Innovation

Unwrapped’s innovation provides bulk refilling of eco-friendly home beauty and wellness products. Typically these products use excessive single-use plastics in packaging. Unfortunately, packaging waste is hard to reduce when certain products, such as cleaning supplies or shampoo, need to be replenished frequently. Unwrapped provides a solution to this issue through the store's refilling station, where local and sustainably sourced products are offered in bulk in reusable packaging. For example, many households utilize 1 to 2 dish soap containers monthly. Unwrapped’s refill station could fill up a mason jar with the product (at less price) without the excess waste of 24 plastic containers per year.

This solution satisfies the 12th United Nations Sustainability Development Goal of responsible production and consumption. Unwrapped significantly reduces the number of plastic packaging consumers throw away. Additionally, utilizing locally sourced products means that the products will not have to travel as far to reach consumers, reducing air pollution by reducing transportation emissions. Additionally, the company offers those products only that place consumer health in mind. The products that are harmful to the environment are also harmful to our health.

This innovation also satisfied the 10th UN SDG of reducing inequalities. Buying in bulk allows Unwrapped to sell products for a lower price than a traditional retailer. This process satisfies the 10th SDG because it ensures equal opportunity for consumers of all incomes to be more environmentally conscious. Often the main barrier to living a more sustainable lifestyle is cost, so this innovation helps reduce pollution while also ensuring environmentally conscious choices are not a privilege but a choice accessible to the majority.

Inspiration

The inspiration behind Unwrapped came from simply living an environmentally conscious lifestyle. The key component is sustainability being a part of and embedded in everyday life and making this accessible for everyone. Both partners grew up in a community-centered town with young, growing families who consume and are impacted by the products used around them. Childhood friends, Jess and Jenny, came together to create safe, affordable, and trusted products. Jess stated, “Encouraging people to make small changes where they are able to create a lasting and positive change for this planet we call home.”

Accessibility plays an integral role in their vision of contributing to sustainable lifestyles, which means creating products that are affordable in pricing and available in various quantities to reduce waste. Overall, the inspiration behind their purpose is to enhance the quality of life through low-waste practices, leaving a positive impact on the environment and a better world for future generations like their children.

Overall impact

Since its launch in early 2020, Unwrapped has seen a significant increase in business growth and customer retention. This increase in business has allowed them to expand into a larger facility to meet growing customer demands. Unwrapped remained a successful growing business even through the challenges of Covid-19 and the implications the pandemic had on small businesses. The reason was that Unwrapped was producing high-quality, environmentally conscious products for an affordable price. In a time when corporate giants were taking advantage of people by increasing prices on household products, Unwrapped remained committed to its business vision of providing clean, affordable products for everyone.

Unwrapped’s refillery system gives the option to reduce waste and recycle materials to customers. With over 2500 returning customers, over half are regular re-fillers, and a collection of jars is always available on a donor basis for anyone who doesn’t have one. On average, over 8300 liters of bulk refillable products are sold annually, equivalent to saving between 10,000-13,000 plastic containers. Moreover, the ingredients used in health, beauty, and household products are free of chemical alternatives, which results in less harmful waste, promotes better health, and serves a positive environmental impact. Unwrapped has partnered with over 16 Canadian companies to provide a variety of refill options. Their supply chain, from manufacturing to suppliers and retail, is all done sustainably with businesses that share the same core vision. While the company manufactures the rest of its merchandise by partnering with more than 85 sustainably run companies, many of whom are B Corp certified. The company has removed plastic use in the selling and packaging of its products to reduce plastic waste, setting a precedent for its commitment to living a low-waste lifestyle.

Business benefit

By giving consumers the option of using sustainable, environmentally friendly products to their consumers, Unwrapped benefited greatly from this innovation. The Co-owners opened Unwrapped’s doors just before COVID-19 in 2020. Through local community support, not only did Unwrapped survive COVID lockdowns, but it was a huge success. The company has over 2,500 customers who are regular refillers and 16+ Canadian companies who have partnered with Unwrapped to offer their products in a refill option. During this time, Unwrapped has hired five part-time employees. The employees include two high school students, two college students, and one recent graduate, who are all just as passionate about offering this innovation to the community. Unwrapped was nominated and awarded their municipalities Environmental Business Hero Award! With this surge of community support, Unwrapped expanded into a new location, allowing for an expansion of the refiller station. The company achieved all these milestones in just two years. We are excited to see how far Unwrapped can grow in the future.

Social and environmental benefit

The refiller supports environmental change by reducing the use of single-use plastics. Jess states, “By buying large quantities, you can use that same dish soap container for years instead of buying 12+ of them a year.” Unwrapped also sells products such as beeswax wraps, silicone bags, and stainless-steel containers to help reduce waste in the home. Equally important, the owners ensure all companies they work with have the same high environmental standards. Jess describes Unwrapped’s innovation as "Circling back to a way that is more sustainable,” as many local elders have lived off the land and enjoyed pristine lakes their whole life. Unwrapped aims to preserve these natural resources by bringing awareness to the local community. Educating individuals on how small everyday actions, such as how you purchase your dish soap, have major environmental impacts.

In addition to benefiting the environment, Unwrapped aims to benefit society by creating access to these environmentally conscious choices. The company works to inform the community that a refiller is an affordable option, exclusive of all socio-economic statuses. By buying in bulk, the company can naturally offer products at a lower price. This process makes it affordable and accessible for everybody to transition to a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. The owners believe you can make change happen by developing a product within most people's budget, “allowing everyone the opportunity within their own life,” and ensuring that it’s a choice everyone gets to make. The long-term impact on society is community awareness and changing behaviors. Jess optimistically sees a future where this innovation becomes the norm. "In a perfect world, the grocery stores are offering products by refilling.”

Interview

Jess Moynes, Co-Owner of Unwrapped