse gas emissions. However, a big part of the primarily presumed waste is still edible at the moment of it’s disposal. Hence we came up with some suggestions in order to do our part in minimizing those numbers and to help you reduce food waste this Christmas. 

Lots of supermarkets are likely to use discounts during the festive season in order to maximize their selling volume. Give it a thought and weigh up if you truly need those discounted food items or if it’s just for the sake of getting a discount.

Involve family and guests in the meal planning and start on time. This way there won’t be unwanted food options and intolerances are considered, as well as other food remainings are spared.

Organize your fridge before going Christmas shopping and check out Respect Food’s manual in order to use your fridge more efficiently.

If you choose to cook without recipes, make use of an online food planer such as Eat Smater, which calculates portion-wise.

Buy regional and seasonal food, in order to keep transport ways as short as possible and CO2 emissions accordingly low. You can look up the seasons of various food types in online season calendars.

In case leftovers arise anyways, save them from going to waste by freezing them. You can easily look up how to store them correctly and for how long. Still Tasty shows you what has to be considered.

There are also lots of ways to reuse leftovers for distinct recipes. This guide from FOODAL provides you with some ideas regardingly.

ABOUT ECOLOGICAL CHRISTMAS TREE OPTIONS

And what about a nice-looking Christmas tree? Wouldn’t it be more eco-friendly to get an artificial one? The answer is no. A real conventional Christmas tree of 2 meters actually has a comparable low carbon footprint with 16kg CO2e, if disposed of in a landfill. However, if you dispose of the tree in a proper way by burning it on a bonfire, planting it or having it chipped, the CO2 emissions total sole 3.5kg. Meanwhile, a same size artificial tree, which usually consists in PVC and metal, accounts for a whole 40kg CO2e. Owed to the energy-intensive production processes involved, the CO2 emissions are approx. 10 times higher than a properly  disposed of real one. Also the the process of growing a Christmas tree to optimum height takes around 8 to 10 years in which oxygen is produced and is replaced with a new seedling after deforestation.

Thus, when purchasing your Christmas tree pay attention that it is locally sourced and grown in order to ensure a shorter transport distance and support your local business owners.

Also you can buy a potted Christmas tree in order to reuse it the year(s) after. This isn’t only cost-efficient but also extremely eco-friendly.

Meanwhile there are various local services, which offer a Christmas tree rental during the season.

Regarding it’s disposal, check out Christmas tree collection services. They pick up the trees and recycle them, which leads to new production since it is a renewable resource.

ABOUT ECO-FRIENDLY GIFTGIVING

What would Christmas be without presents? Yes, we all love to give and receive presents underneath the Christmas tree. But what about all the gifts that are unwanted or simply not used? Sadly, surveys state that more than 50% of the respondents receive unwanted gifts on Christmas.

So if you go Christmas shopping, why not get a voucher? This way the recipient can freely choose the product, color, size and style that suits her best. Especially these days a lot of business owners are more than thankful, if you support them by getting vouchers.

In case you have no slightest clue on what to gift, don’t speculate and end up with a bad buy. Rather ask the person directly, cause they know best what brings them joy and – let’s be honest – we always have some ideas in mind.

Make use of your creative streak and handcraft something yourself. Good Housekeeping provides you with some great DIY projects, such as Christmas cutout candles, filled glass ornaments or lavender sachets.

If you receive unwanted gifts anyways, there are options to reintegrated them into the cycle by returning it, swapping it, donating it or trading it. Have a look at this guide for more ideas.

Still in need of some eco-friendly gift ideas? Here you go!

LEO zipped-wallet BLACK croc

55,00 €

MADE IN SPAIN

100% LOCALLY HANDCRAFTED BY SKILLED ARTISANS

TIMELESS & CLASSIC DESIGN, WHICH TRANSCEND SEASONAL TRENDS

EXCLUSIVE LIMITED EDITIONS FOR SPECIAL AND UNIQUE PIECES

RESPONSIBLE & ETHICAL MATERIALS SOURCED FROM EU-BASED COMPANIES

LEATHER AS BY-PRODUCT FROM THE FOOD INDUSTRY

SHOP HERE

FELICIANA Bombonera TEJA velours

185,00 €

MADE IN SPAIN

100% LOCALLY HANDCRAFTED BY SKILLED ARTISANS

CLASSIC & TIMELESS DESIGN, WHICH TRANSCEND SEASONAL TRENDS

EXCLUSIVE LIMITED EDITIONS FOR SPECIAL AND UNIQUE PIECES

RESPONSIBLE & ETHICAL MATERIALS SOURCED FROM EU-BASED COMPANIES

LEATHER AS BY-PRODUCT FROM THE FOOD INDUSTRY

SHOP HERE

KANKEN Re-Wool Sling

120,00€

MADE WITH RECYCLED WOOL

65% POLYESTER AND 35% ORGANIC COTTON

BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCED

TIMELESS DESIGN TO EXTEND IT’S LIFETIME

EXTREMELY DURABLE

SHOP HERE

Backpack – INKI

170,00€

HANDMADE PRODUCT

FAIR WORKING CONDITIONS IN PRODUCTION FACILITY

USE OF 100% RECYCLED NYLON IN PRODUCTION

INNER LINING CONSISTS OF RECYCLED PET-BOTTLES

ALL KAALA PRODUCTS ARE VEGAN

SHOP HERE

Fanny Pack – Pinqponq Nik in Sunsand Apricot

30,00€

CONSISTS IN 100% RECYCLED PET-BOTTLES

FAIR PRODUCTION

SUSTAINABLE & ECO-FRIENDLY MATERIALS

DURABILITY FOR AN EXTENDED LIFETIME OF THE PRODUCTS

SHOP HERE

Scrunchie Lavender

9,00€

MADE IN POLAND

GIVES OFFCUTS (LEFTOVER FABRICS) A NEW LIFE

MADE OUT OF 98% CERTIFIED ORGANIC COTTON SWEAT & 2% ELASTANE

VEGAN PRODUCTION

SHOP HERE

INTI KNITWEAR Mütze Madellin silver

39,00€

85% MADE OF FINE ALPACA WOOL, 9% ACRYL & 6% NYLON

FAIR AND SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

ETHICALLY CORRECT WORKING CONDITIONS

SHOP HERE

VEST DUMBO FLEECE LIGHT GREY

115,00€

100% ORGANIC COTTON CERTIFIED FLEECE FABRIC

COTTON GROWN IN EUROPE

ZIPPER AND LABELS MADE IN GERMANY

VEGAN PRODUCTION

SHOP HERE

NÖ by LOVE IT GREEN – Sweater

80,00€

CONSISTS OF 85% ORGANIC COTTON AND 15% RECYCLED POLYESTER

GOTS CERTIFIED

FAIR WEAR & PETA VEGAN APPROVED

SHOP HERE

WONDA FACE MASK

14,00€

HANDMADE IN PORTUGAL

CONSISTS OF 78% ECONYL REGENERATED NYLON

RECOVERED YARN FROM LOST FISHING NETS, INDUSTRY TEXTILE AND OTHER PRE- & POST-CONSUMER WASTE

FABRIC MADE IN ITALY WITH OEKO TEX STANDARD 100

SHOP HERE

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