Changing the flo of things…
Here are Hay Hampers we have been working for several years to try to significantly reduce our levels of unrecyclable packaging. 

For many years we have considered the packaging of the items in our hampers and aimed to seek out delicious high quality items that are also mindful of the recyclability or reusability of their packaging. We also do not like items which use excess packaging to make their items look bigger or more significant than they are.

We have moved from using wood wool in our wicker hamper baskets to using shredded recycled paper. Our outer cartons are all recycled and recyclable.
This year we redesigned our gift box to make it more desirable to keep and reuse and have had feedback from our recipients that this has been the effect.
Through also reconsidering the gift box dimensions we have also managed to reduce our use of packaging nuts (which we unfortunately must use to ensure the gift makes it in one piece to the recipient) by more than half in one year, which we are thrilled by!

However, we are not happy to rest there.

Now we are undertaking a scientific approach to see if these packaging nuts (flo pack) can be changed to a biodegradable alternative. We are testing the effect of condensation from our chilled fresh foods, and spills of both oil and water based products to understand if this is now a viable alternative.

We are always looking for better solutions and are open to any new ideas!