At TACKNRIDER, we have always believed that we must all take an active role in reducing waste and decreasing our footprint. Small as they may be, our steps towards this goal have helped us stay responsible towards our commitment to our planet.

Whether it is from our shipping/packing procedures or our shopping bags, we believe in maximum re-use. Rather than making lofty statements, we do the smaller things that have a larger cumulative impact.

While we may not be “certified” to be “green”, we are committed to keeping our footprint small. Instead of seeking “fill in your favorite” certification, we practice everyday common sense practices. Our goal has never been to attain some “industry” green certification.

We like to measure the impact of all our actions. In this post, we list all the actions in our everyday business routine, however small they may be. We assign a level of impact (preferably quantitative) for each of these actions.

Plastic (No More)

For atleast 5 years now, we do not use plastic shopping bags. We switched over to our branded fabric shopping bags. You may have spotted them (we are quite proud of our fabric bags). Our customers love them and we are proud to not resorting to plastic. It is a win-win! IMPACT: Reduce by 100%

Plastic Packaging – ReUse, ReUse, ReUse

This is an item that is strictly out of our control. Despite our numerous requests to our vendors, some of them still continue to utilize plastic as the primary product packaging material. We are grateful for some of our vendors that have genuinely attempted to reduce their use of plastic.

So you ask, what is the next best thing we can do ?

We re-use this plastic for storage and as trash can liners. Yes, that way we can get the maximum use of this plastic bag before it its eventual destination in our oceans and landfills. IMPACT: Recycle by 70%

Paper

Considering how dramatic the shift has been to electronic versions for invoices, packing slips etc, ours is an industry that continues to use lots of paper. Specifically, it is for shipping documentation associated with orders. Some of this paperwork is inevitable. Paper copies are still needed for customs clearance.

What do we do?

Yep, you guessed it right. Re Use is the name of the game. We use these packing slips, shipping documents as scribble notes. These pieces of paper often find themselves being used as inventory journals or as miscellaneous notes. Either way, be rest assured they are not dumped into the paper recycling can until we have used every inch of both sides of the paper.

1. Boxes : Reuse, Recycle, Reduce

Chances are you have ordered online from our website or over the phone ( at least we hope you have :)). We have a few best practices for shipping our online orders:

Use the smallest box possible. Think of this as not just for cost saving. Think big how this translates into a much smaller footprint overall. Smaller boxes means less fuel used for transporting them across the world. IMPACT : ReUse by 50%, Reduce by 50%
The same boxes we receive from our vendors are most times used for sending out online orders. You know what is better? Sometimes, you will send your returns in the same box! Now, we are talking about really putting some mileage on these boxes. IMPACT: ReUse by 50%, Reduce by 50%

At the end of the day, a box is just a box. While we make every attempt your orders are packed carefully, we also acknowledge that boxes are discarded soon after being opened. Therefore, it does not make sense to order private labeled branded boxes. A lot of companies believe their packaging represents their brand exclusively. While we do believe in the power of branding, it is important to realize the impact of branded boxes. So now you know why we do not use branded boxes.

Our brand is bigger than packaging and labels. We are all about delivering delightful customer experiences. We can do that effectively while at the same doing our part to conserve our planet’s precious resources.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Before you take out the box to your recycle container, ask yourself: Can I possibly re-use this box in any way? It could be for storing some items in your garage and/or closet or for shipping.
If you need to return an item to us, please try to use the original box. We love it when the boxes have plenty of mileage on them prior to their eventual destination at the recycling plant.

2. Velcro Straps

Often times, product packaging utilizes velcro straps for enclosing the product. Instead of discarding these velcro straps after placing the product on display, we use the velcro straps for other purposes. We have several different uses for these straps. They can be used for wrapping up excess sections of wire and/or cord. They can also be used for hanging products up for display!

NOTE: Do not be surprised if you receive a product with the velcro straps attached. Please do us a favor: Do not discard it, simply re-use it. We would appreciate it!

3. Paper

In our everyday routine, we use a lot of paper. Whether it is for printing invoices or shipping labels or packing slips, we use lots of paper.

Here are just a few of the ways we try to reuse, recycle and reduce paper:

Print Double-Sided – This may not be intuitive, but think about it. Simply printing on both sides of the paper IMPACT: Reduce by 50%.
Single Page Shipping Label and Packing Slip – Another example of reducing the usage! IMPACT: Reduce by 50%
Use the blank (unprinted) side of the shipping labels/packing slips/invoices for notes, inventory etc. IMPACT: Recycle by 100%

Our sustainability Policy (and practice)