Sustainable Products Need Sustainable Packaging
What Makes the Best Reef Safe Products Better? Eco-Conscious Packaging!
We don’t like plastic either!*
At Stream2Sea, we work hard to ensure that our products are safe not only for you and your family, but also for the sustainability of our planet. To reduce our impact on the environment, we make sure that our packaging is as green and sustainable as the products themselves.
Read on to find out more about our eco packaging!
Together we are doing better!
We started with using Sugarcane Resin Tubes
When we first launched Stream2Sea, we started with using Sugarcane resin packaging.
We chose to use sugarcane resin tubes as a viable alternative to traditional PET plastic tubes. They are made from the pulp after the sugar juices have been expelled. This pulp – once treated as a waste product and burned – can now be utilized as a valuable product which reduces our greenhouse emissions.
* Growing sugar cane absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air. For every kilogram of ‘green’ plastic produced, 3.09 kilograms of CO2 are removed from the air by the sugar cane.
Now, Stream2Sea has transition to using other eco-conscious materials.
Ocean Bound Plastic Bottles
Ocean-bound plastic is exactly what it sounds like. These plastics are considered at risk of entering our oceans or rivers at the coastline and are recovered to be sorted, cleaned, and turned into resin for new use.
PCR: Reducing the need for virgin plastics
Stream2Sea’s sunscreen tubes, large bottles, EcoSticks and lip balm tubes are made of plastic milk jugs and water bottles that would otherwise end up in a landfill. About a third of all plastics produced escape collection systems and end up in the ocean. Every pound of our resin diverts approximately 10 milk jugs from America’s waste stream and the world’s oceans.
In addition, the more we use PCR, the less we rely on virgin plastics.
Amazon insists on ‘plastic’ baggies, so we use biodegradable ones!
To meet the ‘liquid requirement” and ship our products through Amazon, they need to be placed inside a ‘plastic’ baggie. We struggled with this, and finally sourced a ‘Green Line’ biodegradable, re-usable plastic bag. We encourage reuse of this bag, then either recycle with other LDPE plastics or send to the landfill where it is proven to biodegrade.
100% Recyclable
Whether it is our tubes or bottles or bags, 100% of our packaging is 100% recyclable. Please recycle when you are finished with the product instead of throwing it away.
Can I Reuse Instead?
Our tubes really not intended for re-use. We love the idea, but honestly, we minimize the number of preservatives in our products because they are the harshest part of a formula. As soon as someone starts refilling an existing package, it opens it up for contamination.
If you want to refill from the bigger bottle (which we love), your best bet is to get the silicone tubes where you can boil them between fills.
The search for eco packaging never ends.
We’ve tested biodegradable paper packaging and other alternatives, but so far, none have proven durable enough for our active outdoor lifestyle. When paper-based tubes or packaging are tossed into a swim bag, dive bag, or pocket and get wet, they tend to break down at inconvenient times. We're continuing to monitor advancements in packaging!