Superfly Soap

Superfly Soap is committed to sustainability in many different areas including preventing pollution, reducing waste, using clean energy, conserving water, using sustainable materials, making sustainable products, and by adopting sustainable travel and delivery methods. We also look for suppliers who try to do the same, as well as those who hold strong ethical values and conduct fair treatment towards their workers and suppliers.

If you’d like to know more in depth on how this happens then read on…

Preventing Pollution

Superfly Soap studio is located in the village where I live meaning my daily commute is on foot. The post office is a few doors down meaning less transport emission is involved in getting your orders out and this is also supporting another local business. As much as possible, local deliveries are made on foot.

Royal Mail, the UK’s largest ‘feet on the street’ network of around 85,000 posties, is used to get your on-line orders to you. Royal Mail plays a key role in reducing emissions and they have the lowest reported gCO₂e (grams of carbon dioxide equivalent) per parcel of any major UK delivery company.

Reducing Waste

I adopt zero waste production practices in a number of ways:

Making large batches whilst achieving a balance between size and product freshness/shelf life, ensuring active ingredients are still at their optimum effectiveness. This reduces waste and the amount of energy consumed.

Instead of using single use products such as kitchen roll to clean out my soap pots I use reusable fabric alternatives, cutting down on waste and the volume of water used in the cleaning process. Natural latex gloves and compostable sponge alternatives are used which can be composted at the end of their life. Refillable, eco-friendly washing up liquid is used in the cleaning process too.

Any less than perfect products are sold at a reduced price or given to charitable causes.

Packing materials that arrive with supplier orders are reused as far as possible. Everything from bubble wrap, packing chips, boxes and paper, only when something reaches the end of its life will it get recycled or sent to landfill as the last option.

The studio belongs to the Fife Council area who are the first Council in Scotland to offer a service for recycling soft plastics. Minimising the amount of plastic that comes and goes from the studio is upmost but some plastics are unavoidable so this is great news that these soft plastics are now being recycled to make new products, taking a step towards developing a circular economy.

Clean Energy

Superfly Soap studio is powered by renewable energy company Octopus Energy. They weren’t the cheapest option but it was important to choose a green energy supplier. Little measures such as switching off lights in areas that are not in use, any tools that require energy are switched off too when not in use.

Rechargeable batteries are used where possible.

Broadband supplier, EE Broadband, is powered using 100% renewable electricity. Since 2015 no EE contact centres or offices have sent any waste to landfill, focusing instead on reducing overall waste – recycled or otherwise. And they aim for their products, network and operations to become circular by 2030. By 2025, 100% of the plastic packing they use will be reusable, recyclable, compostable or removed entirely. They have a Modern Slavery Statement to help drive positive change.

Animal Welfare

Cosmetic testing on animals in the UK is now illegal however many larger brands still test their products on animals (elsewhere) in order to sell in other countries. Superfly Soap isn’t one of those and doesn’t include any animal derivatives in any of the products.

Animal derived ingredients can hide in a number of ingredients, fragrance oils, flavourings etc these ingredients are therefore only sourced from suppliers who can confirm that their products are plant based.

Product Packaging

This one’s quite detailed so click here for more information about packing and mailing supplies. You can also get more detailed information on the respective product pages.

Ethics

Services, ingredients and products not made by Superfly Soap are sourced from companies who value the people and communities that work for them. People are paid and treated fairly for their work, child labour is not involved and communities aren’t suffering as a result of diminishing resources.

EE – “Our Modern Slavery Statement sets out our approach to ensuring that no form of forced labour or slavery takes place throughout our supply chain”

Accessories such as soap dishes, konjac sponges and volcanic stones come from a family business who continually ensure their producers are working under fair conditions and receiving fair levels of pay.  They value forging long lasting relationships with their producers.

Mica, often associated with child labour, is sourced from a UK business who only work with suppliers who do not tolerate the use of child or forced labour in any of its mica mines.

Ingredients are sourced from UK-based, family-owned businesses who value fair working conditions in their own businesses and from their overseas producers. Many ingredients are produced by women’s cooperatives that rely on the commerciality of the locally harvested fruits and nuts that go into my products.

I use both essential oils and fragrance oils in my body products. The production of essential oils can be hugely draining on the earth’s resources. Therefore the use of safe synthetic ingredients can be a more eco-friendly option.

Are we there yet?

No, sustainability is a continual process, whether new packaging solutions come to market or there’s an opportunity to do something a bit better. I’m always on the lookout for ways to improve.

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