The county dump (or landfill) always makes me sad. The only good thing about it is the convocation of bald eagles that rule over our dump here in the Flathead Valley. It's an easy life for them feeding off the mice and other small animals that are attracted to the piles of waste. The last time I was there I spotted well over ten of the majestic birds that make the treetops around that area their home. 

While we would love to visit the Eagles often, we here at Kettle Care try to limit the trips we take. Here are some of the steps we take to reduce our footprint, and help you to too!

REDUCE:

As skincare aficionados, we all love looking at and buying skincare. We love to pick up the pretty packages, read all the info and learn about what we're putting on our skin. And while it seems fancy and glamorous, that practice comes at a cost. In the past we've bought skincare where the beautifully labeled bottle was wrapped in plastic, then put into a box, and then that box was again wrapped in plastic. That's a whole lot of waste for one tiny bottle. That's why here at Kettle Care we don't put our products in fancy packaging. Sure it's pretty and makes it look higher end, but to what end? To fill a landfill? We try to reduce as much packaging as we can and hope that you'll agree with our philosophy.

REUSE:

Packaging Materials - We always have gone out of our way to reuse clean packaging for all the shipments we do. Thus, when you open your shipping box, the packaging material we use to cushion your products is reused. Given to us from local Natural Food Stores we deliver our products to. We always appreciate their partnership and dedication to saving all the packaging materials they receive and handing it over to us. It keeps hundreds of boxes of this material out of our local landfill each year.

Maybe you have a small business in your community that would like to take clean material off your hands? Keep the cycle going for as long as possible!

Jars - As much as possible, we use glass jars for our packaging and we highly encourage you to remove the label and use the jars for yourself to store paperclips, buttons, rubber bands, and other small items. You can also plant small cactus and … plants and give them away as gifts. Of course, if you have glass recycling in your area, they can be recycled, but If you are local, please feel free to return them to us.

Buckets -  Most of our hair care raw ingredients come in 5 gallon food grade buckets. We make sure they are reused and given to local farmers, painters or whoever might need them. (Even our UPS driver snagged one to keep his snow chains from sliding around in his truck!) This saves hundreds of buckets that would otherwise go to the landfill without being used multiple times. If you are in the area send us an email if you'd like to be put on our list for some!

Barrels - Our oils usually come in 55 gallon barrels. We make sure those get reused too. Need one? Get your name on our list

Pallets -  They are reused, or the broken ones used as firewood or utilized in backyard projects. We love how versatile they are. 

RECYCLE: 

There are some of products we just can't put into glass. These include cleansers, and items you would normally keep in the shower. We always think of safety first here, and wouldn't want anyone stepping on smashed glass during their morning shower. However, we use #1 PET plastic bottles. This is the most common type of bottle and is widely accepted in most curbside recycling programs.

And again, our glass jars cardboard boxes and packaging materials can all be put into your recycling bin.

ADDITIONAL WAYS:

We use healthy cleaning products in our facility. We source them from Azure Standard and we even brought in some extra for our customer's to purchase. 

Our building was built to be heavily insulated against the harsh Montana weather, with a top notch ventilation system, ensuring our energy costs are low and your products are made in the cleanest environment possible. 

And we are always thinking of new ways to be more eco-friendly, so if you have any suggestions please let us know! Email us at office@kettlecare.com with any tips or tricks you may have!