I've been asked this question a couple of times recently so I wanted to let you know my answer here.
Firstly, it's a great question and I'm so glad the people thinking about being involved with The Floral Packaging are proactive about using companies that act responsibly with regards to the environment.
The two words that would sum up the values I hold dear to my heart here at The Floral Project are love and beauty.
I have an appreciation for beautiful things. Always have. Always will. #sorrynotsorry :)
So when I put together our Flower Kits, I knew that I could buy the cheapest envelopes to use as seed packets, put the seeds directly into those envelopes, skip the glassines, put the lot into another envelope and send it out to you like a normal letter. Minimising packaging is a great thing to do and I love it when companies I use do that.
But it's not beautiful and it doesn't represent the love part of this project.
At The Floral Project, I don't want to provide mass-produced seed packets. I don't want to provide ugly garish printed packets that you might find in a garden centre. I don't want you to feel you just bought seeds, one of a million packets sold that day.
We're about so much more than the seeds. 💗 💗 💗
I wanted to create something simple, beautiful and something where you could feel the love and care that went into every box.
It does, you know, go into every single box.
I know when I've bought products before, you can feel whether there's any love in them - and I know (call me whoo whoo, I don't care) that if you do feel the love in our Flower Kits, it wakes up the love in you, and that goes directly into your growing, your giving and your flowers. It can't not.
I also want the people that join The Floral Project to feel as if they are gifting themselves with our boxes. Women in particular are not great at doing that.
To feel part of our Floral Project Community, to feel part of something bigger than just themselves, to know that what they are doing by taking part matters.
To go to bed every night knowing they did something good today.
Again - the love and beauty part of our brand, represented in everything that we do (including our packaging).
Enough whoo whoo, what about the practicals?
The care that's gone into designing our boxes means we also have people sharing their unboxing experience on social media and buying boxes for their friends, which very much helps us spread the word about The Floral Project and brings more gardeners to us who want grow to give.
And that's the point of us!
Our boxes are from a company that is very proud of it's eco-credentials - you can read them here. You can use the boxes to store your seeds in (perfect as it's dry and cool) and then when you're ready to plant out into the garden - use them as the base inside your no-dig beds. (That's putting the love right into the ground the flowers will grow in).
Our tissue paper is printed by noissue who, again, we chose because are proud of their eco credentials - their packaging is compostable, recyclable and reusable. Through them, we are part of the Eco Packaging Alliance, contributing to global reforestation, one tree at a time.
Our seed packet envelopes are also recyclable, reusable and can be added right into your no-dig beds. We've also got rid of sellotape this year to make sure the boxes stay closed and secure during transit.
See....we have thought about it :)
If you're a 'functional' gardener who likes a plain white envelope and couldn't give a hoot about the seed packets - you just need some seeds - you probably won't resonate with our Flower Kits. But for many our boxes are WHY you choose us, you're our people, and you know who you are :)
When some people started asking me for Floral Project stickers, I could see that the idea I had that people might like being 'part of the Floral Project gang' was starting to grow faster than I had imagined - so our stickers for proudly delivering your posies were a natural next step. And they help fund the project so it can keep going in the long-term.
Plus, they help us spread the word about The Floral Project and bring more gardeners to us who want grow to give.
And that's the point of us! (I know...labouring the point.)
We do consider what we're doing. We're not mindlessly thinking up pretty patterns and extra packaging for the sake of it.
We're all about bringing more love and more beauty into the world in every way we can. So that's why we do what we do how we're currently doing it at the moment.
It may change in the future. We're still pretty new, I'm still figuring things out. But I hope that sets your mind at rest for now :)