5 Happy Beans | Part 4 | Environment

Something that we’re sure is close to everyone’s heart is the wellness and future of our environment. As a brand, we do everything we can to minimise our impact on it.  If you’ve ordered from us before, you’ll know that almost all* of our packaging is entirely recyclable or compostable, even down to the bubble wrap.

It’s been pretty widely reported that the impact on our daily lives caused by Covid-19 has actually really benefitted the environment.  Previously we were travelling all over the world, even just to and from work and that’s all had to stop, not to mention the total shutdown of many industries until it’s safe to reopen again.  Whereas in normal times, up to ¼ of our carbon emissions are caused by travel, and a further 1/5 is caused by industry itself. 

In the same breath, as we’re consuming less, travelling less and shutting down our factories, as much as 10% of global oil consumption has totally vanished. Here in the UK, flights in and out of the country have fallen by 90% which is good news, considering that hour by hour, flying is the single fastest way to contribute to climate change. Some cities have even said that they’ve experienced their cleanest air ever during the lockdown and with that, cleaner air tends to mean quicker recovery times generally but particularly from respiratory illness.  All sounds promising doesn’t it?

Somewhat alarmingly, some of us faced a real possibility of food shortages at the beginning of lockdown, as panic buying left many of the shelves empty.  But perhaps we will learn and grow from these experiences, to buy just what we need and not be tempted to buy lots of the things we don’t. Perhaps this brief experience of shortage will teach us to be more mindful with our consumption, to ‘waste not want not’

If one good thing could come from this truly challenging few months, it’s probably the opportunity to re calibrate and re-evaluate what’s important to us. From where to spend our money to how to spend our time, priorities have shifted beyond recognition, we hope for the better to support some really positive environmental changes over the course of the lockdown.

*The cellophane bags we use for our Hokey Pokey Honeycomb is not yet compostable or recyclable, the eco alternatives leave the honeycomb softer than we would like it. Don’t worry – were working on it and we promise to keep working on it until we get it right.