We see it time and time again with many witches in business "I'm a witch and lover of nature" yet they also falter at the very basic hurdle... single use plastics. Scrolling through the many witchy selling pages on Facebook and instagram I
was washed away by an endless sea of herbs in plastic pouches, candles wrapped in plastics, plastic plastic plastic. Worst of all I saw a "witches nature lover box" choked out by what felt like a plastic noose. There is nothing nature loving about this!
I don't want to make this blog post bleak and lacking hope for the future but I want it to spread awareness that there are many witches out there with unintentional harm to the earth they say they love and to hopefully give the kick needed to change their product and packaging uses.
Lets go into detail about what makes a business genuinely green and nature based and I will be holding my business accountable for anything that may be pulled up from this experience so, shall we begin? This is a list made by envision-creative.com for Green Marketing Requirements but this also applies for the witchcraft sellers across the globe:
products and/or services are free of toxic materials and o-zone depleting properties
Your products and/or services are designed to be reusable over the long-term
Your products are manufactured following environmentally-friendly guidelines or are produced from recycled materials
Your products can be recycled
Your packaging is eco-friendly, biodegradable, made from recycled materials, can be recycled and/or is conservatively used
non-green processes of your business don't use materials in excess
The Grey witch takes huge amounts of pride with toxic free products, only using natural ingredients from my local wildlife, home-grown or, if they need to be ordered in is bought organically from local sellers who support the green lifestyle.
I sell all of my products in either glass jars, which yes have their own contribution to pollution, mainly of the heat kind, or recyclable cardboard boxes. Glass and cardboard is far greater than the single use plastics that smother the earth and found in almost all 'Witch Caskets' or Witch boxes by independent sellers. Now I know using single use plastics is far cheaper which allows for products to be sold at a cheaper price and for more personal profits but I always say "Magick shouldn't cost the earth" meaning our consumption should not come at the cost of environmental damage.
I like for the vessels my spells and charms come in to be reused once used especially the glass vessels, or you can send them back to me by request and receive a discount on your next order!
All of my packaging, right down to the tape I use (Yes I'm that thorough) is all fully recyclable. So that includes: The box, the tape, the packing material i.e cornstarch peanuts, paper, or recyclable bubblewrap, the contents are safe for the environment so you can dispose of them when needed and recycle or reuse the vessel, my clay makes use eco friendly clay so they can go back into the earth safely... iv'e dropped too many of my own clay creations to know this *facepalm*, the pouches I use for things like my bath spells are not environmentally friendly if disposed of but are made to be used time and time again, and my WITCH Tees are made using organic cotton and silk screen printed using environmental safe ink and dye.
I am very wary whenever I see witches selling things in or made of plastic as there are millions of natural resources available to them that have been used in the very earliest recordings of witchcraft and yet they chose plastic? Now, this doesn't apply to all types of plastics. There is the recyclable kind which is still not great but it is much better than the single use kind but I barely see that being used within the witchcraft community.
The takeaway from this is Single use plastics need to stop being used by witches FULL STOP. There is no excuse for it's use especially within the craft. Witches need to start being accountable for the ever growing plastic pollution and killing of Mother Earth when they use plastics in their products and packaging. We should be the torch bearers and show exceptional examples of being connected to the the earth and to nature, when you connect with Nature you ear her cries and witches like I who cry with her.
We don't have much time to make changes and large corporations are at the forefront of global murder but we as consumers and small business sellers do not help when we follow suit. Be the Change.
Be the witch who is one with nature!