Why Pollast!c™ mailers?

For the first 4.5 half years of The Minimal Co. we have been proud to use compostable courier bags so you are probably thinking why are we making the switch to the Pollast!c™ range? 

Here for a good time, not a long time, compostable mailers will biodegrade in a home compost in 3-6 months, but that also means that their shelf life in our studio is also pretty short. As our product range has rapidly grown we have had a greater need for lots of sizes of bags and as these come in large quanties (and we use them only when we don't have boxes to reuse) we just aren't getting through them before they start to loose their strength. This has ironically meant that in trying to mitagate waste we have caused some which has meant we need to make a change. 

This is where we welcome the Pollast!c™ mailer by The Better Packaging Co. made from 100% recycled Ocean Bound Plastic pollution.

Approximately 80% of the plastic in our oceans has ended up there via land, i.e. it was not dropped directly into the ocean but started on land and then ended up in a river or on a beach and then made its way into the sea.  

The Better Packaging Co. work with communities and collectors in some of the world’s most polluted coastal regions to clean up the plastic from their beaches and from riverways. Their collectors rescue the plastic pollution before it reaches the ocean - it is then weighed, sorted, cleaned, flaked and then recycled into resin that they can make into their Pollast!c™ range of mailing satchels.

The term Ocean Bound Plastic refers to plastic collected from within 30 miles (50km) of the coastline. It was coined by Jenna Jambeck, a professor from the University of Georgia whose research found that plastic within this radius of the coast posed the most risk of ending up in our oceans. You can find out more about her research here. 

The plastic pollution that Pollast!c™ is made from is certified to meet this criteria. By collecting it, they are cleaning up a serious environmental issue and preventing further damage. 

They currently concentrate their collection efforts in disadvantaged coastal communities in Southeast Asia where there is no formal waste management infrastructure. This is where they feel they can have the most impact as it is where the bulk of the world's ocean plastic enters from. 

Pollast!c™ is a social solution to plastic pollution because the collection process gives employment to people in ‘frontline communities’ and improves the lives of the people and families that collect it. The Better Packaging Co. are able to track where the plastic is collected and by whom so it’s completely traceable and the impact measurable. By cleaning up these environments, they also make them more pleasant and hygienic places to live. In these coastal communities, the ocean is often their lifeblood, so by helping to keep plastic out of it, they are contributing to a more sustainable future for them in that way too.  

The production process for this range of mailers is very low energy, in fact, an independent study has shown that POLLAST!C packaging has a carbon footprint 75% lower than that of the equivalent packaging made from virgin plastic. Any carbon emissions that are generated are 100% offset by The Better Packaging Co. to make this range carbon neutral.

Keen to know exactly where your courier bags ocean bound plastic was collected from? Enter the number on your bag here.

Just want to find out more? Check out The Better Packaging Co.