Sustainability and Te Ao Tūroa

At Apothecaire, sustainability is one of our core values and we are passionate about reducing waste in the ways that we can. This means treating Mother Earth with the respect she deserves, doing our best to live lightly on the earth, reducing the plastic we use, and sharing ways you can return product packaging to us to recycle or reuse.

Reduce

Wherever possible, we use recyclable packaging and where we can’t, we are always looking for more sustainable options. While glass is more fragile than plastic, more costly to use and heavier to freight, it’s non-toxic to the environment and can be infinitely recycled - which is why glass is our go-to packaging of choice for our balms and body oils, though they still need plastic lids and pumps.

We use plastic-free, plant-based courier bags from r3pack for all deliveries - or their cardboard boxes with fully recyclable paper tape, for bigger orders! For cushioning, we use Geami Ecowrap - no more plastic bubblewrap.

We have moved to paper and stone-paper labels. This reduces our plastic use, and makes our glass easier to recycle as you won't have to peel off the label.

We are planning to swap our plastic jar lids for aluminium lids later in 2024, sourced from a local supplier. We are avoiding purchasing any packaging which is sourced from overseas.

Last but not least, our products are made here in New Zealand, so we can minimise our carbon footprint during distribution to you.

Re-Use

Glass Jars

Send four of our glass jars back to us and we’ll give you a $5 credit to use on our website. Just send us an email at help@apothecaire.nz to let us know they’re on their way. When you pack them, be super careful to wrap/roll the jars in two layers of cardboard (use parts of an old cardboard box) so they arrive safe and sound.

Send to (along with your name and email):

Apothecaire Recycling Program
7268 State Highway 35, RD3
Opotiki 3199

Recycle

When recycling glass, peel the label off and wash thoroughly to remove all residue – the dishwasher is great for this – then pop into the general recycling. Or, upcycle our glass jars and re-use as storage containers for your kitchen herbs!

Suggestions?

We are always excited to hear about ways we can reduce our footprint – so please let us know!