Can Owning an Etsy Shop be Sustainable?

Right now, shopping is typically not good for the environment. From the materials needed to produce the product, to shipping, to disposing of the product, there are so many ways that consumerism depletes natural resources and emits greenhouse gasses. And this is not to mention the possible ethical issues involved.

As my friend and I have been working on our Etsy small business, this topic has been constantly on my mind. As an environmentalist and seller, I wonder if what I really am is a hypocrite. On one hand, I am producing nonessential items (stickers, drawings, clothing, and other art-related merchandise). Yet, on the other hand, art has been my interest for as long as I have known, and this art and its enjoyment have value, even if it's just for me. A world without arts and “unnecessary” but pleasurable things, is not one I would advocate, even in the name of sustainability. 

So, I've been thinking. Is there a way we can run our Etsy shop sustainably?

Systemic change

 

Living a sustainable life in today’s world is very hard. It requires going out of your way to go against the current norms. The amount of sustainable options is growing, but still hard to find and often more expensive or less convenient than doing things the normal way. In most places -with the possible exception of specifically designed green cities- there is no reasonable way to expect anyone but extremists to live zero-waste. For instance, carbon footprint calculators attribute a certain base footprint just by existing in a country like the United States. 

 I wish it weren’t so difficult to live sustainably and strongly support the idea of a circular economy, where sustainability is at the center of product design. With sustainable/circular economy principles, buying things does not have to mean depleting resources. Economics and the environment can coexist. Examples of this include refillable shampoo and conditioner stations, or the idea of “products as services” (think instead of buying a light, you rent it). Many organizations and companies are working to make this happen, but this is not how most of the world works yet. So what do we do in the meantime?

~Being my own sustainability consultant time~

Again, there are 3 main ways that consumption can be bad for the environment. The production, the shipping/selling, and the disposal. Let’s look at each of these and evaluate my practices.

Production

I buy sticker paper and heat transfer paper from Amazon, with no indications that they consider sustainability in any way. I use the color printer at an office which also does not indicate that the ink is sustainable.

Shipping/selling process 

Etsy as a company values sustainability and claims to purchase emission offsets automatically for the shipping of all products.

 

Disposal 

       There has been no consideration of the disposal of products.

   

Production Improvements

First, we can source sustainable sticker paper. This would likely be sticker paper that was made from recycled materials and/or sticker paper that can be recycled.

Second. I don’t know if sustainable heat transfer paper exists. However, it is also something to look into. 

       Disposal Improvements

One of the easiest ways to address this is to make an information card about how to dispose of the waste and to add this information prominently to the description on Etsy.

Unfortunately, stickers generally are not recyclable. Glues gunk up recycling machines, and sticker paper backing is coated in plastic that is too expensive for recycling companies to process. However, noting not to recycle these on a card would at least reduce recycling contamination.

Other ideas- Spreading Awareness of Sustainability!

It would be a lot of math, but I would love to calculate and add “carbon price tags”, or an estimate of  the greenhouse gas emissions impact of buying each item. This could deter people from purchasing items, but if this is calculated and then offset, I believe it wouldn’t negatively impact business. This offset could either be a direct reversal of the emission or investment in a different nongovernmental organization working towards long-term sustainable solutions. To be determined

Finally, I believe there is value in the products that we are creating. A lot of designs will be focused on spreading information about sustainability. My friend and I started this shop as a hobby, a way to express ourselves and our interests, and even as we realize that we need to pay more attention to the market, I believe it is still important to create things that we like. Through our Etsy shop, I hope we can make sustainability cool.