At Norm’s Farms, we try to treat every day like it’s Earth Day. We do our part by practicing sustainable agriculture, selecting recyclable bottles for our product packaging, and using cardboard and paper exclusively to ship our products.
We believe every little effort counts. Intentionally celebrating Earth Day with recycling crafts or by planting flowers can be a fun way to try new things or teach kids about how to care for the Earth. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of ideas to help out the planet this year. (Better yet, implement these ideas all year round for a healthier globe.)
Recycling Ideas for Product Packaging
You can always take our glass and plastic bottles plus our shipping material to your local recycling center, but we thought it might be fun to include some DIY Earth Day recycling ideas to celebrate the holiday. Here we have six creative ways to repurpose our containers around your home:
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Minimalist Flower Vases
First, soak your Norm’s Farms Liquid Supplement bottle in hot water to peel off the label. Once clean, our glass bottles can be reused as small flower vases around the house. A few fresh flowers can add a special feeling to your home, and our signature amber glass is on-trend. No one will ever know your vases were originally elderberry syrup bottles.
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Reed Essential Oil Diffusers
Our amber supplement bottles double as the perfect shelf decor. Try your hand at this DIY reed essential oil diffuser recipe for a quick, affordable project that also makes a great gift idea. Places like Walmart, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Amazon all carry the natural reeds you’ll need for this earth day recycling idea.
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Perfume Bottles
It’s as if our 8oz elderberry supplement bottle is meant for this essential oil body spray recipe. Best news is, all you need for this reuse idea is a recycled bottle, essential oils, witch hazel, and water.
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Bathroom Storage
Using our Organic Elderberry Gummies containers as bathroom storage is a great way to keep your drawers organized. They’re the perfect size for odd-and-end things, such as bobby pins, scrunchies, Q-tips, or cotton balls.
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Dried Herb Storage
Thinking of growing and drying your own herbs this year? Use our recyclable plastic gummy containers to keep your DIY dried herbs fresh and organized in your kitchen cabinet. Bonus tip: place several bottles on a lazy susan for easy access.
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Nuts and Bolts Storage
We’re using our clean gummies bottle one more time to organize the nuts, bolts, batteries, and other small tool items normally found in your junk drawer or lost in the garage somewhere. This project, along with a simple text label maker could make your type-A dreams come true.
Composting Shipping Material
Did you know? All our shipping material is recyclable and compostable! That’s right, we don’t use styrofoam, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, or other types of single-use plastic when shipping products directly to your door. We use either a new or used cardboard box, cardboard honeycomb inserts, and paper. That means it all can be recycled or composted when it arrives on your doorstep.
When composting, you want equal green and brown matter. Green matter can be your fruit and veggie table scraps, and brown matter can be things like mulch or cardboard. Shredding our cardboard boxes and packing paper makes for a great addition to your compost if that’s your style.
Planting Elderberries for the Planet
Elderberries are great for erosion control, provide a habitat for birds and pollinators, and absorb a ton of carbon dioxide. We sell native American elderberry cuttings and plants once a year for those ready to start their elderberry journey. Our plants even come in compostable containers that can go straight into the ground with your plant!
Pre-orders are typically open in October-December for cuttings and January-March for plants. Make sure you sign up for our newsletter so you can be notified when these products are available again. FYI, our plants ship in April, and could become a great Earth Day tradition to start with the fam.
If you already have elderberry plants, you can take cuttings off of them, root them, and make more plants. Check out our Farm Life Blogs to learn all about growing Elderberry.
Thanks for joining us on our journey to care for the planet. Happy Earth Day from all of us on the farm. 🌎🌷🌸🌈🌿🌏