Owning my own business, building a brand and having a family often feels like I am juggling so many balls in the air at once! As a small business owner, once you know you have a viable business there are also many other things to consider. Sustainability is a top priority for me so I have taken the time to research and make changes in my business.

I think it’s particularly important as I am part of the gifting industry and my biggest sales period of the year is Christmas. An extra 30% of rubbish is thrown away at this time of year and approximately 100 million black bags full of packaging from toys and gifts are discarded (GWP Group).

I don’t want my business and products to be contributing more to this problem at Christmas and throughout the rest of the year. It is something I have thought hard about and tried to weave into every aspect of my brand, starting with the materials used to create my magical products.

Handmade UK Gifts to Order

I am a small business so I source my materials from trusted suppliers. I have spent many, many hours researching UK manufacturing for my raw materials. I spin the lights with the pom poms and threads together in London and I buy the pom poms and lights from British companies. Therefore I am trying to reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible.

Being transparent there are many things you just can’t find that are 100% UK origin. Where I have to source materials from overseas I buy from companies in the UK rather than from the factories. This way they are able to bulk buy as they supply lots of other businesses and then ship by sea. This means I am not getting my materials flown over in smaller batches.

All my fairy lights are handmade to order, I know exactly what the customer wants so I create minimal waste with each order produced.

Focus on Recycled Packaging and Reducing Customer Waste

Image: Handmade personalised label on fairy lights

All of my handmade fairy lights are delivered to the customer packaged in a single 100% recycled kraft box. I also use biodegradable mailers. If a customer requests gift wrap I use raffia and recycled paper. It is so important to me that any waste my customers are throwing away is not going to be causing further damage to our environment.

The finishing (and my favourite) touches are my handmade and hand frayed woven tags. I attach these to the boxes and some of the personalised fairy lights. Not a hint of plastic in sight!

Creating Gifts That Will Be Loved and Long-Lasting

I pride myself in making magical products and gifts that will be treasured by the recipient. My aim with the personalised fairy lights is that they will be a gift that will be loved for a very long time.

If you give one of my personalised fairy light hoops to a baby or child, they will continue to love this product for many years to come. The lights are elegant and timeless so will look good in a nursery and a teen bedroom. They are not something that will be a disposable gift and thrown away quickly.

Image: Personalised Fairy Lights Name Hoop ‘Aria’

There’s still more to be done but I believe that I am making my best efforts, where possible, to build a sustainable gifting brand and business.

Building a Sustainable Gifting Brand and Business