Sustainable Packaging
Sustainabilty is in fashion. Which would be fantastic if it wouldn’t happen too often that it is just an empty marketing word, without much thought or effort given into taking real steps towards sustainabilty. We, as a brand have communicated its importance from the very beginning, sustainabilty is at the core of our small company- it is something we live privately, and something we take very seriously in our business. We want to be completely transparent with our customers when it comes to our sustainable practices, so in this series of posts, we’ll talk about the actual actions we take to make our products as environmentally friendly as possible. And it is possible.
The first thing we want to tackle is the packaging. From our bottle, label, cork, and protection capsules, to the wrapping paper, transport boxes, and the tape that wraps them- our packaging was designed and thought of with no plastic in mind (actually, with a lot of plastic so often used in packaging in mind), which we wanted to avoid at all costs.
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Održivost je u modi. Što bi bilo fantastično kada ne bi i prečesto služila kao prazna marketinška riječ, bez razmišljanja i napora uloženog u prave korake k održivosti. Mi smo kao brend od početka komunicirali važnost održivosti, ona je u temeljima naše male tvrtke- održivost živimo i privatno, a u poslu je shvaćamo vrlo ozbiljno. S kupcima želimo biti potpuno transparentni u vezi s našim održivim praksama, pa ćemo u ovoj seriji objava na društvenim mrežama i blogu govoriti o stvarnim radnjama koje poduzimamo kako bi naši proizvodi bili koliko god je to moguće ekološki prihvatljivi.
Započet ćemo s pakiranjem naših proizvoda. Od boce, etikete, čepa, zaštitne folije za čep, do klobučnog papira za umatanje, transportnih kutija i samoljepljive trake- naše pakiranje smišljeno je tako da u njemu ne koristimo plastiku. Htjeli smo je izbjeći pod svaku cijenu.
Starting with the glass bottle- the vessel for our gin and other spirits- that was made of partly recycled glass, as are most of the glass bottles. Thankfully, glass is too valuable raw material to be thrown away and never reused, as it happens mostly with plastic. We always encourage our local customers and bars to return their used Monachus bottles to us directly- at the moment, we are collecting them with a plan to reuse them in one of our next batches.
Many of the labels for wine and spirits that look like plain paper labels actually have plastic lining on the back. We made an effort for our iconic Monachus labels to be paper only- by going to the printing factory personally to discuss the options for our labels, choose the paper, confirm that we didn’t want any plastic lining that would protect them if they came in contact with the liquid. That means that if they get wet, it will be noticeable, and we’re fine with it!
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Naša boca, kao i većina današnjih staklenih boca, napravljena je od djelomično recikliranog stakla. Na sreću, staklo je previše vrijedna sirovina da bi se samo bacila i nikad ponovo ne iskoristila, kao što se to radi s plastikom. Mi uvijek potičemo naše lokalne kupce i barove da nam vraćaju Monachus boce- trenutačno ih skupljamo s namjerom da ih ponovo iskoristimo u jednoj od sljedećih serija.
Mnoge etikete za vina i destilate koje izgledaju kao papirnate etikete zapravo imaju sloj plastike na poleđini. Mi smo se potrudili da naše fantastične Monachus etikete budu samo papirnate, tako da smo osobno išli u tiskaru razgovarati o opcijama za tisak etiketa, odabrati papir i potvrditi da ne želimo plastičnu zaštitu na našim etiketama. To znači da se na njima primijeti trag kada se smoče- ali nama je to u redu!
A natural cork stopper produced in Portugal was our first and only choice- for its quality, simplicity, and the provenance of the material. In today’s industrial times, cork stopper production is still a sustainable practice, as one tree gives enough material for decades of making corks. There is no decorative plastic on it (or whatever the use of the extra plastic on a cork stopper is) or extra wooden parts. It is just plain cork- functional and beautiful in its naturalness.
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Prirodan pluteni čep proizveden u Portugalu bio je naš prvi i jedini izbor- zbog svoje kvalitete, jednostavnosti i porijekla sirovine. U današnje industrijsko vrijeme, proizvodnja plutenih čepova ipak je održiva, s obzirom na to da jedno stablo desetljećima daje sirovinu za izradu čepova. Na našem čepu nema dekorativne plastike (ili čemu god da plastika na čepu služi), niti dodatnih drvenih dijelova. To je čisti pluto- funkcionalan i lijep u svojoj prirodnosti.
A “small” thing everyone forgets about is the plastic foil cork protection. We managed to get by our first year completely without it- we just didn’t use any, as we had full control of what was happening to our bottles in transport. When we started exporting to Japan, that wasn’t possible anymore, as we had to have cork protection for our bottles to enter the country. Our first idea was to use wax, but getting into the topic, we found out that the wax used for cork protection contains plastic. (By experimenting with different wax, the stench once it was melted only confirmed that information).
It took us months to find a producer and then produce the capsules made of cornstarch for our bottles. Our foils are compostable, which doesn’t mean that you can just throw them away in nature (you shouldn’t do that anyway!), but it does mean that you can throw it in your compostables bin and it will dissolve in the composting plant! Even if there are no composting plants in your vicinity and your trash gets burned for energy, our cornstarch capsules do not emit toxic gases like regular plastic. It also means that no petroleum was used in their production- only that is of great importance!
It is not a perfect solution, but it is one step closer to it.
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Mala stvar na koju se često zaboravlja je zaštitna folija za čep. Mi smo, s obzirom na to da smo imali potpunu kontrolu nad transportom naših boca, prvu godinu uspjeli izgurati uopće je ne koristeći. Kada smo počeli izvoziti u Japan, to više nije bilo moguće- da bismo uopće mogli uvesti naše destilate u zemlju, morali smo imati zaštitu čepa. Naša prva ideja bila je vosak, no kada smo počeli istraživati, saznali smo da sav vosak koji se koristi za zatvaranje boca sadrži plastiku (eksperimentirajući s različitim voskovima, smrad otopljenog voska nam je to i potvrdio).
Trebali su nam mjeseci da pronađemo proizvođača zaštitnih folija bez plastike, a zatim još nekoliko mjeseci da se proizvedu po mjeri za našu bocu. Naše folije izrađene su od kukuruznog škroba i kompostabilne su- što ne znači da ih možete samo baciti u prirodu (to ionako ne biste trebali raditi), ali znači da ih možete baciti u kantu za kompost, a zatim će se u kompostani razgraditi. Čak i ako u vašoj blizini nema kompostana (kod nas u Istri ih još uvijek nema) i vaše smeće završi u spalionici, naše škrobne folije ne ispuštaju otrovne plinove pri izgaranju (kao što to čini plastika). Također, pri njihovoj proizvodnji nije korištena nafta- što je samo po sebi vrlo važno!
Iako nije savršeno rješenje, jedan korak mu je bliže.
The lovely wrapping paper with Monachus print that we sometimes use as a gift wrap and for protection of the bottles is 100% compostable and recyclable tissue paper. It is made from recycled materials, printed with soy-based inks, on FSC-certified paper (which means that it is coming from responsibly managed forests), and is acid, sulfur, and lignin-free.
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Naš klobučni papir s Monachus tiskom koji ponekad koristimo kao papir za zamatanje i zaštitu boca, potpuno je kompostabilan i reciklabilan. Napravljen je od recikliranog materijala, otisnut bojama na bazi soje, na FSC-certficiranom papiru (što znači da dolazi iz šuma kojima se upravlja na odgovoran način), ne sadrži kiseline, sumpor, ni lignin.
Our simple cardboard boxes for delivery and storage are 100% cardboard inside and out, and to close the package we use the paper tape with a print of our Monachus seal tumbling in a wave! We have been using paper tape from day one, and have never used plastic tape in our packaging.
Plastic tape is used ever so often in packaging, without any real need for it: we find our paper tape as durable as the plastic one, and the fact that our packages traveled by ship all the way to Japan came intact is a proof.
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Jednostavne kutije koje koristimo za transport i skladištenje u potpunosti su izrađene od kartona, a zatvaramo ih samoljepljivom papirnatom trakom s otisnutim Monachus simbolom. Isključivo papirnate trake koristimo još od prvoga dana: iako je upotreba plastičnog selotejpa uobičajena praksa, mi ne vidimo razlog za to: papirnatu traku smatramo jednako funkcionalnom kao i plastičnu, a to da su naše kutije netaknute doplovile sve do Japana to i potvrđuje.
Surely, plastic-free packaging in plastic obsessed world is a more complicated and pricier choice, but once the customers and producers start taking steps towards sustainabilty, and insisting on plastic-free solutions, the practice is surely going to change. The plastic era is sadly not over yet, but it is becoming obsolete, with the new solutions coming up, and the old, more sustainable ones being brought back to use. We can all take steps for a more sustainable business and life- it is far from impossible.
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Jasno je da je pakiranje bez plastike u svijetu opsjednutom plastikom kompliciraniji i skuplji izbor, no jednom kada kupci i proizvođači počnu poduzimati korake k stvarnoj održivosti i inzistirati na rješenjima bez plastike, praksa će se početi mijenjati. Era plastike nažalost još nije završila, ali je plastika, uz nova rješenja kojih je sve više i stara, ekološki prihvatljiva rješenja koja se vraćaju u uporabu- jednostavno postala zastarjela. Svi možemo poduzeti korake k održivijem poslovanju i življenju- sami smo se u to uvjerili.
