Our small business sustainability practices

While Phoenix Supply Co. is not a fully sustainable business, that doesn't mean there aren't real choices, swaps, and compromises I can make along the way to run a more eco-friendly shop.

The three places sustainability decisions happen

When I think about making Phoenix Supply Co. more sustainable, it really comes down to three areas:

1. The design of the product itself
2. The design of the product packaging
3. The design of the shipping packaging

Small swaps in each of these areas—timeless designs, less packaging, reused shipping supplies—add up without requiring a total business overhaul.

Here's how I approach each one, including where I've succeeded and where I still haven't figured it out.

1. Designing more sustainable products

The biggest sustainability lever I have is the actual design of the product. One of the core values behind my brand is designing things that are somewhat timeless—not "gold hoops you'll wear forever" timeless, but timeless in the sense that I'm not chasing trends. I try not to make designs that are here today and gone tomorrow. Instead, I aim for pieces people fall in love with and keep in their jewelry rotation, on their wall, or on their keyring for years.

That also means I tend to steer away from trinket culture. Trinket-culture is a huge trend right now, but I have a hard time putting something out into the world that doesn't serve a real, day-to-day purpose. I don't say that to knock anyone who loves making those products—-if that's your thing, keep doing it—but it's just not my thing.

I'd rather make things people really use. My magnets get pinned to fridges or kept as souvenirs from a trip. My keyrings end up on someone's actual keys for years. When a product is useful or treasured, it's far less likely to end up at Goodwill or in a landfill.

The other design decision that supports sustainability: manufacturing and assembling products in bulk. Bulk production means less shipping, fewer emissions from transportation, and fewer trips for me running from store to store for supplies. Ordering one large batch instead of several smaller ones is a simple but meaningful way to cut down on waste.

2. Designing more sustainable product packaging

Packaging is where I've made some of my favorite swaps — and where I still have the most guilt.

A win: When I sell stickers wholesale, they used to go out in plastic cello sleeves. I probably used a couple hundred of those a year. I switched to little paper glassine envelopes instead, and it was an easy change once I actually stopped to think about it.

An even bigger win: selling loose, unpackaged, products whenever possible. My keyrings are sold with zero extra packaging beyond a small removable sticker. Same with most of my Christmas ornaments. My magnets go unpackaged to wholesale accounts that use magnetic displays, though I still package some for consignment shops that require pegboard hooks.

Where I still struggle: cello sleeves. I use them on acrylic magnets (because I need a way to hang them on consignment hooks, and unpackaged magnets in that environment would be an easy mark for shoplifters), on bookmarks (their small size makes them hard to display loose without getting lost, damaged, or stolen), and on greeting cards, which is honestly my biggest packaging culprit.

I actually tried selling our paper bookmarks without sleeves when I first launched them, but none of our wholesalers ordered them. Once I added the sleeve, wholesale orders picked back up. That's a real tension in this work: if a sustainable choice means customers won't buy the product, you either pull the product or package it in a way that sells—and I chose the latter.

Greeting cards are the toughest one. I've seen other card designers use a small sticker to hold the card and envelope together instead of a full cello sleeve, and I think about trying it all the time. But I haven't pulled the trigger, for two reasons: I'm worried it could turn off a large share of my wholesale accounts (cards are one of my best-selling wholesale products), and it would be a massive undertaking to convert or sell through the thousands of cards I already have packaged in my garage. I'm also not convinced a sticker closure would hold up because I regularly find envelopes pulled loose from sleeves in my consignment shops from customers handling the cards.

One smaller habit I'm proud of: I never throw away the bags I use to transport stock to my consignment shops. Ziploc bags, plastic bags from suppliers, paper shopping bags — I reuse all of it, sometimes for years. I also save and reuse the paper bands that hold cases of greeting cards together instead of tossing them after unpacking card cases at our wholesale shops.

3. Designing more sustainable shipping

Shipping is where reuse does the most work in my business.

I keep a "box of boxes" that I saved from Amazon deliveries and other packages, and I reuse these to ship larger orders. I also save and reuse void fill (the stuffing that keeps items from shifting in transit), including crinkle paper, bubble wrap, and craft paper from packages that I receive. In fact, I'm proud to say that after eight years of running this business, I've never once purchased a roll of bubble wrap. Any bubble wrap in your order from me is recycled from another package I received.

I have purchased bubble mailers, though, and that's the area I'm actively working to reduce right now. I used to ship almost everything in a bubble mailer, regardless of size. I'm now transitioning smaller accessory items—earrings, magnets, bookmarks—to cardboard mailer boxes instead. They're paper, so they're recyclable, and I actually think they protect the contents better. I still have bubble mailers to use up before I can fully make the switch, but that's the direction I'm headed.

A few other shipping habits that help:

• Minimizing what goes into each package. I try not to over-stuff orders with extras that people might not event want. Nice unboxing experiences don't require excess.
• Batching post office runs. I started this habit when gas prices spiked and never stopped. I only go to the post office when I'm already out running other errands, instead of making a dedicated trip.
• Offering local pickup. Local customers can enter a code at checkout to pick up their order at my house instead of having it shipped, which cuts down on emissions from transport. Send me a message if you would like the code to remove the shipping and pick up your order locally in Tempe, AZ!

The bottom line

I'm not an expert in sustainability, and I still use more cello sleeves than I'd like. But small, deliberate swaps like designing products that last, cutting unnecessary packaging where I can, and reusing shipping supplies instead of buying new all add up over time without requiring a business to be perfect to make a real difference.

Have other ideas for reducing packaging waste in a handmade business? I'd love to hear them — drop your suggestions in the comments.