Blog
We’re Saying Goodbye to Hand Sanitizer
Thank you for loving our Hand Sanitizer! We added Hand Sanitizerduring the height of the pandemic and want to start off by thanking you for trusting us to keep you safe.As Plaine Products continues to grow, we’re learning more about the space we’re in and how to best use our resources. For transparency, Hand Sanitizer sales have been steadily dropping since the end of 2021. In order to make space and create funds for additional products—like our Styling Gel, Deep Conditioner, and a larger-sized Hair Repair (coming soon!)—we’ve had to make the difficult decision to discontinue our Hand Sanitizer. While it pains us to write this, we know it’s the best choice for the direction of Plaine Products and our core mission: providing your favorite personal care products in refillable, reusable packaging. Once our inventory is gone, we’ll be removing Hand Sanitizer from our website. We currently have travel sizes still available here. And don't forget, per theCDC’s recommendations,washing your hands with soap and water often is your best bet for staying safe and germ-free. And ourhand wash isn't going anywhere!
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Reducing Plastic Waste in Hospitality
Plaine Products is partnering with hotels and short-term vacation rentals to offer refillable options for personal care products. This is a positive step in reducing plastic waste in the hospitality industry by eliminating the need for single-use plastic containers such as shampoo and conditioner bottles, and soap packages! It also offers a wonderful guest experience, thanks to clean ingredients and salon-quality products.According to sustainability and plasticsexpert Marissa Jablonski, "a single 200-room four-star hotel can use about 300,000 pieces of single-use plastic in a month if it is at full capacity." The estimate includes 20,000 plastic water bottles, 49,765 plastic amenities and amenity packages, 216,693 pieces of plastic for food and beverage operations, including plastic wrap, storage bags, and latex gloves, and 13,375 plastic bags. The number does not even include plastic laundry bags used by third-party services to protect laundered clothing for staff and guests. Or bags used by food suppliers. With the significant amount of possible plastic waste generated by hotels, it's clear that there is a need for more sustainable alternatives. Reuse and Refill in Rentals and Hotels "We have been thrilled to see the number of Airbnbs, VRBOs, property management companies, and boutique hotels that have been reaching out to us looking help reducing plastic waste," says CEO and cofounder Lindsey McCoy. "We are working with these companies in a variety of ways," says McCoy. For single rental units, we follow our traditional model of sending full bottles as refills and taking back empty bottles to be reused.For larger boutique hotels and property management operations we can provide bottles to be refilled on-site with our bulk buckets (which can also be returned to be reused). We also offer bulk refill options for hotels with shower-mounted dispensers. Our interest is in making it as easy as possible to use less single-use plastic personal care items in the hospitality industry. We have added hospitality options toour wholesale program. "As a property manager overseeing multiple Airbnbs and hosting numerous guests, guest experience is crucial to us. However, the increasing waste generated by traditional shampoos and packages has raised concerns. I have been moving towards a more sustainable lifestyle personally and in my business. I believe that your hair & body wash can help us make a significant difference." There are governmental efforts being made that will help in reducing plastic waste in hospitality. Thanks to CA Assembly Bill 1162 as of January 1st, 2023,Californian hotels with more than 50 rooms will cease to provide guests with personal care products such as shampoo, conditioner, or soap in single-use plastic containers. The measure will roll out to smaller establishments in 2024 and hopefully set an example for other states to follow as they move towards more eco-friendly alternatives. @masonloftsnashville If you're interested in staying at hotels that carry Plaine Products, you can consider Loyal Duke Lodge or Mason Lofts at West End in Nashville, Tennessee. These establishments have embraced the initiative to reduce plastic waste and provide a more sustainable experience for their guests.
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Introducing our newest partnership with Sustaio!
Want to get rewarded for doing good? Who doesn't?! Check out our newest partnership with Sustaio and find out how you can reduce your carbon footprint and earn rewards for doing so. What is Sustaio? Sustaio is a cutting-edge platform that helps you quantify your climate impact within your home. It tracks the emissions footprint of your home’s utilities so you can take meaningful steps to reduce it. As a reward for your efforts, you’ll earn valuable Sustaio Credits that can be redeemed for a wide range of real-world products in our marketplace. With 78% of people in the US saying that a sustainable lifestyle is important to them, learning how to help combat climate change by reducing your carbon footprint can be very helpful. "Sustaio empowers people to live climate-smarter by quantifying & incentivizing emissions-reducing behavior; think Rakuten meets Nerdwallet for sustainable living. Sustaio gamifies real-time tracking of utility use and home efficiency actions for the everyday individual to effectively reduce their footprint within their home," says Olivia Pedersen, founder & CEO of Sustaio.How is Plaine Products involved? When you create a Sustaio account, you will begin tracking your monthly utility bills. Every action you take to be more energy efficient each month will be reflected in your utility bills and rewarded with Sustaio Credits. These valuable Sustaio Credits can be redeemed for a wide range of real-world products including exclusive discounts with us! Sustaio Credits can be redeemed in their marketplace with brands that offer sustainable products and/or products that help people get outside better. We’re proud to be a part of their mission! In a nutshell, Sustaio is the place where you can get rewarded for reducing your carbon footprint!
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5 Suggestions for Celebrating Earth Day
Earth Day is nearly here! How will you celebrate this year? Here at Plaine Products, it's practically#EarthDayEveryDay and we have lots of great suggestions on how you too can celebrate with us!Earth Day has been celebrated for over 50 years as a special day dedicated to appreciating our planet and taking action to protect it. It's a time to think about the impact of our actions on the environment and to take steps towards creating a more sustainable future. Here are five ways to join millions of people worldwide in celebrating Earth Day:Plant a tree or start a pollinator garden Trees are an important part of our ecosystem, providing oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide, and creating habitats for wildlife. By planting a tree or starting a garden, you can help reduce the carbon footprint and increase biodiversity in your area. And, with bee and butterfly populations on the decline, starting a native, pollinator garden can also help! You can plant wildflowers to encourage pollinators like bees and butterflies to visit your yard and we help pollinate our food sources. Not only is this a fun and rewarding activity, but it also provides long-term benefits to the environment.Reduce your energy consumption Reducing your energy consumption is a great way to celebrate Earth Day. You can start by turning off lights and appliances when you're not using them, unplugging electronics that aren't in use, and adjusting your thermostat to reduce energy usage. These simple steps can make a big impact on the environment and reduce your carbon footprint. Start composting Composting is a great way to reduce waste and create nutrient-rich soil for your garden. By composting food scraps and yard waste, you can reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and create a sustainable source of fertilizer for your plants. You can start small with a simple compost bin in your backyard or join a community composting program.Participate in a community clean-up Joining a community cleanup is a great way to celebrate Earth Day while making a tangible impact on your local environment. You can organize a cleanup event in your neighborhood, park, or beach, or join an existing event in your community. By picking up litter and properly disposing of it, you can help protect wildlife and prevent pollution. Want to run a beach cleanup but not sure where to start? We've got sometried and true tips for planning and running your own successful beach cleanup! Or, if you need help finding a cleanup near you, check out theGreat Global Cleanup , a worldwide campaign to rid the environment of waste and plastic pollution for good.Educate yourself and others Education is key to creating a more sustainable future. Take some time to learn about environmental issues and the impact of human activity on the planet. Share your knowledge with friends, family, and your community to help spread awareness and encourage others to take action. By working together, we can create a more sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.How will you celebrate Earth Day this year? We'd love to hear your ideas! And be sure to tag us on social media with the hashtag#ProgresswithPlaine to show us all the ways you are helping the planet. Let's work together to make a positive impact on the environment and create a more sustainable future.
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Greenwashing & Goodwashing
"Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” (Anna Lappe) What are Greenwashing & Goodwashing? Greenwashing is when companies claim to care about their impacts on the environment by promoting their efforts as being more sustainable than they really are. These claims range from a bit of exaggeration to blatant lies. Goodwashing is very similar to greenwashing. It happens when companies claim to care about people, communities, and stakeholders— again, inflating, exaggerating, or even entirely fabricating the positive impacts of their actions. We’ve all likely seen products labeled as “eco-friendly” (usually with green or blue fonts and images of nature scenes). We might be less likely to notice greenwashing & goodwashing when companies engage in other actions intended to mislead stakeholders regarding their environmental (greenwashing) and social (goodwashing) performance and benefits, while they continue with business as usual. Common tactics include: lack of certifications, fake endorsements, deceptive imagery, exaggerated claims, and hidden partnerships and investments. The two easiest approaches I’ve found to avoiding greenwashing & goodwashing are: Shop local and as close to the source as possible, buying from farmers, producers, makers, craftspeople— supporting small businesses in the community. (Or better yet, when possible, consider borrowing, bartering, or buying used; we’ll discuss those options in more detail in future posts.) Choose products and services from companies that are Certified B Corporations Why? Certified B Corporations meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. The Certification process uses credible, comprehensive, transparent, and independent standards of social and environmental performance. It’s a super rigorous process: hundreds of thousands of companies have completed the B Impact Assessment, but only 6,320 (as of January 2023) have scored high enough and jumped through all of the hoops to become Certified B Corporations. Look for this logo: Are there companies other than those that are Certified B Corporations who truly walk their talk around issues related to social impact, sustainable/resilient/regenerative economies, CSR/ESG, JEDI, stakeholder/rights-holder capitalism, etc.? Absolutely! It’s just more difficult to evaluate and ascertain the validity of their claims. Examples of companies telling stories vs those who authentically walk their talk: Lip Balm: Burts Bees vs The Body Shop, Beauty Counter, or Eco Lips Say you’re looking for some lip balm. You consider this plastic tube of yummy smelling beeswax mixed with other moistening goodness from Burt’s Bees, taking a moment to notice the rabbit with stars “no animal testing” logo and the ubiquitous and misleading “recyclable plastic” sign. Maybe you even surf over to the Burt’s Bees website and read that they feature “ingredients from nature” and “responsible sourcing” (without any data or information to back up those claims). You look for the B Corporation logo and don’t see one (because they’re not a Certified B Corp). Then you head over to The Body Shop, Beautycounter, or Eco Lips and you read about their lip care products— all of which are made with certified organic ingredients and certified fair trade sources, by people earning living wages. Because all three brands are Certified B Corporations that truly walk their talk around sustainability and social impact. They’re among the now 50+ members of the newly formed B Corp Beauty Coalition, which includes Plaine Products, a hair and skin care company started by sisters, Lindsey and Ali, and University of Florida Grads (Alison) who dreamt of a world with less plastic waste. In short: The quick and easy answer to avoiding greenwashing & goodwashing is to be conscientious consumers by buying from well-known and trusted local sources, and/or by choosing products and services from Certified B Corporations. Resources for more info: How to Avoid Greenwashing - Network for Business Sustainability How Can Business Combat Greenwashing? - B Lab Forces for Good Podcast What is greenwashing—and how do you avoid it? - National Geographic A Guide to Greenwashing and How to Spot It - EcoWatch How to tell credible eco-labels from “greenwash” - Corporate Knights Greenwashing.com If you’d like to read more about how to avoid greenwashing & goodwashing, the complete version of this post is here. If you’d like to sign up for “(How to) Do Good Well,” a monthly email newsletter with tips & tools for how we (as business & community leaders, consumers, citizens, and changemakers) can all leverage the power of business (and our resources — of our time, talent, energy, attention, capital, and connections) as a force for good… creating strategic impact to benefit people, the planet, and prosperity… simply enter your email address here: https://dogoodwell.substack.com/subscribe. This was a guest post by Dr. Kristin Joys, an impact strategist with over 25 years of experience educating & empowering changemakers. In addition to her day job as the founder & director of the Social Impact & Sustainability Initiative in the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center at the University of Florida, she is founder of do good well consulting, a certified B Corporation. Kristin also serves as Chair of Teaching & Curriculum Innovation for B Academics and Director of Strategic Impact & Senior Advisor for Academic Partners for Florida for Good.Each spring she directs the UF Business for Good Lab: Social Impact & Sustainability Consulting program where teams of students work as consultants, helping companies to walk their talk around sustainability, track their progress towards the UN SDGs, and apply to become certified B Corporations.
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When NOT to send your bottles back
We love that so many in our Plaine Products community want to return their bottles forreuse . The return rate of our bottles that get sent back for us to reuse and refill is fantastic - 70-80%! But we can't always reuse the bottles. Sad, we know.Given the zealousness of our community's desire to reuse and refill with us, we wanted to share a few examples of when NOT to send your bottles back to us. Why don't we want you to return these types of bottles? Unfortunately, we can't reuse every bottle. And if we can't reuse it, we recycle it. Why not just recycle it at home instead of sending it back to us? By not sending back unusable bottles you are helping to decrease our carbon footprint and our shipping costs.4 Reasons you SHOULD NOT send back a bottle Large Dents If your bottle has large dents, we can’t use that for the next customer, so please recycle at home. Large dents like these make the bottles unsuitable for reusing and refilling. Also, this box could have been reused but product leaked all over it. Did you know that we reuse our boxes as well?! When returning your bottles please be sure that they are rinsed and dried with the lids securely tightened. Hard Water Spots If your bottle has hard water spots and stains, don’t send it back to us. Just put it in your own recycling bin at home. Our warehouse manager, Chris explains, "I'm a bottle washer, not a miracle worker. Heavy soap deposits and especially hard water spots are hard or impossible to clean. These will likely be pulled off the washing line and sent directly to the aluminum recycler." If anyone has suggestions on how to remove hard water stains let us know ! Mold and Other Funkiness If the bottom of the bottle gets dirty or funky like this because you’ve had it for a while, please recycle it at home. Basically, if you wouldn't want to receive a bottle back that looks like what you are about to send back to us - recycle it instead! Other Companies' Bottles Please don’t send us other companies’ bottles. We’re just going to recycle them, so no need to ship them all the way here when you can recycle them at home. BUT consider sending that company a message encouraging them to adopt a refill model like ours. Even though we can’t reuse these types of bottles, aluminum is infinitely recyclable, so recycle it at home knowing it will stay out of the waste stream. And don't let that stop you from ordering your Plaine Products refill, you can just skip the return label!
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3 Reasons to Use Deep Conditioner
All hair can benefit from using a Deep Conditioner. Our hair gets damaged daily from styling, hot tools, color treatments, sun exposure, and more. The key to helping prevent damage and achieve healthier, stronger hair, is to use a deep conditioner. Even if you already have healthy, non-damaged hair you can benefit from the use of deep conditioner as a way to maintain your beautiful locks. Here are 3 good reasons why you should incorporate deep conditioner into your regular hair care routine: #1 Prevents Damage Deep Conditioner can help prevent hair breakage and split ends by adding moisture to your hair. The ingredients in Plaine Products' ultra-hydrating Deep Conditioner work to penetrate the hair strands on a much deeper level than our regular conditioner and increase your hair's hydration. Your hair needs to be properly moisturized to avoid dry, brittle hair, and using a deep conditioner on a regular basis will help maintain healthy hair. # 2 Restores Shine A deep conditioner works to smooth and hydrate the individual hair shafts leading to a return of the natural shine of your hair. If your hair has lost some of its shine, it is probably in need of the nutrients and moisturizing benefits a deep conditioner can provide. # 3 Promotes Elasticity Hair with more elasticity is stronger, healthier hair that won't break! Deep conditioning can help improve the elasticity of your hair by nourishing, strengthening, and moisturizing your hair. It increases the elasticity of your hair allowing it to resist stretching and breaking longer. Deep conditioner is designed to be left in your hair for longer than your regular, daily conditioner. A few extra minutes, whether that be 5 or 30 minutes, will allow the deep conditioner to provide more hydration and leave you with healthier, shinier hair.
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How We Renovated our Warehouse…Sustainably
“Reuse” is a major part of our business model here at Plaine Products. Not only do we reuse our aluminum bottles over and over, but we do our best to incorporate the value of reuse into every step of our operations. From boxes to labels to bottles and now…an entire warehouse! Plaine Products has grown a lot over the last few years, and we realized we needed more space for storage, bottle washing, and fulfillment. Co-founder and COO Ali found an abandoned building for sale that had the space necessary for our operations. Thankfully, Ali and her husband (and warehouse manager) Chris are very experienced with remodeling projects, and so the journey began. Without their vision for the building, and the importance we place on reuse, it’s easy to see how we could have ended up demolishing the building and starting fresh. But Demolition creates a huge amount of waste, so we chose an existing building that met our needs and took the time to redesign and renovate it sustainably. We sat down with Chris to learn more about the building, the renovation, and the journey it took to get here. What’s the history of this building? The Plaine Product’s building was originally the home of the Milford Burial Vaults Company. Concrete burial vaults were manufactured on site starting in 1950. Later, the building was used as overflow storage for the Baker Feed and Seed Company located next door. How did the team approach the renovation? Did the building’s original structure inform the new designs? The building was divided into multiple spaces. The two largest spaces fit our warehousing needs perfectly. These areas were provided with heat only. The two smaller spaces fit our office and pack and ship needs. These smaller spaces were fully insulated and provided with heat and air conditioning. We were able to add in space for our bottle washing operation amongst the storage. What were you able to save from the old building? How are you using it? The exterior envelope of the building was saved with some minor changes and major repair. The interior was very simple and the configuration of work areas and warehouse spaces did not need to be changed. What did you do with the things you could not reuse? Are there any community partnerships you utilized to rehome those materials? The original building was an open warehouse with no insulation and only a small office space. In general there was not much to remove. All of the original steel windows were replaced and all the old steel was recycled. Old doors were recycled as scrap metal. We tried to separate used materials as best as possible. All metals were separated and sent to a local recycler. Some structural steel was reused in creating new openings in the concrete block exterior walls. Are there any special features about the new building that make it more eco-friendly than others? We had the HVAC contractor source some High Efficiency heaters that are not commonly used in warehouse spaces. For other heat and air conditioning components, we selected units that were higher efficiency than is standard. Lighting is all LED which makes energy use low. What are the main waste products you deal with now that the building is renovated? Because we recycle so much, our trash output at the warehouse is very low. We recycle: Cardboard (much is reused but some is recycled) Regular curbside type items, like containers and paper Damaged aluminum bottles that can’t be reused We also donate pallets to a small local operator who reconditions them and sells them. Good ones are reused in our own shipping. Things that can’t be recycled in curbside recycling or donated are taken to the Cincinnati Recycling and Reuse HUB, like pallet wrapping, plastic strapping, LDPE bags and sheet plastic, and HDPE items like broken buckets. Tape and labels from the reuse of our own boxes is the main contributor to our trash. Even with that, typically our entire warehouse produces just 1 bag of trash per week. Do you have any future plans for making the warehouse even more eco-friendly? Yes, absolutely. There are portions of the storage warehouses that were not insulated in the original project. We look forward to adding more insulation as we move forward to reduce the energy needed to heat and cool the buildings. —- We’re so excited to be in our new (to us) warehouse space, and can’t wait for many more years of reusing and refilling here. Make sure to follow us on Instagram so you don’t miss out on our “Texts from our Warehouse Manager” series, where we show you even more behind the scenes looks at our warehouse!
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Retail Partner Highlight: Fillgood, San Francisco Bay Area
Plaine Products partners with over 270 retail stores and refill shops across the USA to make our products more accessible for you. We are pleased to share with you one of these stores, Fillgood, to tell you more about them and their history. Read on to learn more about Fillgood, what they carry and their hopes for the future. (And if you are looking for a retail store near you, search here.) What inspired you to start Fillgood? I was inspired to start Fillgood when I took a class about recycling in San Francisco in 2016. I was shocked to learn how much plastic we throw away each day and the fact that recycling is not a viable long-term solution. From the oil well to the landfill, plastic is polluting our air, water, and land, and having a major impact on low-income communities. It's an environmental justice issue. These communities are exposed to toxic chemicals and other environmental hazards related to plastic manufacturing. In addition, we now know that less than 5% of plastic is actually recycled and that almost every piece of plastic ever manufactured still exists. Each of us even ingests the equivalent of a plastic credit card every week! All this made it very clear to me that reducing our plastic consumption, especially single-use plastic packaging, was crucial. These plastics are not designed to last and we throw them away, replacing them with new ones, which only leads to more waste and more resources being extracted. I created Fillgood to show that there is an alternative to this unsustainable cycle. Tell us about the early days, how did you get started? When Fillgood first started, I wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to switch to refillable packaging, so I created an online store with home deliveries - a bit like a modern-day milkman! At the beginning, the website only had about 30 products (now we have over 400!), with a focus on home, bath and body products, no food. We would deliver once a week in 3 different areas. We still offer this same service today: our customers get their orders in a reusable bag, the liquid and powder products are packaged in glass jars, and they can return their bags and empties at the next delivery. It was important to me to also provide safe, non-toxic products to our customers. That's why we carefully screen ingredient lists before introducing any new product, to ensure it won't have any potential negative impacts on health or the environment. What do operations look like now? Two years after launching, I opened a store in Albany – the first refill store in the East Bay! It was a hit with customers who wanted to bring their own containers and refill them in-store. A year later, in August 2020, during the pandemic, we moved to a bigger location in Berkeley with high foot traffic. Now we're a team of 6, running our brick and mortar store and home deliveries. We offer 400 products, including over 100 in bulk, and serve customers all around the Bay Area. It's been an incredible journey and we're looking forward to continuing to serve our community! What are you most proud of? I'm incredibly proud of our closed loop partnerships with brands like Plaine Products! When I started Fillgood, it was difficult to find companies willing to take back their empty bulk containers or jars/bottles to be cleaned and refilled. Putting these containers in the recycling bin didn't fit with our mission either. Now, while the number of companies offering closed-loop is still limited, it's growing. Every time we join forces with a new closed loop partner, it's a huge victory in the battle against single use plastics. What has been the most challenging? Besides finding closed-loop partners, there's also the public perception of zero waste stores, which can be discouraging. Many folks believe that zero waste products are too expensive and only accessible to wealthier people. When we receive feedback like this in the store, we try to explain that you can actually save money in the long run with many zero waste items. For instance, a stainless steel razor will last a lifetime and each new blade only costs 30 cents, which is cheaper than a disposable plastic razor. Solid dish soap is also a great swap - a single brick can replace 2 to 3 bottles of liquid dish soap. But living a low waste life is not just about buying new products. Most of the time, you actually don't need to buy anything at all to reduce waste, you can reuse, repair, or get the things you need for free thanks to groups like Buy Nothing. It’s a very creative journey! We hope that this perception of zero waste stores will change quickly, because reducing single-use plastics requires a collective effort in order to make a real, systemic change. What are your most popular products? Our most popular products include laundry detergent, dish soap, hand soap, and hair care products - all the essentials people use day-to-day that are usually packaged in plastic bottles. We absolutely love seeing people bring their own bottles and jars for refills or swapping for solid products - it's a huge win for the planet! What are the hardest zero waste items to find? Some zero waste items can definitely be a challenge. Right now, I would love to find a fully compostable toothbrush that works well. I'm still on the hunt for one! Another zero waste item I would love to see is a refillable floss pick - it would be particularly helpful for kids, and would replace millions of the disposable picks out there. If you know of any companies that make these products, please let me know - I'd love to hear about them! What are you excited about for the future? The recent UN conference about a Global Plastics Treaty is giving me hope. It's an amazing effort to reduce the amount of plastic pollution that is damaging our planet. It shows how plastic pollution has become such a worldwide issue that it's time for countries to take it very seriously and regulate this industry. This treaty is designed to create a framework for countries to cooperate and create policies to reduce the production and consumption of single-use plastics. In the meantime, single-use plastic bans across the world are on the rise. These bans are a positive step in the right direction to reduce the amount of plastic waste and an important way to put pressure on companies to create more sustainable packaging solutions. But bans cannot cover every single-use plastics, that's why we must continue to find ways to drastically reduce our plastic consumption, for the sake of our home planet, our children and our health.
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