ORA & Sustainability
We are on our journey to bettering our sustainability as a small business here in Aotearoa.
Ways we are working as sustainably as possible currently are: We are small batch - Each year there are millions of bottles and jars of un-used or expired skincare ending up in landfills because of mass-produced factory made skincare/beauty products.
ORA takes pride in making everything in small batches, ensuring not only the product quality, energy & magic that goes into hand making these, but we can make sure our products are made fresh to order, extending the shelf life - knowing everything is being used up!
Our packing are made with sustainable materials.
Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss of quality over time, we are using a little plastic for the mists (as there is no alternative) and moving towards using aluminium lids.
Our packing can be repurposed or re-filled. Check out our blog post here on ideas for repurposing our bottles and jars.
We use all our grey water from making products on the garden. We have very little overflow of water. All our packing that comes to us, we re-use in our wholesale orders for padding.
We encourage people to do the same so the same packing padding can be used again and again!
We do our best for the planet.
We contribute to One Percent collective donating to Sustainable Coastlines NZ.
We are avid planters - always planting bee friendly plants in our gardens , also planting native forests on my Dads farm on the East Coast.
We do our best for the planet in our personal lives too. Walking/ biking places not using the car as much (my own car is electric) see ideas on ways you can too implement some earth friendly practices today here.
Recycleable
Glass is a recyclable material that will never deteriorate no matter how many times it's broken down - unlike plastic which only can be recycled 4-5 times before it is no longer sufficient.
Little waste
What comes to us is used completely, recycled or repurposed. We don't produce much rubbish at all in our studio.
Small batch + Compostable
We use compostable wood wool, tissue paper, card, paper also cardboard boxes and compostable mailers.
Local refills
We have this option available for Gisborne residents - however we would love to refill yours too if you save 3 or more bottles, contact us for discounted re-ordering.
Ingredients
Our suppliers are committed to finding the finest ingredients from NZ and around the world, these ingredients must be ethically sourced and where possible are bought directly from the growers so a relationship is established between the two parties. We have essential oils sourced locally wherever possible too.
Sustainability is something that is always evolving with new ways we can be bettering our practices, so it's always a work in progress.
We are excited and hopeful to see changes made globally, it can't happen sooner.