With our global communities being affected by seemingly endless price hikes and inflation, how do we justify spending a little extra on organically-sourced and locally-created products?
What does it mean to purchase organic? For some, it's a way of life. For others, it's an unnecessary expense. For all, it's a way to ensure you're getting the highest quality product for your body and home. Purchasing organic goods means you are supporting the growing, harvesting, and manufacturing practices that are most sustainable for our planet. There are quite a few misnomers out there about what 'organic' truly means, and we'll break down some of these below.
Organic Farming
When you purchase an organic product, you are ensuring it has been organically farmed. This means supporting farmers who work in harmony with the seasons and soil, encouraging biodiversity and longevity of their home-grown goodness by minimizing (or eliminating) the use of pesticides, herbicides, and other chemical compounds which, ultimately, end up doing more harm than help. Farmers, wild-crafters, and organic gardeners all know how important sustainable growing practices are, and they do their best to produce the healthiest, highest-quality goods that money can buy, all while ensuring the land and the many creatures that share it can reap the benefits as well. At Flourish Apothecary, we only source ingredients from certified organic farmers (or highly knowledgeable and skilled wild-crafters) to ensure our products are packed full of vibrancy, color, nutrition, and optimal healing benefits.
Organic Harvesting
Organic farming practices include sustainable harvesting. In terms of harvesting from the wild, this means knowing how much and how often a plant can be harvested before it starts to negatively impact the surrounding ecosystem, or the plant itself. In terms of harvesting from the farm, this means carefully watching the growing cycles and knowing when each plant is at its peak in terms of medicinal value, and working with the weather and seasons to ensure the plant is ready to be harvested at said peak. Both methods require a knowledge and understanding of our local ecosystems, including native plant species, sustainable wild-crafting etiquette, and proper storage/handling techniques.
Organic Processing
Processing plant materials is a delicate and time-sensitive business. In order to reap the potent healing benefits of each plant, they must be picked and immediately tinctured, dried, or infused, depending on what your end-product is going to be. Processing is an important part of the field-to-bottle process, as many companies will use heavy machinery and chain-production practices which result in a lesser-quality product. When you support organic processing practices (especially in small businesses), you are encouraging hands-on experience, encouraging local job placements, and ensuring your product is free of any heavy metals or other contaminants that may come along with larger-scale production and processing facilities. Organic processing means minimal processing. It is building a connection to the ingredients you are working with, touching, smelling, feeling, and seeing any impurities or issues long before they end up in their final packaging.
Organic Packaging
Ok, ok, so this isn't really a thing. But it should be! We spent a lot of time and energy researching and reviewing all packaging options before we finally settled on ours. We get a lot of suggestions (and questions) about our packaging, because everyone seems to have their own idea of what 'sustainable' really is. The truth is, there is no wholeheartedly sustainable way to package products. No matter what, we are utilizing resources, creating a product that has a shelf life, and eventually will need to be properly disposed of (hopefully after being used and reused until it is no longer usable). What we choose to package products in does matter, though. At Flourish Apothecary, we strive to be a truly zero-waste company, and that means keeping plastic and other hazards out of the landfills, our soils, and our waters. We package most of our products in easily recyclable (but more importantly, reusable) glass and metal containers, and utilize hand-made, non-toxic, food-safe glue on our 100% recycled paper labels, making it easy for our customers to peel off their labels, recycle or compost them, and reuse their glass & metal containers indefinitely. We only utilize re-used and recycled paper & wood shredding for our shipping needs, and any plastic that may work its way into the mix is always 100% re-usable, recycled, and recyclable. By making conscious choices to do better when it comes to producing goods for the public, we are helping to raise awareness of truly eco-friendly shopping habits, and hopefully inspiring other companies to follow suit! To read more about our packaging, check out our blog post here.
The Takeaway:
Sometimes it costs a little extra to purchase goods that are made organically and sustainably, but in the long run, it's always worth it! When purchasing organic products, it's important to remind yourself of the bigger picture. Organic products keep your body healthy, your home clean, and your children safe. Your extra pennies are going towards keeping the earth & all of its creatures happy, and showing the companies (like us!) who put time, thought, and effort into creating beautiful eco-friendly products that you care. And for that, we thank you.
Flourish Apothecary of Victoria, BC is a woman-owned online herbal shop specializing in organic and wild-crafted natural health products. Each product is hand-crafted from freshly harvested medicinal herbs on Vancouver Island. We believe in planet before profit, and emphasize sustainable business practices to ensure we can deliver the highest-quality goods without having a negative affect on the planet.
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