The importance of sustainability at Itchy Baby Co.

Sustainability should be the heart of any business. Sourcing 100% recycled plastic in Australia results in a significantly lower carbon footprint and is significantly better for the environment. Here at Itchy Baby Co., sustainability is taken seriously - it's a responsibility we all share for our little ones' future. That's why we only use sustainably sourced packaging (recycled & recyclable) as well as ethically sourcing our ingredients. 

What are we doing to achieve our sustainability goals?

We have a commitment to conserve natural resources, reduce carbon emissions and implement sustainable business practices. Some of the ways we do this are through:

• Manufacturing and ingredient sourcing : Regenerative ingredient supply strategy, pesticide-free, marginal land usage, reef-safe sunscreens.

• Shipping: Minimise freight through production and 3PL close to main customer base, plastic free, recycled, home compostable mailers and boxes.

• Packaging: Sustainability by design (maximised within therapeutic regulatory requirements) – local, solar powered packaging manufacturing, carbon neutral sourcing, minimal layers, recyclable and recycled plastics, rPET, sugar cane, RedCycle. Our Shampoo & Body Wash and Natural Scalp Oil bottles are made out of 100% recycled plastic that is also fully recyclable, where packaging is able to be continually reused in this way this forms part of a circular economy and ultimately creates little or no waste. It was manufactured in a carbon neutral plastics facility in Australia. The facility is able to produce one bottle for every recycled bottle and the bottles they use to manufacture the recycled plastics are directly sourced from the yellow recycling bins in NSW. 

• Buying Australian Made packaging for our products (rather than sourcing from overseas as was the norm before Covid and the world relied on a “just in time” supply chain system). As a result of making these changes, we have connected with amazing businesses in our own backyard that we didn’t even know were there.

Angela Dudney, Head of Operations and Chief Finance Officer, shares her key takeaways from a recent course she completed at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) on the Circular Economy & Sustainability Strategies, including:

• The costs to a business that wants to be ‘greener’
• Generational boundaries and views
• Product lifecycle and manufacturing

Find out more about Ange’s key takeaways:

How important is sustainability for business success?

"After 20+ years of working as a finance professional, studying finance and living and breathing finance, it was very refreshing to study something different. And what I discovered was that sustainable business practices are very much integrated with finance, something I had not expected!  

My Key Takeaways

How important is sustainability for business success? – Sustainability must sit at the heart of any business to be impactful and recognised as authentic by customers. Companies that don’t have sustainability as part of their core value proposition have limited time to get suitable systems in place and avoid future reputational damage and loss of market share. This is because consumers have become hyper-vigilant and educated about sustainability.

But isn’t it more expensive to be sustainable? – Many businesses can be wary of introducing sustainable business practices due to a perception that it costs more to be “greener”. In most cases, the opposite is true. Your costs will decrease while you maximise productivity by designing waste out of your business operations, adopting sharing models, and creating supply chain efficiencies.

Generational differences – Attitudes toward sustainability varies between generations. Younger consumers are more actively taking steps towards being more sustainable. One-third of Millennials and Gen Z will choose the more sustainable product in a product offering. They are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with as they continue to represent a larger share of the consumer demographic.

Over the last two years, we have been working very hard to implement sustainable improvements to our business operations. I am really excited to take my learnings from the course and continue to improve our sustainability & circular journey!"

This blog post was brought to you and your family with love from Julia and the Itchy Baby Co. team x.

Disclaimer: Information provided is of a general nature only, and you should always consult your medical professional.