Softstar has always held sustainability as a core value for many years. Power from wind and solar energy, an employee garden, a composting program and electric vehicle charging are just a few of the green features established at the workshop. Regardless, Softstar is always looking for new ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Now we are excited to introduce zero-waste packaging!
It is no secret that direct-to-consumer businesses generate considerable waste from single-use packaging and shipping materials. Footwear in particular is a major offender as many shoes are traditionally shipped in a shoebox-within-a-box. While Softstar has always eschewed the shoebox and utilized minimal packaging made from recyclable and repurposed materials, we have still sought out ways to lessen the environmental impact of our shipping process even further.
Enter RePack! RePack has created durable and reusable Velcro-sealed bags that can be shipped, returned, cleaned and reused up to 50 times (or more) over their life cycle. When Softstar CEO Tricia Salcido was introduced to this solution, she immediately jumped on board.
"Reusable shipping bags make so much sense for Softstar and our sustainability goals," said Salcido. "We hope to see more companies like us utilize this option in the future. When customers receive their shoes, they simply fold the reusable bag with its prepaid USPS label and pop it in their mailbox to be returned for reuse. It is that simple!"
We estimate that this switch to reusable bags will save over 4,000 pounds of cardboard and plastic waste from ending up in landfills over the next 12 months. Currently, RePack is only available for shipments within the United States.
How It Works:
- We ship your order using RePack packaging.
- After receiving your order, you ship the reusable container back to RePack at no charge by using a pre-printed shipping label included with the package.
- RePack checks, cleans and prepares the container for the next cycle, then resupplies vendors (like us) with a new batch of their packaging.
What Difference Does it Make?
Using RePack not only reduces the waste that ends up in our landfills, it also creates significantly less CO2 emissions than disposable plastic and cardboard packages. Here are a few statistics:
- RePack can reduce the carbon footprint of shipments by up to 80% when compared to disposable packages.
- The carbon footprint of a RePack package breaks even with only the second re-use.
- RePack reduces packaging waste by up to 96%.
Award Winning Solution
RePack has already received widespread recognition for their innovative solution to a growing environmental problem. Here are some of the awards they have received for both their design and impact on sustainability:
- 2020 German Design Award - German Design Council
- 2020 German Sustainability Award - Deutsche Nachhaltigkeitspreis
- 2019 Circular Economy Honorary mention - Sitra & Excellence Finland
- 2019 eDelivery Barcelona - Startup competition Winner
- 2018 The Circulars - World Economic Forum, Davos
- 2017 Werkstatt - German Government
- 2017 Nordic Council of Ministers Environment Prize
- 2017 Design Intelligence Award - China Academy of Arts
- 2016 Werkstatt - German Government
- 2015 Climate KIC Nordic Venture Cup Winner
- 2015 White Bull Award - Spain
- 2014 Fennia Prize Winner - Finland's Most prestigious design prize
- 2014 Slush Top 100 Finalist
- 2014 Green Alley Winner - Germany
- 2013 PacTec - Finland - Packaging Innovation Award - Finnish Packaging Association
What Do You Think?
We would like to know your thoughts about this reusable packaging system. Would you be happy to receive a RePack package with your order? Let us know in the comments below!
