Sustainable shifts at Strands

We are in a constant pursuit to move forward as a company, including shifting to a more sustainable approach for the love we share for our planet and community. Really tuning into our customers’ thoughts & using that feedback to develop products that they will truly love is an amazing and rewarding process. This is an exciting time for Strands; from announcing our Leaping Bunny Cruelty Free certification, to now sharing our sustainable packaging…we want to reflect our core brand values, and we knew we needed to revamp our brand packaging in order to do so. 

We’ve realized that our test kits and packaging need a makeover, so we’ve had our R&D team work around the clock to ensure that sustainability is top of mind. After all, Strands believes in brand responsibility; offering quality products, while reducing our impact on the environment. Our goals include saving energy, sustainable sourcing, and reducing waste creation.

Let’s begin with our new and improved test kit. The test kit is composed of paper and coated with fully recyclable ink. To add, we reduced the total footprint of the test kit, focusing solely on the necessary information for your journey, while minimizing the use of additional materials. No additional waste = better for the environment. Also, we have decided to work with a partner that uses wind energy to power their manufacturing, which means our test kits are now made using cleaner energy sources. 

The saying goes ‘reduce, reuse, and recycle’. Our team wanted to reduce as much materials as we could throughout the test kit, and we did a wonderful job streamlining key parts for the digital journey. Our instruction booklet and sample reference cards are items that customers made no use of after completing the test kit & many times would lose in the process. So, by migrating these parts onto a digital journey, we not only minimize waste creation, but also enable customers to access their information online in a more quick and easy way.

Next, we’ve migrated away from using shrink wrapping completely. The process of shrink wrapping is a high heat process which requires a lot of energy and releases harmful odors. Furthermore, it is not universally recyclable like paper, which is why we chose paper sleeve instead!

Finally, we’ve rolled out a reduced footprint shipper box which is completely recyclable and designed to contain all components securely without added packaging. 

This is a huge milestone for us, but there are plenty more projects in the works, so stay tuned for more!