In the world we live in today, it’s more important than ever that we do our best to lead sustainable lifestyles, both for our future generations, and for the long-term health of our one and only planet! There’s no denying that plastic pollution hasn’t left the best kind of impact on the earth, and is one major contributor to the earth’s declining health, despite their convenience. And that’s why it’s incredibly important that we continuously find better and more sustainable solutions to this problem!
And one person who’s been doing just that is Evan, the owner and founder behind the brand Bee Kind! Based in Canada, Bee Kind is a brand like no other kind that you’ll find in the market. Simply put, Bee Kind creates food wraps for everyday kitchen use, quite similar to plastic cling wraps, but all made entirely of—you guessed it—beeswax! And these aren’t your ordinary food wraps either. With vibrant patterns and color palettes, you wouldn’t be at fault for accidentally mistaking Bee Kind’s wraps for pieces of artwork or decor all on their own!
It was in 2017 when Evan first conceptualized the idea for one-of-a-kind beeswax wraps. As a scuba diving instructor working on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Evan couldn’t ignore the sheer amount of harm that plastic pollution was causing the ocean and the marine creatures that were so close to her heart. She knew she wanted to be part of the solution, and after some thought, she started Bee Kind, initially as a way to educate her community on single-use plastic pollution! She also knew that there were sustainable alternatives that were out in the market, but they’d all seemed plain and uninteresting—not the most fun to use at all.
Evan wanted sustainable lifestyles to win the hearts of younger generations, and eventually, she took matters into her own hands to make eco-goods trendy and mainstream. And the result was her one-of-a-kind catalog of beautiful, vibrant, and entirely sustainable beeswax wraps! The business has grown since then, and as it stands today, Bee Kind also offers various sustainable products including bath products and bags, among others, that all have sustainable living at their very core.
With Bee Kind, Evan’s mission is to continue inspiring sustainability by creating beautiful, high-quality, and affordable biodegradable alternatives to single-use plastics that are mostly used around the household. And her long-term vision? To live in a world of plastic-free oceans!
That said, sustainability is definitely something that holds significant meaning to Evan. In fact, it means everything to her brand, and was the sole reason that Bee Kind was created in the first place and why they continue on to this day. But there’s also a particular flip side to this. As she shares, being a brand that deals in eco-goods, they also constantly remind their community that sometimes, the most sustainable option is to use what they already own. Also, some of the most effective eco-activism goes beyond purchasing their own products. This is why she’s also made it a point to donate $5 from every purchase of a special edition wrap to an environmental organization that’s better equipped to support legislation that targets large-scale polluters.
Once they were able to invest a little more into the brand and it had begun to stand on its own feet, Evan’s next step was to elevate her e-commerce packaging, so that opening a Bee Kind package would truly be a memorable experience for her customers. After some thought, she then decided that noissue’s sustainable water-activated Tape would be the perfect fit to take her brand to the next level—and hasn’t looked back since!
And besides her new earth-friendly packaging, Evan’s also joined the noissue Eco-Alliance, where she could take her environmental efforts even further by being alongside other businesses that are part of the movement towards sustainability! As a business, Evan recognizes her increased responsibility in the fight against plastic pollution, and is adamant that businesses also do their part to help out.
“We also need to hold businesses accountable for the waste they produce, and noissue's Eco-Alliance is a step in the right direction. By normalizing the necessity to provide biodegradable shipping packaging, it puts pressure on businesses that still have not made the switch. It's important for us to be a part of this movement.”
Sustainability is definitely a continuous process for Evan, and is something she incorporates down to the smallest detail of running her business. In particular, they make the beeswax wraps entirely by hand, source locally wherever they can, repurpose their production waste, and make regular donations to environmental organizations!
It's pretty clear that Bee Kind is unlike anything in the market, but another thing that really sets them apart is their dedication to quality! As Evan shares, creating beeswax wraps of the highest quality has always been of utmost importance since the very beginning—they knew that if they started out selling sub-par beeswax wraps, it could eventually turn newcomers away from sustainable goods in the long-run. Knowing that, they invested a large portion of time into perfecting their product, and are happy to share that everything that comes out of their store is of the best quality possible! Positive feedback has also been constant, with many saying that Bee Kind wraps are the best in the market. And of course, their vibrant original painted designs are an added bonus! It’s important for the brand that there is a Bee Kind wrap for everyone of every taste.
It was definitely far from the easiest journey in getting the brand up and running. As Evan recalls, she bootstrapped the brand from the ground up, meaning she never received any funding from investors. While she’s grateful for the learning experience this gave her, it was a financial balancing act for several years, and she completely relied on company profits to slowly grow, while steadily sticking to purchasing raw materials. This was a particular challenge for Evan, and she learned to be specifically accurate in forecasting the brand’s growth.
With all that, for others also hoping to start their own businesses, Evan’s biggest advice is simple: to put in the work! She’s since received many questions from her community on roadmaps and recipes to build a similar company, but as she’s since learned, the only way to create a good quality, long-lasting product is to take the time to properly craft it. Quality is everything!
The journey’s definitely led her to where she is now, and as Evan recalls, one of her favorite experiences so far happened over the COVID quarantine, when they’d hosted a contest for kids stuck at home to submit their own artworks and designs for a chance to become their next beeswax wrap design. And the response was just overwhelmingly wholesome and heart-warming! The winning print, a piece called “Sprinkles” by a pair of 4-year-old twins, now lives on their website as a special edition wrap, and $5 from each purchase is donated to mothers and caregivers facing poverty-related struggles.
Creative and sustainable solutions to make the planet a better place—Bee Kind is definitely the kind of brand we’ll bee gushing about for years!
Find more of Bee Kind here:
Website: beekindwraps.ca
Instagram: @beekindwraps
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Questions? Email us at ecoalliance@noissue.co