Protect the ocean as if your life depended on it… because it does.
Q: How can a candle protect UK coastlines from the ongoing onslaught of marine plastic?
A: If it’s our splendid limited edition sea salt candle made from natural soy wax in beautiful recycled glass… then it can. The secret’s in its clever candle coaster…
Log in to your smol account to order yours now. Click here.
8 million pieces of plastic pollute our seas daily...
yet big brands continue to use new single-use plastic as the UK recycling system fails. So why is this still happening when plastic is recyclable?
The problem is that whether a plastic object is recycled or not boils down to local collection systems and recycling infrastructure. And in many cases these systems and infrastructure are not working. Technological constraints, lack of investment and poor economic incentives mean plastics are finding their way into our environment on a scale never seen before.
This pollution washes into our oceans as escaped rubbish on its way to landfill or by deliberate littering/dumping or by being flushed down the drain (wet wipes), but it also comes from the constant polluting stream of plastic that pours from 10 of the world’s biggest rivers.
Once at sea it begins to break down, devastating marine life in the process or it washes to shore, polluting our coastlines as it continues to degrade.
Time for our first smol sea change.
We wanted to get involved and make a difference, raise awareness and support those already working hard to rescue our shorelines from this plastic onslaught. So, we’re thrilled to introduce our first smol sea change which we are determined will be the first of many.
Working with some clever and dedicated organisations, we’re clearing plastic waste from Cornish shores to create a clever candle coaster to accompany our gorgeous sea salt scented coastal candle.
Was all adrift… now I’m a gift
It’s important to know that recycling mixed ocean plastic is really challenging and really expensive. Collecting, sorting, cleaning, granulating and re-using is really really hard… so most don’t bother… and if it does get cleared from beaches it just goes back to landfill or gets incinerated.
Think about the last time you went to the beach and spotted plastic rubbish… it’s all different sorts and types, much has become brittle from exposure to the sun and sea, some is already breaking down, the colour has faded, and of course some types just were never even recyclable in the first place.
But recycling marine plastic CAN be done...
Enter the Ocean Recovery Project,
run by the charity Keep Britain Tidy.
In 2016, Keep Britain Tidy began a project to recover and recycle the litter that was collected by volunteers on their beach cleans.
The Ocean Recovery Project connects a variety of companies and organisations to help achieve sustainable solutions for recycling ocean plastics. They have helped many groups, organisations and businesses to recycle plastic and create products. They also work hard to keep the carbon footprint that is involved in transporting and processing the plastics, as low as possible.
Clearing plastic waste from the Cornish beach of Bude is an eye opening and sobering experience. But once the waste is collected, what then?
A short journey to South Wales brings us to Smile who design sustainable materials from waste plastic that would usually find their way into landfill.
Our sea change coaster is born.
The huge variety of plastic salvaged from the shore means it is not possible to create a coaster purely from the ocean plastic so it is mixed with PCR (post consumer recycled) plastic - which comes from a variety of different plastics that have entered the waste system. The resulting material is 15% ocean waste and 85% plastic that has come from our household waste and it means we are turning wasteful into useful and keeping plastic out of the environment.
We think our sea change coaster is the perfect holder for our coastal candle and we hope every time you light your candle you are reminded of how we can all make a difference.
Here at smol, we’re definitely still learning as we go on this journey and with the help of charities like the ORP we’re excited to empower beach cleaners, increase recycling rates and develop new ways to process these ‘hard to recycle’ plastics.
So if you’d like a very special smol sea change candle in your life, or maybe you’d like to give one to somebody special…
As a limited edition it will only be available on our website through your customer account. At £25 each, £2 from every purchase will go to support the work of ORP.*
Log in to your customer account HERE to order yours now, while stock lasts.
*to a maximum donation of £9,000.
