Happy Earth Day to you 🎵
(That's us singing to the Earth...in case that wasn't clear.)
At Sheets & Giggles, every day is Earth Day. Is that corny? Probably. But is it clichéd? For sure. But is it also true? Absolutely.
Every decision we make, from where we source our eucalyptus trees to whom we partner with to how we ship our bedding hinges on a central question: how will it impact the planet? If the answer is not much or–ideally–not at all, we're all in.
So, here's a little summary of how we're doing our part every day and how your support allows us to be the best bedding barterers we can be.
Forests for the trees
Our Eucalyptus Lyocell bedding is sustainably sourced from farms all over the world. We source the wood on rotation and never touch endangered or ancient forests.
All of our wood comes from controlled sources and complies to FSC®, SFI® or PEFC™ standards. Those fancy acronyms assure you that we're not contributing to the deforestation crisis. Our partners also work with a non-profit called Canopy to audit these farms and report on forest management efforts.
Insecticides not included
Eucalyptus trees are naturally insect repellent, so they don't require the use of deadly insecticides or pesticides.
Meanwhile, cotton uses as much as 16% of the world's insecticides and 11% of the world's pesticides. One of cotton's favorite insecticides is neonicotinoids – especially American or Asian grown cotton – AKA the chemical largely responsible for honeybee colony collapse disorder.
Water we doing?
We hate to keep picking on cotton, but cotton is a very thirsty crop compared to eucalyptus.
An average cotton bed sheet uses about 4,000 liters of water, while our eucalyptus sheets use about 150 liters. In freedom (/imperial) units, that’s up to 1,000 gallons conserved, or an estimated 96% reduction.
To use a concrete example, that's approximately 5 years' worth of the average person's drinking water per sheet set.
To date, we’ve saved a ridiculous amount of water. In fact, last year alone, our eucalyptus sheet sets saved approximately 22,484,000 gallons of water compared to cotton sheets.
Plants > Plastics
Because our bedding is all-natural and 100% plant-based, it biodegrades completely, and 40% faster than cotton. (Sorry not sorry, cotton.)
Polyester bedding takes hundreds of years (or longer) to fully biodegrade and releases trillions of microplastics into the soil, air, and waterways.
Meanwhile, everyone who opted for S&G sheets last year instead of polyester sheets helped spare roughly 3 trillion microplastics from our planet. Nicely done, S&G Community!
Giving Back
In cash and product, we’ve donated over $100,000 collectively to The World Wildlife Fund, Keep America Beautiful, and One Tree Planted, among other amazing charity partners.
Again, this is all possible because of your support. You've made your mother (earth) very proud.
Check out our package
We ship nearly all of our sustainable bedding in sustainable packaging, i.e. plastic-free and 100% recyclable cardboard. No shrink wrap, no vacuum seal, no bubble wrap. Just good old-fashioned cardboard you can toss in the blue bin or keep as a cozy cat bed. (Note: our Eucalyptus Mattress Protector is currently shipped with recycled plastic, but we're working on an even more sustainable solution.)
Tomorrow is earth day, too
And the next day, and the next day, and the day after that...
Earth Day doesn't end at midnight for us. We'll continue to put sustainability and eco-friendly practices at the forefront of our business. Guess you could say taking care of the earth is part of the fabric of our company. (Get it? ‘cause we make fabrics.)
We're always looking for new ways to reduce our impact on the planet, so if you have suggestions on how we can do better, please let us know: Hello@sheetsgiggles.com.
Now go celebrate Earth Day by taking a nap on a riverbed or beneath a sheet of rain or under a blanket of stars or...you get the idea.