Introduction
The rise of online retail over traditional in-person retail has significantly changed the way we shop. The range of available goods, value, service and the more open market offers everyone choices previously unimagined.
However, there have also been drawbacks: 30 years ago, to purchase or return goods, you would most likely have bought in-person, and taken it back to a physical location. Now, an item can be posted anywhere in the world, and arrive quickly via air or road travel, and returned via the same process. All these actions have an impact on the environment.
Eyesore Merch, like all online retailers, are part of this system.
As one of the UK’s leading online retailers of music and entertainment merch, we take our responsibility towards our shared environment seriously.
Guiding principles
Our guiding principles for our sustainability commitment are:
- Follow the 6 Rs of sustainability – Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle, Resell, and Renew
- Reduce single-use plastic at every opportunity
- Avoid landfill wherever possible
- Control the controllables
Our actions, initiatives and steps
We have identified and taken action to this end; other steps are in progress or ongoing. Taken as a whole, the purpose of these actions, guided by these principles, is to reduce our impact on the environment. Here are just a few:
Solar panels & transport
In December 2023, we installed solar panels on the roof of our warehouse. Although we partially draw power from the national grid in the darker winter months, in the summer months, we are self-sufficient.
Compared to many businesses, our energy demands are not particularly high, but by generating energy on site, we minimise our demand on the national grid while ensuring that our needs are met.
We also installed an EV (electric vehicle) charging point on our premises. This ensures that any staff, visitors or transport partners using EVs can charge from a 100% renewable energy source on site. Our transport partners have a similar ambition to minimise their impact – in particular, our biggest transport partner relies on a fleet of electric vehicles.
Our range
We sell several eco-friendly garments across the clothing range. In particular, a number of Tshirts in our ‘eco shirt’ range are manufactured from the waste and cut-offs from three cotton t-shirts, plus three plastic bottles, to make one 100% recycled garment. Additionally, these shirts are printed with water-based inks, free from harmful chemicals.
Our working processes
Our working processes have been refined over many years. We are almost entirely paperless. We do not print any picking or packing lists; we pick using handheld scanners; documents are issued in a paperless format unless absolutely necessary. Even our shipping labels are printed on recyclable thermal labels (paper with a siliconised backing sheets) via a heat transfer – no ink consumed.
Any recyclable documents to shred, such as those with sensitive information, are shredded by a reputable, registered local business and responsibly recycled; they provide certification that the shredded paper has been responsibly recycled.
All electronic devices which have reached the end of their useful service life, are no longer needed or become faulty are responsibly recycled, with a certificate provided by the local provider.
Staff are trained to carefully consider the recycling facilities on site, and to identify what materials can be recycled that might otherwise go into landfill. For example, whether any soft plastic can be retained and taken to a local soft plastic recycling point, instead of going to general waste.
Warehouse equipment and storage
As with many warehouses, durable, hard-wearing equipment is critical. In addition to operational benefits, there are obvious environmental benefits.
All materials used are both recycled and recyclable – metal, wood, and cardboard.
All our shelving is constructed from metal and wood.
All storage containers are cardboard. As a material, cardboard is easy to repair, and once damaged beyond repair, simple to replace and recycle.
We avoid plastic wherever possible, only purchasing plastic items if the product is durable.
Recycling
Like many businesses, our stock is delivered in cardboard boxes. Every single stock box is recycled, having first ensured that any packaging tape is removed. Recycling is collected weekly.
Our biggest commitment is to reduce single-use plastic wherever possible.
There are two key target areas:
Shipping mailers
Nearly all clothing is shipped in a thin, grey, plastic bag. These are responsibly-sourced, both being made from recycled materials and recyclable after use. Our next step is to move towards alternative packaging (for example, sugarcane-based).
Vinyl is packaged with cardboard mailers, card stiffeners and paper packaging tape (we have phased out traditional vinyl / plastic packaging tape). We encourage all customers to re-use stiffeners and the mailer for any future onward shipping.
Products arriving bagged
A large part of our clothing range is supplied bagged. Although this makes the item more presentable, keeps it clean, separate, and easily identifiable, it means that many items are presented in a bag which cannot be reused. To reduce this impact, where an item is supplied loose or unbagged, we do not re-bag it: we simply attach a barcode label, and ship as-is.
Additionally, we work closely and continuously with our suppliers to address their processes and the supply chain.
Taking these steps together, our aim is to reduce the total single-use plastic leaving our premises by 10% annually.
How you can do your part
We particularly favour and support the use of "soft plastic" recycling banks which can be found at many small high street supermarkets as well as most large supermarkets. These are also normally available in the UK at local recycling banks. We strongly encourage you, if these facilities are available near you and if you are able to, to dispose of the packaging in these recycling banks. Simply cut off the address label and dispose of the rest into a soft plastics recycling collection bin.
For UK customers, you can use this site to locate your closest recycling points:
Many soft plastic recycling points are located in or close to supermarkets, and look like this:
By combining the action we have taken with that yet to come, we are wholly committed to playing our part to preserve our planet for future generations. The cumulative effect of millions of people around the world working towards this goal will benefit all life on Earth. We encourage you to join us in this effort.