As Seven Minerals has grown, so has our responsibility to help make our world a better place. As the Dr. Seuss quote goes,

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

That’s why we’ve taken on our very own Earth Pledge. What does this mean? It means that our small family owned business will be doing the following:

1. Giving Back We will continue to support the efforts of individuals and organizations who are working to preserve the natural beauty and health of our planet. 
2. Lessening Our Impact - We’ll always be on the lookout for ways we can lessen our impact on the environment, like using Oceanbound Plastic.

Read on to learn more.

Giving Back

Giving back has always been important to us, which is why over the years we’ve worked hard to support organizations like the Rainforest Trust

Giving back has always been important to us, which is why over the years we’ve supported organizations like the Rainforest Trust, a phenomenal organization that fights to protect the world’s rainforests. You can check them out here.

Since December 2020, we’re partnering with Sea Turtle, Inc of South Padre Island, Texas. We’re so unbelievably proud to partner with this organization for two reasons:

#1 We wanted to make an effort to support conservation efforts that are close to home, and being that all of our Aloe Vera is organically grown and harvested in Texas, Sea Turtle, Inc was the perfect choice!

#2 Take a look at their mission statement, what’s not to love?

“At Sea Turtle Inc., our mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and release injured sea turtles, educate the public, and assist with conservation efforts for all marine turtle species.” 

We look forward to supporting our local sea turtle populations through rehabilitation and education and encourage you to support this endeavor as well. If you’re interested, you can do so here.

Lessening our Impact

In 2020 we started taking our first big steps towards lessening the environmental impact of our  product packaging. Here’s how we’re doing it:

Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) Plastic Bottles 

In 2020 we began the mission of switching our regular plastic bottles to 100% Recycled Plastic Bottles. You heard that right, 100% recycled. Now, other top brands use plastic that is only partly recycled so as to maintain “strength” and “recyclability” for their bottles. But we wouldn’t settle for anything less than 100%. 

That’s why we have worked tirelessly with our manufacturing partners to ensure that our bottles can be made of 100% recycled plastic, yet perform just as well as normal plastics. Our 100% PCR bottles are strong enough to use, and 100% recyclable, meaning you can still throw it in the recycling bin when you’re finished with it.

At the time of this writing, in March 2021, 40% of all Seven Minerals bottles are made of 100% PCR plastic, and we are currently on pace to have our entire product line bottled in 100% PCR plastic by the end of 2021.

Ocean Diverted Plastic 

While 100% PCR plastic is great, we don’t stop there. As we make this transition to 100% PCR, we're working to ensure that our entire PCR product line will be bottled using Ocean Diverted Plastic. Our ocean diverted plastic is abandoned plastic waste that is collected along the coastlines of Mexico, Haiti, and Honduras. Ocean diverted plastic is a critical element in the fight against oceanic plastic pollution.

Why Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) Plastic instead of Glass Bottles?

With a focus on lessening our impact on the environment, one of the biggest decisions to be made was the choice between using glass bottles or using recycled plastic bottles. After countless hours of research and discussion we decided on 100% PCR Plastic, here are the biggest reasons why;

1.  When it comes to packaging, plastic is MUCH lighter than glass. And when you have to ship products all over the world, it takes a lot of energy to get them to their final destination (i.e. your front door!). 

To give you an idea just how big of a difference this can make, we did some calculations for our Aloe Vera gel. We estimate that using recycled plastic over glass will save on average 26 metric tons of CO2 per year! That’s the same as:

1. Glass is obviously more fragile than plastic. This means that when shipping a glass bottle, you also need to use extra material to protect that bottle. This means using EXTRA material in the form of plastic bubble wrap, plastic inflated bags, or some kind of packing paper. The goal here is to minimize the amount of packaging material, not increase it. 
2. Let’s talk recycling. Current estimates are that something around 30% of glass is recycled, and only 9% of plastic is. It’s clear that if plastic is a part of our earth’s future we need to be better about recycling it. By using 100% recycled plastic, we help build the infrastructure and demand for recycled plastic.

We pledge to help make the world a better place every chance we get, are you ready to take the pledge with us?