Sailflags

Name: Pete Willliams

Actions To Date:

• Strictly cardboard, paper or salvaged plastic packaging
• Only use reused bubble wrap
• Paper packing tape
• Stopped printing on PVC and use a water-based printed fabric
• Instructed a key German supplier to stop wrapping in plastic bags, saving 4000 bags per year.
• Expanded and discounted plastic free products
• Launched a unique “ECOTEX” range of banners & flags, made from recycled materials
• Trialling a new wooden base for flags

In addition:

• 8/10 of Sailflags staff cycle or walk to work
• Carbon Neutral for ten years
• Most local deliveries are done using an electric vehicle

“We need to reduce the amount of plastic in the environment and we’ve got to start somewhere. It just seems like a completely natural thing to do. Why put more plastic into the environment? There are plenty of other options available.

“It hasn’t been hard at all, in fact it’s been quite easy. Luckily we had already been very conscious of it and we’ve slowly been asking our suppliers to stop sending plastic. If they want to keep our custom they’ve got to do it, so we’ve got slightly the upper hand because we can dictate what we want as a business.

“The only plastic we were generating was goods that came in from other suppliers and it’s down to us to put that pressure on. That pressure is passed to us from our customers, so it works its way back through the chain and eventually the manufacturers will start thinking about how they package things and how to start reducing plastic”