World Wildlife Day

Every 3rd of March we celebrate World Wildlife Day to spread awareness of our planet’s amazing fauna and flora and the threat caused to them by humans. World Wildlife Day is organised by the United Nations to celebrate the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES), signed in 1973. This convention was created to help form collaborations between governments, businesses and people to support wildlife and plants. This year’s theme is Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation.

Each year 15 billion trees are cut down. Only 5 billion are replaced.

Our planet has a deficit loss of 10 billion trees a year. This is harmful in many ways as trees convert CO₂ into breathable oxygen but are also the home of millions of diverse ecosystems which is destroyed. The leading cause of deforestation is profit as farmland for crops or livestock is significantly more profitable than forests.

Human input has increased the Natural Rate of Extinction of species by between 1,000-10,000 times.

A study by the WWF suggested that extinction is on the rise and an estimated 200-2000 species go extinct each year. Biodiversity on Earth is shrinking each year because of increased human activity. Climate change has caused irreversible damage to our seas and particularly coral reefs harming marine life, because of rising sea temperatures. Increased droughts and arid climates have made water more scarce affecting major food chains when the population of species are reduced or goes extinct. Scientists are suggesting we are now in a sixth mass extinction event.

Only 9% of waste is recycled worldwide.

(OECD)

Even though we can boast a higher recycling rate in the UK of 43.8% this has begun to stagnate, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The effects of not recycling or not being responsible for disposing of waste is harming ecosystems. Waste has begun to pollute waterways across the world. A research team even found a plastic bag at the greatest depths on Earth in the Mariana’s Trench. If waste was properly recycled the need for plastic production and deforestation could be reduced and our planet could be cleaner.

37% of waste is added to landfills each year.

Around 2 billion tonnes of waste is produced each year so an estimated 740 million tonnes of waste is dumped in landfills each year (The World Bank). With consumption rising the need to dispose of waste has risen. Many unrecyclable materials such as plastic are not biodegradable making them a challenge to dispose of. Landfills became an easy option to mass dispose of waste in the ground. This is harmful as toxins and chemicals sit on our grounds and can contaminate underground springs. Landfills often leak methane which is toxic to our atmosphere and is harmful to people local to landfills as well as surrounding wildlife.

Circular supply chains are a necessary change to protect wildlife.

With the damming issues above causing harm to our planet and our wildlife, the leading proposed method to reverse this is the implementation of circular economies and supply chains. A circular economy seeks to reduce waste by reusing already produced materials in manufacturing instead of using raw materials and regenerating the planet's biodiversity. An agreement with world governments in 2022 at the United Nations commits nations to implement circular economies by 2040, reducing the need for virgin plastics by 55% and lowering greenhouse gas emissions by 25%. Even though there is a positive outlook for the future, there is still a long way to go to secure a future for our planet's wildlife.

Changes we have made.

As a company, we hold ourselves accountable for the negative impact we may have on wildlife and ecosystems. This is why in the past few years we have made steps to alter how we operate to be less damaging to society and help promote the benefits of eco-friendly packaging. We have reduced our reliance on suppliers based in the Far East by bringing the bulk of our manufacturing to the UK with our Box Makers, significantly reducing our carbon footprint. We have always stuck to our traditional roots. Our Boxes are made nearly the same way they were 60 years ago with the same machinery! Our focus has always been on craftsmanship over mass production, which has the added benefit of our traditional processes having a low carbon output.

Our product ranges such as EcoBoard, Eco Postal, Modern and Legacy are crafted from fully recyclable board and paper to ensure our boxes can be reused or recycled reducing the need for deforestation. Our latest product line by our Box Makers, EcoHinge was designed to be an ideal eco-friendly replacement for non-recyclable plastic cases, to allow jewellers and other companies to offer recyclable packaging that does not impede on their customer's experience and expectations. Our promotional activities have a strong focus on our sustainable product lines, as we want to educate others to make the switch to not just high-quality packaging, but packaging that is kind to our planet.