From the very beginnings of Fern x Flow, we wanted to reduce the environmental impact our business would have and set out to operate our little soy candle company using eco-friendly and sustainable business practices. This remains important to us in making business decisions, including those regarding suppliers, materials, products, packaging, shipping, and delivery options, among others. As business owners, the responsibility for creating environmentally friendly products using the highest quality materials from responsible sources falls on us.

Since 2020, we have remained committed to this pledge and will maintain these efforts to reduce any negative effects on the environment in any way we can. Here are a few of the ways we're trying to make a difference:

1. It begins by choosing only all natural and sustainably-grown USA soy wax in all our candles. Soy beans are a natural and renewable resource, unlike petroleum, which is used to make paraffin wax. Most candles in retail stores are paraffin or a blend of paraffin and soy. Our candles are made from 100% soy wax - not a soy blend, but 100% soy wax. Don't be fooled by candles marked 'soy' that actually contain a blend of cheaper waxes; typically paraffin.
   
   
2. Keeping this in mind, our supplier of soy wax, fragrance oils, wicks and about 80% of our materials are shipped Carbon Neutral. This means that any carbon produced while delivering supplies is then offset by our supplier, who purchases credits to offset 100% of the carbon produced. This is achieved by supporting projects that either prevent CO2 from being released or actively remove it from our atmosphere. Learn more, here.
   
   
3. Significantly reduce or eliminate the use of plastics all together. We understand consumers want less plastic and less waste, so do we, and so does the Earth. Our packaging consists of fully-recyclable glass jars and metal lids. Additionally, the resealable packaging for our wax melts is 100% certified compostable in industrial and home settings. 
   
   We encourage all customers to reuse or up-cycle their jars into new uses (think pen/pencil holder, flower pot, loose parts jar etc) first, and, then, recycle them when they can no longer be used. We are working on a local, jar recycling program that will be announced sometime in 2023.
   
   
4. When shipping your orders, we use recyclable boxes, made primarily from post-consumer paper waste, and paper that is sourced from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative to ensure tree resources are being replenished.
   
   When shipping your soy candles or wax melts, we use a recyclable, kraft paper to protect your order during shipping and delivery. Sometimes, we‘ll also use packing peanuts to further protect your orders. We save and reuse these peanuts from our material supply orders. These peanuts are completely biodegradable, and will dissolve in water or can be thrown into a compost bin or pile.
   
   Even the tape we use to seal your order is eco-friendly considering it is uncoated and recyclable as well. You can, actually, leave the tape on the box and recycle them together.
   
   
5. We offer local delivery for customers throughout Woburn and surrounding communities within 10 miles. When we make these deliveries to our customers, we package and deliver as many orders as possible in each trip to reduce emissions from our delivery vehicle.
   
   More importantly, we have started purchasing credits to off-set the carbon emissions from our shipping/delivery efforts. Every order, a percentage of your order is used to purchase credits that remove carbon from the atmosphere to further reduce our environmental impact. We are able to do this via the Shopify Planet app. Learn more about how we offer carbon-neutral shipping. You can see a real-time gauge below showing how much we've offset since we began purchasing these credits.
   
   
6. Part of our mission is to give back 5% of all our sales to eco-friendly organizations who help protect natural resources including national parks, public and private lands, bodies of water and waterways, among others, but also the plants and animals that live within this areas. Visit our blog to learn about our donations.

As we continue to grow, we remain committed to improving our business practices in order to be as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible. We invite you to send suggestions on how we can continue to improve by visiting our contact page.