The Original Rain Skirt

Emergent Designs strives to make products which are as green as possible. However, shipping could easily void any gains made if done without an eye toward sustainability.

After much thought and research, we decided we will ship our products in Tyvek envelopes. The envelopes are made of a recycled material, are recyclable, and are tear and water resistant. After considering virgin and recycled cardboard, we finally realized that volume matters as much as material.

What?! How could shipping something in a plastic envelope be more ecologically sound than shipping it in a tree-based package? It seems counter-intuitive.

Research done by the Oregon Department of Environmental Sustainability and the US EPA concluded that for soft consumer goods such as clothing, using a polyethylene envelope was not only the lightest-weight option, but also conserved the most space in the shipping truck. If everyone similarly conserved space, we'd free up trucks to effectively move goods, not packaging.

We hope that you'll use your polyethylene envelope for other uses--perhaps shipping a gift to a friend--and that you'll recycle it when its time has come.

We'll continue to ship with USPS. However, if you don't have time to wait a few days for your package to arrive, we're glad to rush it to you and help you donate to a non-profit in the process.