Hello friends! I know a lot of you are here for those yummy before and after project posts, and I promise there will be plenty of those to come as I've always got a few things percolating...but today I wanted to write about a topic very close to my heart: sustainability and conservation. These principles are the foundation we built our house upon here at CULT. I first saw the spark of what I wanted this business to be when I realized I could repurpose our ceramic candle holders into planters. Then I started thinking about all the other things they could be used for: pen holders, dish sponge or tooth brush holders, the list goes on and on. I looked around our little workshop and realized that most of the materials we use are reclaimed from somewhere and damn near everything in my house is either vintage or handmade. I feel like this has always been my personal style; partly out of monetary necessity but also just aesthetics; I love a piece with a story and a life of it's own. So when I was defining the core of this brand, what it is in its bones, I knew we had to start from a place of sustainability; from renewable resources to responsible manufacturing, reusable products and minimal packaging. This became the idea behind everything we do; using the things we already have to make something better.
Photo by Benjamin Galland
GOOD BUSINESS
Growing up on St. Simons Island, I was surrounded by the beauty of the natural world. My entire childhood was spent running through the palmetto forests and cypress swamps, wading in the marshes, the rivers, and of course the sea. These places shaped who I am as a person and I don't know who I would be without them.
In my lifetime, however, I have also seen the harm caused to this amazing place by pollution, overdevelopment, and global warming. The amount of trash that ends up on our beautiful beaches is infuriating, not being able to swim or eat fish from certain rivers because of industrial contamination is sickening, and watching the island you love literally disappear into the sea is heartbreaking.
But what can we do? The problem is so big it can often feel hopeless; like nothing we do really makes any difference at all. We recycle, we try not to use Styrofoam (damn you Chik-fil-a!) maybe you even compost, but it never feels like enough. Corporations are the biggest perpetrators when it comes to climate change and their marketing has been very targeted over the years to make us think that if all us little guys just did all these little things we could turn everything around. Welp, bad news guys, it was a scam. They just wanted to distract us from the fact that they are the ones causing the problem and they are the ones who have to fix it.
ClimateScience.org tells us:
Our lifestyle choices can help to reduce carbon emissions, but a single person's actions alone will not make a lot of difference. To have a significant impact, we will need technological innovation and structural changes, along with strong environmental policies that are adopted on a global scale.
We have to vote people into office that make the environment their priority and vote out climate change deniers and schills for the fossil fuel industry. And while stricter government regulations can force a business' hand, I truly believe that the biggest thing we can do as individuals is to give these companies and elected officials more incentives to WANT to do better. Tax credits are a great start but we need to make them realize that we won't tolerate the old ways anymore and that if they want our money and our votes, they have to innovate, they have to adapt, and they have to care more about our collective future than they do about their stock prices or their bank accounts. We have to teach them that sustainability isn't just good for the environment, it can be good for business, too.
KNOW BETTER, DO BETTER
With all that said, we do our best at CULT to leave things a little better than we found it. Are we perfect? No, of course not. As long as Chik-fil-a keeps serving their drinks in Styrofoam, I'm probably going to keep drinking them. However, here are a few of the things we do to minimize our footprint on the world and to help you feel good about shopping with us.
RENEWABLE RESOURCES
The wax for our Coconut Soy Wax Candle is made from the meat of the coconut which is organic, renewable, and processed without pesticides or petroleum by-products. Our Ritual Spray base is 100% natural, sustainable, and organic made from 75% alcohol and 25% wildcrafted witch hazel. All the wood and most of the metal we use is reclaimed and our Bamboo + Charcoal Incense sticks are not only made from one of the most renewable natural resources (the bamboo) but they're also nontoxic and cleaner burning than regular incense. I could go through literally every product we make but I think you get the picture.
RESPONSIBLE PARTNERSHIPS
While most of our products are handmade, I absolutely believe in staying in your lane and sewing is not my lane so we partnered with the amazing Art of Where for textile printing and manufacturing. They are committed to reducing their environmental impact by sourcing and producing all products in North America, reducing their carbon footprint for shipping, paying their employees a living wage, AND donating excess clothing items to inner city shelters.
BIO PACKAGING
One of the most important aspects to any brand is packaging and I knew from day one that ours had to be stylish but also eco friendly. That's why all our labels are made from recycled paper, our Hand Soap Refill pouches are biodegradable and the incense bags are compostable, sourced from wood fibers grown in sustainable forests. Our small mailer may look like a regular poly bag but it's actually made of a fully compostable copolymer and modified corn starch. And of course, all of our boxes and shipping filler are all biodegradable as well. I hope to start a refill program for the candles eventually but for now you can refill everything else directly from the website!
Photo by Benjamin Galland
HIGH TIDE
So we know using a paper straw or composting a banana peel isn't going to alter the course of history; we need the big guys to do the heavy lifting but each of us is capable of affecting change; with our vote, our wallet, and our voice.
Alone we are grains of sand, but together we can turn the tide.
*Big Shout this week to my friend Ben Galland for letting me use his incredible photos of our special island. He captures it like no one else because he knows it like no one else. The last one is where the Black Banks River meets the Atlantic Ocean on the Northern tip of Sea Island and I am proud to say I have this print hanging in my home. Find his work at www.gallandphoto.com and on IG @benjamingalland and find his beautiful books about the Golden Isles in your local bookstore and on Amazon.