From plastic hangers to single-use plastic shopping bags and the rapid rise in popularity of online shopping, plastic waste is an issue that every retailer should be focused on combatting – we know it is top of mind for us and for you too.

At Bonds, we believe our planet and communities should never be at the expense of our business and products. That’s why we’re committed to transforming our packaging and reducing our environmental footprint. Our goal is for 100% of consumer packaging to be reusable or recyclable by the end of 2025.

We will achieve this by applying our guiding principles, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Replace to:

 design packaging that is more resource efficient and reusable or recyclable

 support circularity through use of materials containing recycled or renewable content

 increase recovery and recycling of our packaging through improved labelling using the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) and consumer education. 

We have already made progress in the reduction of plastic waste with the implementation of a number of sustainable initiatives, including the removal of plastic hangers from online orders and removal of all plastic bags instore. If you do happen to be holding onto Bonds hangers that you’ve received from past orders, we encourage you to return them to any of our retail stores nationwide to be recycled as part of our closed loop programme with TIC.

We have plenty more exciting updates coming up in the sustainable packaging space that we will share here on the BKind blog, as and when new initiatives come to fruition.

In the meantime, you can get on board helping to reduce your environmental impact when you shop with the following 5 tips.

5 things you can do to reduce excessive waste when shopping:

• Take your Bonds tote bag with you every time you shop. Whether it’s clothes shopping or grocery shopping, make sure your Bonds tote bag (or any reusable tote) is within arm’s reach to help eliminate the need for single-use plastic bags.

• Going on a shopping spree? Even though the majority of fashion retailers are done with plastic bags, replacement paper bags still have an impact on the environment too. Be sure to bundle up your purchases into one bag rather than picking up a paper bag, or worse a plastic bag, at every stop.

• Need to keep your whole family looking cool and feeling comfy in Bonds? Where possible, put in your online order for the whole fam in one go, that way you’ll receive it in a single bag and bulk shopping also reduces travel pollution too.

• We’re collaborating with our industry peers and APCO to solve packaging sustainability issues together.

• Last by not least, if you’re hitting the shops for the day, you’re probably going to want to drink water and/or coffee to keep your hydration and energy up all day long. Make sure you pack your reusable drink bottle and coffee cup to steer clear from those nasty single use plastics wreaking havoc on our oceans or ending up in landfill.