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Our New, Even Greener Boxes

When you go for your next Gnosis Chocolate bar at the store, you'll notice that we are switching to a smaller size that fits the chocolate bars more snugly, meaning less wasted space and less overall packaging used. Not like a bag of chips (hopefully vegan, organic, baked at least! :) where you open the bag and it's 1/2 full! What a waste & how misleading!!! These bars fit perfectly in the boxes - what you see is what you get! We only use these boxes for stores (to protect them on the shelves and so they stack nicely) but we will be launching a Gift Option where chocolate in boxes will be available on our webiste for the holiday gift-giving season :) (Although our hope is that one day, our society will base their decisions less on how the package of food looks and more on what's inside!)

The new boxes have all the same features you know from the previous batches: FSC-certification and 100% recycled materials. In addition, at the bottom of each box is a label printed in vegetable ink.  If you do not know already, vegetable ink is better to use than soy ink  because is has a lower VOC output. VOC stands for volatile organic compounds. These are pollutants that endanger print shop employees and toxify the atmosphere. In addition, recycling-wise, vegetable based inks are easier to de-ink from paper.

Gnosis Chocolate is more Earth-friendly than you can fathom... We believe that our practices not only affect the planet directly, but we strive to set an example for other companies. How is that, you ask? Let us count the ways ...

1. Our boxes are 100% recycled, 77% post-consumer recycled FSC certified (more on this below)
2. Our labels based on renewable sources and are certified as compostable in key biodegradation environments. They are made by NatureFlex^TM
3. All packaging materials are reused. Whenever we receive raw ingredient shipments, we reuse the boxes they came in and the padding they were packed with. We never buy boxes. (see below for why reusing is even better for the earth than recycling)
4. Doing our shipping with USPS, we’re voting a “yes” for their green re-design of boxes. “It starts at the design stage, considers energy and water use through manufacturing, and ends with a product that can be safely recycled”
5. Team Gnosis walks with the orders to the Post Office, no trucks for the choco-fueled!
6. All Gnosis Team mates walk, bike, or take public transportation to the factory
7. All paper used in printing orders, or any other important chocolate-y documents is 100% recycled.
8. We use label-backing paper as shipping padding rather than trashing it and buying packing peanuts

So what is this FSC certification from point #1? FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council. Because our chocolate boxes are FSC certified, you can rest assure that the materials used to make them were from a well-managed forest. From their website:

FSC has developed a set of Principles and Criteria for forest management that are applicable to all FSC-certified forests throughout the world. There are 10 Principles and 57 Criteria that address legal issues, indigenous rights, labor rights, multiple benefits, and environmental impacts surrounding forest management.

Reuse vs. Recycle. Actually, there's quite an environmental difference! Since there are a lot of embedded resources in any one particular item, reusing it has a huge environmental impact. Reusing keeps new resources from being used for a while longer, and old resources from entering the waste stream. Local thrift stores are an excellent place to donate a wide variety of reusable goods! 

We have heard many stories of how our boxes are reused - to sell jewelry, for children's school lunch crackers... please let us know how you reuse your boxes! Get the choco-community conversation going, let us know what you do that’s earth-friendly! We’d love to hear your creative ideas!