Resources for Sustainable Brands

Starting a Sustainable Jewelry Brand with Pelin of Milk & Rose

published on December 9, 2021 by Angela Hamilton

Starting a business? Or just looking for sustainable jewelry brands? Either way, you’ll want to hear from Pelin Cinar, founder of our latest directory member, ethical jewelry brand Milk & Rose on all things jewelry, sustainability, and shopping consciously. Read our interview below, sprinkled throughout lots of lovely images of Milk & Rose earrings, rings, necklaces, and more.

Tell us your journey to bringing your designs to life. How did you find your manufacturers? What challenges did you come across in the industry?

My initial manufacturer research was based on the reliability, traceability, and the respectability of the manufacturing company. The jewelry industry is plagued by large suppliers producing very similar designs. This became our biggest problem; how do we generate the revenue necessary to create unique designs while placing orders large enough to warrant a contract with these larger suppliers.

After almost a year of many different tours, many samples, and a terrible number of no’s we were able to foster a relationship with a major supplier based out of Italy and Turkey. Both regions known for their craftsmanship. We were able to negotiate a contract allowing for some creative freedom, albeit limited. However, this allowed us to launch our first few collections.

Now that we have generated the capital necessary we look to take on more ambitious designs unique and true to the core ideals of the brand.

We have partnered with two artisans based out of Istanbul, their families of which have worked in jewelry making for several generations. This dedication to the craft and art form is why I was drawn to their shop and ultimately was the reason we formed a partnership. They will produce a brand new unique collection, completely handmade. This is only one of many new products we wish to introduce in the next year as we expand our offerings.

Over the last six months we have exploded, landing in a few different store fronts as well as online marketplaces. This increased exposure and reach has allowed us to begin fostering a community reflective of our ideals. In the next year we look to launch a blog and email chain featuring educational material on sustainability and lifestyle.

This new direction Milk and Rose is leaning towards is actually the direction I have always wanted to explore as my goal is not promoting the fast-fashion / factory made (even when it’s ethical), but more so special items to keep for many years, made by someone who is an expert in their field and make their art with love.

Silver is a precious, yet fragile soft metal that needs to be protected well in order for it to arrive to its final destination without dents and scratches. Unfortunately that means multiple packaging!

While brainstorming for the packaging, my goal wasn’t just for it to be 100% biodegradable, but also high quality and pretty enough to be reusable many times after. It’s one of those things that are “just too cute” to throw out, you know.

The packaging we use consists of a cardboard shipping box, cardboard jewelry box with a drawer, cotton pouch, (paper earring holder if applicable). All our cardboard packaging has FSC certification which means products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits. Our pouches made out of cotton which could be used to store any kind of jewelry and is intended for reuse and storage of the product.

Tell us about your sustainability journey up until you started Milk & Rose. Have you always been passionate about sustainable/ethical design and consumerism?

Sustainability has been extremely important to me since I was aware of the consequences my actions make. When I first started to change my actions, it was rebellious or “annoying” to be conscious, now it’s annoying to think it was any other way.

Since sustainability wasn’t the hip marketing technique, I knew whatever I do, it was going to be as sustainable as I possibly could make it to be. Because as a person, I can only change my own actions, but as a company I can be a part of the change of other people’s actions, and it is powerful to have an impact towards the future I want to live in, and leave behind.

This actually shaped my company and helped me have a clear direction and a goal. I wanted to make sure that every decision I made, I could call “ethical”. This makes it very difficult to just release new products, or work with different companies, but on the flip side it makes me really aware of every aspect of a product offer, slows me down and reminds me again and again why I do what I do.

Of course, there are things I learned along this journey, things that could have been done better, more ethically, but it’s also a learning process for me, and as I learn, I adapt, change, and improve.

It’s also very interesting to be on the other side of the transaction: to create “that” thing people buy, and all the power you have in that offering and its final state. Demand is very important, yes, but a product could easily be adapted to sound like the demand by many marketing techniques, which makes it difficult to be a conscious consumer and as a consumer myself, I go through this challenge during every purchase decision.

My company is small right now, but my long term goal is to create a marketplace where people can shop without worrying about their impact because that will be executed well beyond its fancy sounding “sustainable” label, with actual practices backing it up.

What is your personal philosophy when it comes to shopping consciously?

I am one of those customers who spend hours at grocery stores, reading the back side of each product, knowing what PLU number is organic, with pesticides, with GMO. At the clothing store I’m the customer who is trying to find that little tag that tells you what kind of fabric the item is blend of.

My personal philosophy is—I’m not supporting and investing in your business even if I love your product—unless your business has the right intentions and does right.

I love shopping small, but I do shop at big businesses as well, as long as their product fits into sustainable category. At the end of the day, these companies have a big impact on what is put out into the landfills and I want that impact to be a good one.

Vida Después doesn’t believe in the end life of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. It creates bright colored natural dyes using the peels, and other parts of the once fresh produce, and flowers. Then uses these dyes to color secondhand clothing and ethically sourced silk… and the end product is just gorgeous.

Circular Bodies is a company that designs wellness products using circular practices to achieve sustainability.

I have been exclusively using Circular Bodies body bars since I first discovered them a year ago. The best soap bars I personally have ever tried. The company’s vision and mission is also beautiful which makes me feel good about supporting.

Frost Road House makes the “old” look cooler than the “new”. I have sourced a lot of my props from this one super sweet lady who runs around collects the items and will personally deliver them to you!

Thanks to Pelin Cinar for sharing your journey to a sustainable jewelry brand, and giving us some new favorite shops to follow!

Find Milk & Rose in our ethical shop directory and at www.themilkandrose.com.

Benefits of Hiring a Copywriter For Your Sustainable Brand

published on November 12, 2021 by Angela Hamilton
updated on October 27, 2021

Hi sustainable shop owners! It’s been a minute since we shared resources for you here, but hopefully our past Shopify tips and influencer strategy have proved helpful. To reintroduce myself and this series, I’m a copywriter, designer, and digital strategist for small, sustainable brands. Before I worked with conscious brands—like a fair trade fashion company, ethical chocolate maker, handmade jewelry business, etc.—I was a writer and editor in Los Angeles, overseeing editorial for influencer blogs and ghostwriting for celebrities. Now, I apply these big-picture strategies (and lots of creative magic) to help brands I align with launch and thrive!

When it comes to hiring creative help for your small biz, you have an abundance of choices to make. Too many. You’re used to doing literally everything yourself so when you finally can hire, even if it’s a freelancer for a few hours a week, you might not know where to begin.

I have to say, copywriting falls by the wayside a lot of times and I understand why. While other pieces of the digital strategy puzzle (such as getting your website up and running) essentially require you to hire an expert (unless you know how to code, for one), you might be able to cut the copywriting fee by doing it yourself. I mean, you’ve been writing in some sense your whole life.

I get it! Few of us can invest in every aspect of our business that we’d like—so no hard feelings if certain creative can’t be your first priority.

So it’s no surprise that I have to make a case for hiring a copywriter more often than I do design or social media. We set out to build their website, ask for the content, and it hits them—we need to put words on these pages! And they need to speak to our ideal customer, and they need to be SEO friendly, and accurately depict our product, and on and on.

But copywriting IS vital to the branding process, and even if you aren’t able to invest in it this second, you should know why it’s important and what to look for when crafting your brand story. (And to go a step further, if you are hiring someone for brand strategy, you’ll definitely want to make sure this is part of the service!)

benefits of hiring a copywriter for your sustainable brand

develop brand voice

You need to develop your voice in order to speak to your ideal customer. If you aren’t speaking specifically to the person you want to buy your product, you’ll have a hard time selling it. A copywriter can first help you develop this voice (part of the branding process), as well as convey it on your website. Your website’s tagline, About page, and product descriptions are just some of the places to apply your voice.

tell your story

Your website needs to tell a story and not just any story. Gone are the days where consumers are just looking for a fair trade or sustainability label… you need to show why your brand is unique and this goes beyond certifications. We should want to buy from you not just because you’re sustainable, but because you’re also x, y, and z. While your brand aesthetic conveys this story, copywriting meets it half way to paint the full picture.

establish consistency (and make your life easier)

You need to have text on your website regardless of whether you hire someone, but enlisting a professional can help you not only develop your voice and tell your story, but do it with consistency across all pages. Once you’ve polished your site copy, you can make it work for you by repackaging that content across other platforms:

Blog. A blog is important to keeping customers updated and engaged with your story. It also supports strong SEO. The rest of your site copy can serve as a jumping off point, or at least a blueprint for how to convey tone. (Read more about why you need one here.)
Newsletters. Chances are you’re also revving up your email marketing at this time. This is another place you need a consistent voice to come through.
Social media. When you’re developing those first few Instagram posts, branding and website copy will give you something to go off of. Social media is all about bite-sized content. It’s amazing how many posts you could turn something as simple as your company bio into, as a way to introduce and engage with users.
Digital ads. As a copywriter, I often pull snippets from a brand’s story to develop those first few ads or boosted posts. It usually requires minimal editing to turn part of your story into a compelling ad.
Professional documents. Whether it’s press releases, proposals, or partnerships, an established voice and story will help you keep these documents in line with your business goals, and save you a ton of time!

Have you noticed the effects of copywriting on your business? Let me know any questions you have and I’ll try to help!

What The Ethical Consumer Looks for in a Sustainable Brand

published on August 2, 2021 by Angela Hamilton

It’s been a minute since we shared resources for shop owners, but as an ethical consumer and digital strategist for small businesses, it’s one of my favorite topics. Sustainable brands aren’t just competing with other conscious businesses, they’re competing with the myriad mass-produced copycat designs offered for pennies. Sigh.

But I love using my experience managing social media, writing copy, and designing websites to give brands I actually believe in a way to stand out from the crowd. (The dream!) On the other side, I’ve been on an ever evolving journey to align my actions to my values, beginning as a college thrifter who felt a little icky about fast fashion. And what’s better to share with sustainable brands than the authentic perspective of an ethical consumer?

photo by @charityvictoria

more than sustainability… but also, sustainability

Most of the sustainable brands I connect with tell me that while they are sustainable, they aren’t only sustainable. They’re not only for the ethical consumer; they’re so much more than that. As a consumer, I totally get it. There are tons of sustainably-produced products out there, but I buy (and blog about) only those that are in my opinion the best–the most stylish, inspiring, or functional. Many of us agree that sustainability should be a given, and therefore a company should offer us a product with value beyond that quality. That said, that does not mean that you shouldn’t vocalize your values. Trust me. Consumers have to wade through so much information when making a purchase. Add greenwashing into the mix and it’s frustrating as hell. GIVE them the information they want–let them know how you are sustainable and why–even if you think it should go without saying.

transparency over perfection

We can’t talk about ethical consumption without transparency, can we? If you are launching a sustainable brand, you need to get comfortable with transparency. We all know our fair share of brands doing transparency wrong. That’s made a lot of new, small brands wary of taking a misstep–even if they truly hold those values dearly. Here’s the thing. Like any business owner, you’re going to make mistakes. You might learn that you haven’t disclosed information properly, or enough, and have to update your website. You might source a material or hire a vendor that isn’t up to your or your community’s standards, and have to pull it from the shelves. But no matter what, staying honest and open to conversation is what the ethical consumer looks for…. far, far more than perfection. Do your research, connect with experts (maybe partner with an agency like Art of Citizenry who specializes in ethical brand storytelling and education), stay true to your values, and be there for your customers when they have questions.

an element of surprise

Okay, every consumer looks for this, but most of them let the surprise of low prices dictate their purchases. Seriously, all of the fast fashion in my closet is there because, gulp, a sale. Not because of the amazing quality, cool new material I never knew could be this comfortable, hand-embroidery representing a technique practiced for hundreds of years… you get the idea. And that leaves a lot of room for the sustainable brand to swoop in and impress us. If you relate to point number one, you see that you have so much more to offer than just being sustainable. Think of the things you love the very most–your WHY–and tell your story based on that.

I wrote and rewrote this post many times, because there are so many things the ethical consumer looks for in a sustainable brand, and there are so many ways to go about offering each. This is my own perspective on a journey to sustainable living, and making a career of it too–I’d love to hear your perspective as well.

Where To Find Eco Friendly Packaging For Your Sustainable Brand

published on June 4, 2021 by Angela Hamilton
updated on June 5, 2021

Fair warning, this post is a bit unfinished–in the sense that something like eco friendly packaging is always evolving and as time goes on, so will more options for sustainable brands. I’m in a lot of online communities for freelance designers, and the question of where to source sustainable packaging comes up from time to time. Which is great news… it means that more of our clients are considering the environment in their businesses. Having had this resource in mind for a while, I figured it would be easy to filter through my bookmarks and fine tons of sources for all you sustainable shop owners.

Blue Heron Botanicals lip balm tubes are home compostable and made from 100% PCW recycled paper.

What I found, instead, was lots of ethical brands with sustainable packaging to inspire us (see the photos and captions throughout this post!) and lots of companies like noissue and tishwish who have eco conscious solutions for mailing supplies (think compostable mailers) versus actual product packaging.

Bambu reusable face pads in paper containers

So while there are so many sustainable brands leading the way in innovative, zero waste packaging, finding exactly how it’s done is a little more complicated.

noissue custom tissue paper via noissue blog

I love how companies like noissue above, who provide custom packaging solutions for smaller businesses, dedicate part of their website to sharing how those businesses have used their goods and services. I wish all of the other packaging suppliers did this!

Kinship partners with Ocean Waste Practices for their recycled skincare packaging.

Some eco friendly brands like Kinship share their packaging processes on their website, so the consumer can see how “green” they really are.

Sustainable skincare brand SBTRCT uses compostable packaging, and actually tells you what to do with it in each listing. This is a rarity, even in the world of green beauty!

noissue custom tissue paper via noissue blog

tishwish compostable mailer by Santos

See? Lots of custom options for those seeking a sustainable mailing options these days. The cool thing with brands like these is that the consumer can order general mailers themselves, while companies can customize based on certain order minimums.

Good Flower Farm‘s simple paper tubes looks gorgeous with their beautiful branding.

Here’s the list I have going so far for brands that want to both package and ship their product more sustainable.

Where To Buy Eco Friendly Packaging Supplies

Eco Enclose offers recycled poly mailers, biodegradable and recycled tissue paper, eco friendly boxes and so much more. They also have custom shipping options.

Sun Grown Packaging is an Oakland based supplier of recyclable & biodegradable packaging for eco conscious brands.

noissue is a popular choice for eco friendly packaging as they offer custom packaging supplies with low order minimums and an easy design process. They offer compostable mailers, stickers, tapes, labels, and more.

If you’re shipping from Australia, rethink packaging‘s compostable mailers are made to disappear within 180 days! I really like that they actually show you how to do it, and not just say something is compostable without offering the resources to keep it out of landfill.

If you’re willing to put in the time, Etsy can be a great resource for sustainable packaging supplies! I can’t say that everyone who claims to follow eco friendly practices is being totally transparent, but with so many small businesses to choose from and the ability to easily message the seller, you can ask any and all questions you need to make sure the materials are up to your standards as an ethical brand.

Ocean Waste Plastics is a global project to remove plastic waste from oceans and rivers while offering recycled packaging solutions to businesses.

Similar to noissue and rethink above, tishwish offers corn-based compostable mailers.

A Better Source isn’t a packaging company, but a directory of sustainable packaging and print resources for branding and design!

Do you know where to find eco friendly packaging for your small business? Let us know your favorite resources so we can add to this guide!

5 Shopify Apps to Strengthen Customer Experience

published on April 14, 2021 by Jennifer Andrew

Does your sustainable brand run on Shopify? So far in our series of resources for shop owners we’ve shared our Instagram and blog tips, but today let’s back up and focus on the platform. Because so many of our ethical shopping directory members run on Shopify, we thought we’d share why we love this platform and how easy it is to create an even better experience for your customer.

Shopify is created specifically for e-commerce brands so even out of the box themes are user friendly, intuitive, and customizable (although if you have the budget, we recommend investing in a highly custom theme tailored to your specific needs). Rather than being self-hosted, your Shopify site runs on Shopify’s speeder servers and has built in SEO and analytics tools. Shopify also integrates with countless apps to enhance your customer’s user experience and make your site easier to manage. Most apps include a free trial so you can test them out and see if they are working for you before you commit to a monthly fee. Ultimately, your Shopify apps can end up paying for themselves because of the value they add to your store.

5 types of Shopify apps to strengthen customer experience

Rewards Program. Anybody else notice that rewards programs are springing up like wildflowers lately? We’ve implemented several rewards programs into shops over the past year and they are surprisingly easy to set up. Earning rewards makes shopping more fun for your customers and can also increase your revenue as it keeps shoppers coming back for more perks. Our fave Shopify app for rewards is Smile—their free plan comes with a few good options, but if you opt for a higher priced plan, you can apply full design customization, integrate Smile with other apps, and more. Another amazing rewards program app is Loyalty Lion. It can be a bit more pricey but the options and app integration are endless, and LL’s customer support is incredible.

In-stock Notifications. This kind of app adds a signup form to products that are sold out and alerts customers via email when those products are back in stock. Our favorite is Alert Me! Restock Alerts. Customers love being the first to know when an item on their wishlist is in stock again. In the dashboard of this app, you’ll be able to view stats showing how much revenue you’ve earned from your in stock notifications.

Wishlist. Speaking of wishlists! We always joke about having too many screenshots and saved photos on Instagram/texts, making it hard to remember what gems we’ve found in shops and what we actually want to purchase. Integrating a wishlist app for your shop makes it easy for customers to keep all their faves in one spot and come back to purchase them when they’re ready. We love the app Wishify— it adds a little heart to product pages and collection pages, so visitors can easily add products to wishlist page connected to their customer account.

Newsletter Signup Form. We all know how quickly our inboxes can get cluttered with newsletters that we don’t even remember signing up for. What usually gets me to sign up for a newsletter is a discount code or free shipping coupon. If the newsletter has a gorgeous design and personable copywriting, I will probably stay subscribed. A newsletter isn’t just a way to announce sales, it’s a great tool for connecting to shoppers on a more personal level (but more on that later). Shopify has a built-in newsletter feature so all you need is an app to send your subscribers from Shopify to MailChimp, Klaviyo, or whichever email marketing service you use. To connect to Mailchimp, you’ll need to use the ShopSync app, while Klaviyo and many other services have their own apps or custom integration methods.

Accessibility App. Integrating an accessibility app with your shop is more than just a “nice to have”. In 2010, the Department of Justice published the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design which states that “all electronic and information technology must be accessible to people with disabilities.” (source: interactiveaccessibility.com) We recommend installing Accessibly, Accessibility Assistant, or Accessibility Enabler on Shopify asap. This is an easy but important way to show compassion and respect to your customers (…and avoid a lawsuit).

What are your favorite Shopify apps? And, what other Shopify questions do you have for us?

Why Your Ethical Brand Needs A Blog

published on March 8, 2021 by Angela Hamilton

If you asked me a couple years ago whether ecommerce shops needed blogs to support their businesses, I honestly would have said no. I can’t begin to estimate the amount of blogs I’ve seen over the last ten years, and it’s always bothered me when brands throw one up, only to post a welcome entry and never touch it again. I get it! Blogging is hard work (why do you think I’ve been able to make it as a freelance writer all this time?!) and when running your business solo or as a small team, there often just isn’t time. In that case, I’m like, just skip it. Don’t leave it hanging there like a forgotten project.

Now that I’ve had more experience freelancing for ethical brands and ecommerce shops (mostly on Shopify—more on that later!), I’m passionate about helping them harness the power of a blog to find more success with their businesses. Below, I’ll share the biggest reasons your ethical brand needs a blog:

SEO

Maybe you’ve heard this before, but let me break it down for you because it truly took years for the importance of SEO to sink in for me. If you are operating your shop independently (say via Shopify or Squarespace versus Etsy), you’re truly starting from scratch. This means you need to bring in 100% of your own traffic. And unless you have thousands of people coming over from social media on the daily, you probably need SEO to help you bring in the views.

Shops, especially ethical brands who perhaps don’t have a ton of individual product listings (because, small batch!), totally need that extra text, links, and opportunity for shares that come with a blog, in order to come up on Google. Without it, it’s very likely that your shop doesn’t even have enough text to really make a dent! Now, this this is only part of the whole SEO puzzle, but it can make such a huge difference in organic search for your shop.

BRAND STORYTELLING

If you are positioning yourself as an ethical brand, it’s probably because you are working really hard to “do things right” – focusing on people and planet over profit, growing slowly or staying small, basically spending a lot more $$$ to provide goods ethically.

For the most part, your target audience is probably at least somewhat a discerning customer. Otherwise, they don’t understand why your goods cost more or are made of this or that and why it’s better. You have to show them what makes you so special. And buyers aren’t going to fall for anything. They want to see the proof. A blog is such an awesome tool for storytelling, for sharing all of those parts of your WHY that don’t make it onto the homepage tagline or product description.

CONTENT CREATION

The biggest issue I see with sustainable and ethical brands is that in making things slowly and in small batches, they feel they run out of content too easily to share on social media or in their newsletters. Well guess what? A blog will provide you with so much to share. You can distill each blog post down into several pieces of “micro content” that you share with your audience (which you can often post more than once, too!). A blog keeps you on top of your content game.

Of course, it’s an investment (whether in time or work or money) that isn’t going to reward right away. That’s why so many ethical brands skip it to begin with—there are so many other “must dos” in a business. You’re not necessarily starting a blog to go viral, though you never have a chance if you don’t start one! You’re building SEO, brand trust, and a library of quality content that lives on the internets in its infinite forms (social media, Pinterest, Google, newsletters).

Do you have any ethical brand blogs you love to read? A few of my favorites are Christy Dawn, MINNA, and Zuahaza.

PS: Click here for more resources for sustainable brands!