Home delivery subscriptions used to mean no more than a monthly magazine delivered to someone’s door, but they’ve come a long way since then. Subscriptions have revolutionised industries, take Netflix and the effects it’s had on the film and entertainment industry – but the rise in more unique subscription models has opened the door to a wealth of convenience. Fresh food, regular toilet paper, and automated printer ink deliveries to name just a few.
Whilst a plethora of weird and wonderful gifts delivered to your doorstep monthly is the height of convenience, many are also helping you do your bit for the planet, too. These regular deliveries are allowing people to make easy adjustments in their lives to live more sustainably.
So with that in mind, here are our top subscriptions to help you live more sustainably, in all areas of your life:
Do away with single use plastic and unsustainable oral health products with the bi-monthly Brushbox subscription that has the planets best interests at its bamboo core.
As dental experts advise us to replace our toothbrushes every 2-3 months, by ditching a single-use plastic routine, users can help reduce the 5 trillion pieces of plastic floating in our world’s oceans one bit at a time.
The Brushbox subscription embraces eco-friendly bamboo toothbrushes, zero-waste toothpaste tabs and plant-based biodegradable dental floss whilst taking the best care of your teeth. In addition to the products themselves, for every brush used, Brushbox donates a brush to a child in need whilst also planting a tree through their collaboration with Eden Reforestation Project.
When we think of what areas of our lives we can alter to help tackle climate change, we don’t immediately think of our home offices and printing. But ink cartridge wastage, as well as unsustainable supply chains and printing paper, all have a detrimental impact on our environment. With 375 million empty toner and ink cartridges ending up in landfills each year, something needs to change.
HP Instant Ink is a monthly printing subscription service that cuts down the negative impact associated with printing, helping to reduce ink and toner cartridge waste, while at the same time streamlining and simplifying the way people print.
The Instant Ink service monitors your ink levels and when you’re starting to run low cartridges are automatically shipped to your door before you run out. The delivery you receive also includes a pre-paid envelope so you can send your empty cartridges to HP to be recycled, helping make new ones. You can print with peace of mind knowingthat your empties stay within a circular economy. Over the last five years, HP has diverted more than 2.8 million pounds of ocean-bound plastic out of the environment and into their products, that’s the equivalent of more than 102 million bottles.
Food box subscriptions have become increasingly popular, with the pandemic accelerating this trend.
Oddbox is different though – with their goal of cutting global food waste, Oddbox works directly with farmers to utilise surplus fruit and vegetables that are heading to landfill. This isn’t produce on the brink of their sell-by date, but fruit and veg with imperfections that supermarkets reject. So keep your eyes out for some curvy cucumbers and knobbly peppers!
Whilst Oddbox helps reduce food waste, they also cut down on carbon dioxide emissions and unnecessary water usage. Oddbox donates 10 per cent of its produce to charity, including food redistribution charity City Harvest. Some boxes contain both fruit and veg, others just one, with a variety of sizes to choose from including boxes to suit individuals, couples, and families.
Toilet roll is an essential part of the bathroom, we’ll always need it. So a subscription posting regular toilet roll to your home makes absolute sense, but get this, how about if it also helped to preserve the world with a range of sustainability initiatives? Well, Who Gives a Crap offers just that with a toilet roll subscription that includes plastic free packaging, 100% recycled paper, and carbon neutral shipping.
The organisation also give 50% of their profits to initiatives that ensure everyone can have access to clean water and hygienic working toilets. There website highlights the importance of clean and fully functioning toilets around the world. Did you know that toilets have saved more lives than any other modern invention?
And whilst the taboo of this topic prevents many of us from discussing it in too much detail, Who Gives a Crap ensure that it’s very much front and centre of their messaging.
Premium quality coffee makes for a superb gift all year round, but what may make Easy Jose’s monthly coffee subscription taste sweeter is the good that it’s doing for communities and forested areas around the world.
Easy Jose sustainably sources their coffee beans working in close proximity with Peruvian communities at the source of their product. Their partnership with the Peruvian forestry commission means that partners receive two separate payments to ensure that their forests remain intact. They are paid for each hectare that is protected and then per kilo of coffee that is grown, far more than the fair-trade price.
All coffee delivered is as fresh as can be and is sent in 100% bio-degradable packaging. Better still, they offer gifting subscription packages of 3, 6, 9 and 12 months!