Our intent is to constantly improve the sustainability of what we offer you at Sea Soul Blessings, finding ways to support the sea as the sea supports us all.
Our vision: We believe that we’re stronger together – when we connect deeply to the planet on which we live – and when our personal and communal transformation is encouraged.
So to stimulate individual and global change, we create inspiring resources that connect nature, mindfulness and self-compassion.
From the UN’s list of Sustainable Development Goals, we’re committed to protecting the oceans and life on land, supporting climate action, and promoting good health and wellbeing.
To that end, we currently donate 10% of our income from each sale to environmental causes – that’s one of the ways we contribute to improving life below water, and on land. Ultimately, we’re working towards a position where we can donate 50% of net profits to environmental causes. Read on below for more specific details of this.
In 2019, in an attempt to address the problem of plastic pollution in our seas and on land, we redesigned our box set to remove any plastic, and this is now also made of around 70% recycled materials. It’s completely recyclable, printed entirely with mineral oil based inks, and vegan. We aim to make all our products biodegradable (or in the case of our postcard print tins, easily reusable or recyclable).
We’re also reducing our carbon footprint by keeping the printing, manufacture and fulfilment in one UK location for the Sea Soul Blessings gift sets. We’re continuing to use the Royal Mail for delivery as we believe this is the delivery route that currently has the lowest carbon footprint. With newer products like the postcard prints and sets of cards, we’re successfully plastic-free, but still working on improving the carbon footprint.
All the products we create, and all that we share on social media, is designed to support good health and wellbeing – through the practices of mindfulness, self compassion, and developing a deeper connection to nature. Our hope is that by encouraging people to get outside, to spend time connecting to and appreciating the power of nature, we’re not only improving individual well-being, but providing tools that give people the strength, capacity and desire to make a positive difference to the natural world, especially the ocean.
We want the wellbeing benefits of what we create to be accessible – so for our digital subscription, a year of sea and kindness, we offer a range of pricing options, including a subsidised price for those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to participate. We also share films of the sea and encouraging words and practices on social media regularly for those who aren’t able to purchase any of our products right now.
What does sustainability mean to us?
Sea Soul Blessings is a small family-run business, run by Pippa Best from home (where two children are also running wild a lot of the time) in Cornwall, UK.
Most of the time, it’s just me, so much as I want to change the world, I also have to be realistic about what I can achieve on a daily basis – and accept that I can only build an ethical business and an ethical life step by little step.
As a family, we try to improve the sustainability of our own lives day by day, and we’re learning new ways to do that all the time.
We recycle, reuse, recreate, sew things back together, try to avoid single use plastic, shop local and organic where we can, beach clean regularly – and are extremely lucky to be able to spend lots of time in nature with family and friends, making it easy for us to remember why doing all this matters so much.
I started Sea Soul Blessings in October 2018 with a beautiful vision, lots of hope and a dollop of vulnerable courage, but very limited experience of print, manufacture, assembly and product delivery.
My initial intention, with limited resources, was simply to test the idea, choosing printing, publishing and packaging from companies with good eco-credentials as far as I understood that at the time. Where possible, I wanted to do so locally, avoiding additional transportation. So I did the best I could with what I knew then – you can find out more about that over here.
Now of course, the more I learn about true sustainability, the more complex it becomes. Because of course, it isn’t as simple as using recycled paper boxes, reusable bags and eco-friendly jiffy bags…
With learning comes the realisation that we can always do better. So please bear with us as we continue to grow and learn – and move towards that. We’re a small business in the early stages, looking to grow sustainably, while ensuring our products are priced well, beautiful, functional and easy to use.
We are a work in progress. Here’s what we’re doing right now:
USING DIGITAL ALTERNATIVES
We’re offering some digital alternatives where we can, like…
Sea Soul Insights, Sea Soul Sessions, the digital version of the Sea Soul Blessings mini-book, and the digital only option for our monthly subscription: These are all delivered digitally, which means that there are no negative production, printing, resource or delivery impacts on the environment. I do however use wifi and a reconditioned recycled computer…
MAKING SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS
In 29 November 2019. we launched the current iteration of the Sea Soul Blessings book and cards box set…
The gift set
The new box set is now entirely plastic-free and made of mostly recycled materials. Any card we use that’s not made of recycled materials comes from sustainable sources.
It’s also fully recyclable, vegan, and printed solely with oil-based inks (Hewlett Packard’s Indigo ElectroInk, used on a digital printing press, which is oil-based, certified by the Intertek Green Leaf Mark, and so far, the most environmentally friendly solution available to us at the moment).
If we can generate sufficient sales, we’ll be able to move on to water-based inks next…
The cards remain the same size, but we’ve removed any plastic laminate coating, and we’re printing these on stronger paper stock instead to ensure they’re still durable, (but not so durable that they will last for another thousand years…) We haven’t yet found a recycled card stock that’s thick enough, so we’re using FSC certified stock – but would love to improve this in the future.
We’ve increased the size of the book to make it easier to read (it’s still pocket-sized though), and we’ve removed the small organza bag that had previously held the cards. The book is printed on recycled paper.
To hold the cards, we’ve created a lovely display case within the cardboard box. And that means that you can now select one to three cards to display for the day or week ahead – creating your own beautifully presented reminder of the sea and your blessings.
The new box is bigger than the previous version (if you’d like to, you can find out more about the older version over here).
If you buy the cards on their own, we’ve now replaced the original organza bag with a wax-lined cardboard tube made using eco-friendly glue. The internal cardboard core of the tube is made from 100% recycled materials, and the external paper wrap is made from sustainable virgin pulp. The tubes are wax lined which helps protect the cards inside if the box is splashed.
As yet, we haven’t been able to find a way to make a sufficiently sturdy small box that can hold both the card and the book without using laminate coatings, or card sourced from less sustainable sources.
Postcard prints
Our postcard prints are printed on recycled or FSC certified card. These are packaged either in tissue paper (sadly not from recycled sources, but using up old stock that would otherwise go to waste) or in a reusable tin that we hope will last for a long time – but which can be easily recycled if not. The large stickers we use to decorate the tins are printed on cane fibre biodegradable paper, and the small stickers are printed on recycled paper.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION, DELIVERY AND PACKAGING
We’re continuing to use the Royal Mail for delivery as we currently believe this is the delivery route with the lowest carbon footprint.
We’ll post your order out to you in recycled cardboard, using either waste paper or soluble/compostable ‘polystyrene’ as protective packaging.
WORKING WITH WELBECK BALANCE
The Sea Soul Journeys Oracle cards are published by Welbeck Balance. This means that we don’t have any direct control over the printing and distribution methods. However, we did have lengthy discussions about this as part of the contractual process. As a result, Welbeck have legally agreed to use the most sustainable methods possible for them at this time.
The cards are printed on FSC paper and card, and we’ve avoided the use of shrink-wrapped plastic, by securing the cards with two small plastic stickers. Other than those stickers, the oracle cards are entirely plastic-free.
They are printed outside the UK by a reputable printing company who care for their workers and meet standard environmental rulings. They travel to the UK by sea, and are distributed by Harper Collins Distribution – who are also making positive environmental changes and reducing plastic use in their warehouses.
GIVING BACK TO NATURE
We’re inspired by the sea, and working towards improving life in the water and life on land from the UN’s list of Sustainable Development Goals, and that means we’re committed to giving back to nature. One of the ways we currently do this is by donating 10% of our purchase price directly to environmental causes from each sale.
From 16 September 2019, 10% of our purchase price has been donated to environmental causes, primarily Surfers Against Sewage, a national charity based in Cornwall, who inspire, unite and empower communities to protect oceans, beaches, waves and wildlife. From August 2021, we’ll be using some of that 10% to support Wallace J Nichols, donating via his Patreon project to fund “Blue Mind” work worldwide – researching and spreading the word far and wide about the many benefits of connecting to water, as inspiration to protect what we love.
Whenever we generate enough income, we also support other environmental causes from that 10%. This has included the British Divers Marine Life Rescue’s campaign to build a new seal hospital in Cornwall; Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s dolphin appeal; the Wave Project Cornwall‘s surf therapy projects; Choose Earth‘s support for Brazilian indigenous leaders protecting the rainforest, and Seaful, a UK charity founded by Cal Major to help more people to reconnect to the ocean and waterways.
We also use our social media platforms to raise awareness of environmental issues – including ocean pollution, the impact of fossil fuels on the climate crisis, and ways to protect wildlife (especially in the sea).
We’re proud to have become members of Surfers Against Sewage’s SAS 250 club in January 2020, which allows us to make an even bigger positive difference to the environment.
We also donate via Work for Good’s charity-donations platform – and you can find us over there too. We made their top 30% of regular business donors in 2019, thanks to all of your purchases and support.
This is our minimum donation at this stage of our growth (when we don’t actually have any net profits, yet…!). We’re absolutely intending to donate more as we grow – and we’re incredibly grateful for your support as we do that. We want to help to protect the sea for generations to come.
WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON NEXT?
The printing issue
The printing issue is a challenging one for a small business – as different kinds of ink, printing and clean-up processes have different pros and cons (and some really aren’t affordable when you’re operating on a small scale), so this is one of the main areas we will be exploring as we grow.
Here’s what we understand about printing methods so far:
Digital Printing
This is the process we use now.
With this method, the ink has charged particles – and the machine sprays the correct particle onto the correct place on the paper to create the image.
This does away with the need for plates (so there’s no metal or plastic used).
Because there are no plates, there is also no need for a clean-up process and thus no cleaning solvents either. Nor any waste ink, since it directly applies only what is needed.
However, the ink (containing the charged particles) still needs a carrier fluid – in this case, mineral oil (very refined). There are no water- based digital inks for the HP Indigo as yet.
Offset Litho Printing
This is a method that we could potentially shift to as we grow – using water-based inks, and being very careful about the clean up and disposal processes…
Litho printing uses metal or plastic plates to transfer an image from the plate to the paper by offsetting the ink, often utilising the non-mixing properties of water and oil.
This process uses metal or plastic plates, along with either water-based or oil-based inks. In some cases, there can be harsh clean-up techniques involved (after every run, the machine has to be cleaned down, using solvents and chemicals).
Water based inks are only eco-friendly when you use and dispose of them in a responsible manner. Most of the long term ecological damage of screen printing is a result of the waste in cleanup, not the process or the chemicals.
… so that’s where we are for now – but watch this space for the next set of questions we’ll be working on!
In the meantime, we would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions – you can contact us here. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
INSPIRATION
“We each have within ourselves the ability to shape our own destinies. That much we understand. But, more important, each of us has an equal ability to shape the destiny of the universe.
Ah, that you find more difficult to believe. But I tell you it is so. You do not have to be the leader of the Council. You do not have to be king or monarch or the head of a clan to have a significant impact on the world around you.
In the vastness of the ocean, is any drop of water greater than another?
No, you answer, and neither has a single drop the ability to cause a tidal wave.
But, I argue, if a single drop falls into the ocean, it creates ripples. And these ripples spread. And perhaps – who knows – these ripples may grow and swell and eventually break foaming upon the shore.
Like a drop in the vast ocean, each of us causes ripples as we move through our lives. The effects of whatever we do – insignificant as it may seem – spread out beyond us.We may never know what far-reaching impact even the simplest action might have on our fellow mortals. Thus we need to be conscious, all of the time, of our place in the ocean, of our place in the world, of our place among our fellow creatures.
For if enough of us join forces, we can swell the tide of events – for good or for evil.”Margaret Weis (The Seventh Gate)
