Our 'Eco' Ecommerce Evolution

Oh… Hello again..

Another lockdown, another ‘blog’ post – if you can call it that as ‘blogging’ is defined as a ‘regularly updated website or web page typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style’ (thank you first result on Google search). Two of three feels like a good strike rate.

I’m well aware it’s been a while between drinks – especially if those drinks were enjoyed at your favourite pub, club, restaurant or bar. But at BC Jerky HQ, we feel we have news worthy of another arbitrary blog post.

Similarly to 2020’s Sydney lockdown, our website has experienced an exponential increase in online orders. First and foremost – we want to say a HUGE and heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who has placed an online order with us since 26th June 2021. You’re generosity has been instrumental in helping to keep our doors open.

Baby Steps…

As a small business owner, there is always a seemingly ever expanding ‘to-do’ list. The increase in online orders we’ve experienced recently has leap-frogged one of our to-do’s to the top of that list. And that is to look into research & implement a ‘greener’ or more eco-friendly ecommerce solution.

Like many ecommerce small businesses who came before us, we started bringing our orders into Australia Posts brick mortar outlets, purchasing singular prepaid satchels/mailers, packing them, addressing and shipping them all at the same time. This farcical process quickly grew old and it wasn’t long until we purchased a thermal label printer (specifically a Dymo 4XL), enabling us to package orders from our own premises, though we were still rushing to take orders into Post Offices (we are not fans of leaving our jerky in satchels in those red Australia Post hot boxes littered throughout the ‘burbs).

As our online sales continued to grow, so too did questions surrounding ecommerce related waste and its impact on ‘Johnny Polar Bear’, as Jeremy Clarkson so regularly puts it. Australia Post only recently caught up with offsetting its ‘MyPost Business’ platform carbon emissions which is great albeit overdue. The Australia Post branded flat rate satchels we’re locked into using are made with 80% recycled plastic and are recyclable themselves via REDcycle Australia’s takeback scheme. All this is well and good, but we think we’ve stumbled across a better way.

What’s new?

If you’ve made an online order with us recently, you may have noticed we’ve shifted to using a different courier service - still 100% carbon neutral delivery, but more importantly, different satchels. These new satchels are 100% COMPOSTABLE. They will completely breakdown in a home compost within 180 days, or 90 days in a commercial compost. Cut the satchel up into small pieces prior to putting it in your compost for even faster composting results.

We’ve also switched to using 100% compostable shipping labels meaning there’s no need to peel them off! Simply leave them on the satchel and pop everything into your compost – after you’ve removed the jerky goodness first of course!

If you do not have a home compost, check with your council on whether or not compostable packaging is suitable for your garden or green waste collection. OR if they do end up in landfill, you can sleep a little easier knowing the satchel will break down in 2 to 3 years versus 400+ years and will not leave behind any toxic residues or microplastics.

Final thoughts

Whilst we’re pretty excited to be able offer this change, there will undoubtedly be some sceptics out there. And we can understand why. We’ll still need to use Australia Post to ship to PO Boxes and Parcel Lockers for the occasional order. Compostable packaging, including shipping satchels are usually made from corn, PLA (vegetable-based plastic material) and PBAT (polybutylene adipate terephthalate) which in itself isn’t 100% renewable and partially derived from petrochemicals (oil), but we strongly feel that this small change which we are able to implement is a step in the right direction in combatting plastic pollution.

We know there are a dozen more eco-friendly ideas out there relevant to our operation as a whole, especially as a craft beef jerky producer, but as a small business still in its infancy, we have to carefully consider what is possible and what is sustainable for us. Even the smallest changes accumulate over time. We’re always open to reasonable ideas – feel free to contact us with your suggestions!