Sustainability, Ethics + Materials

As part of our Core Values of being intentional & nature-centric at Cyclical Roots, we carefully consider our decisions, collaborations, and productions to ensure ethical standards are prioritized for people & planet over profit.

Sustainability and transparency is always our goal, and as an artist-driven, independently funded and created micro-business, we can prioritize it.

This is why we self-publish and are independently-funded, so that we can ensure that every part of the creation process aligns with our values.

Sustainable & High Quality Small Batch Printing

Our annual printing & publication of Cycles Journal is only printed in limited batches to maintain quality & ethics. Instead of mass-producing, we work with another reputable small business that prints in-country.

Small-batch printing ensures that waste is reduced through predicting order-volumes through pre-orders.

To ensure minimal or non-existent waste of our time-sensitive goods, we always deeply discount dated products as the year goes on to ensure they land in hands instead of the recycling bin.

If we ever do have extra dated goods beyond clearance sales, we donate to aligned non-profit organizations and fundraisers.

If we have extras beyond the calendar year, we use them as free samples for retailers and sometimes customers who are looking to try before they buy (as supplies allows).

Our absolute last resort is to recycle our products as throughly as possible.

Cycles Journal is 95% recyclable – the hardbound cover and textblock are fully recyclable once the ribbon bookmarks, headband and elastic closure band are removed. (Simply by tearing off the cover, and the respective accessories if you'd evr like to recycle yours from your archive).

Print on Demand

Most of our apparel, flat prints, and some accessories like tote bags are print-on-demand, which is also in efforts to reduce waste. This way, we can provide more options and sizes for a reasonable price without overstock that doesn't sell, which has been an issue in the past that we don't wish to repeat.

With our print-on-demand offers, we do our best to select ethically sourced and eco-friendly materials as much as possible.

You can read below each product's description to see if it's print-on-demand, what it's made of, and where it is created.

In this area we are outsourcing and so we cannot fully control all materials, including packaging materials. The trade off is less wasted goods created in bulk.

Ethical Work Standards

Before choosing to work anyone who helps our production, we ensure (to the best of our ability) that there are ethical work standards including a safe work environment and fair pay and treatment of workers.

In the past, we've made changes to who we work with when we find out new information or experience firsthand a lack of care. We continue to hold who we work with accountable to our values and standards as best as we can.

Materials

We work with a printer and fulfillment center who prioritize sustainably sourced and recyclable materials. We only print on FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council) certified and/or recycled paper for our printed goods.

Our journals are printed in plant-based non-toxic inks and use non-toxic glues.

As a note of transparency, we currently have not been able to avoid shrink-wrap to protect our journals due to the damage products incur without it. Damaged goods cause more waste or shipments and so we opted for protection here since quality = longevity and less waste. We are on the search for alternatives with our printed and are open to suggestions to pass along to them.

Packaging / Shipping Supplies

Most if not all of our goods are shipped in recyclable packaging materials. We reduce unnecessary packaging and waste as much as possible.

You will rarely see fancy display packaging on our products because we know most of this just gets tossed and isn't necessary.

Occasionally we use materials that are not commercially recyclable but that we recycle ourselves to package goods rather than throwing them in the trash.

Advocacy Efforts

We know that these topics of sustainability & ethics are vast. We do our best to also contribute through efforts of advocacy and fundraising as much as possible.

If you'd like to read more, please click through to read about our Advocacy Efforts & Fundraisers.

Recycling & Reusing Dated Products

We're all about sharing how you can keep, reuse or recycle your dated goods - especially Cycles Journal!

We offered some end-of-year tips in this article since we often get the question “what should I do with my Cycles Journal now that the year is over?”

Even though, yes, your journal is completely recyclable (minus the elastic band + ribbon bookmarks), we have some suggestions before you toss it to your town.

It's easy to think that our annual journals/planners are useless once the year is over and the dates become irrelevant, but I've actually found my dated tools to become useful records for years upon years to come.

Instead of throwing your expiring journal in the recycling bin (please not the trash!), we hope you’ll give this precious time capsule a chance on your bookshelf. 

On top of the timeless rituals, educational resources and more, you now hold a priceless detailed record of your well-being, experiences, growth, health records, cycle patterns, and so much more. This is an intimate timeline that you can use not only for reminiscing, but also for practical reference over time.

4 Ways to Reuse or Recycle Your Cycles Journal in the New Year:

1. Shelf Your Health Record/Personal Encyclopedia. Keep this precious self-resource & database on your shelf for ease of future reference and reflection. Over the years, you’ll have an encyclopedia volume of you!
2. Keep or Add to your Scrapbook Time Capsule. Fill up the unused pages with memories as you would a scrapbook, or cut out pages to add to another scrapbook.
3. Ritualistically Burn Pages to Symbolize Release. If you’re wanting a release ritual, have a ceremonial fire in a pit outdoors (safely, supervised and only if your area permits this) or burn it in a fireplace. You can choose to burn certain pages or more of course.
4. Recycle It. If you truly don’t wish to keep your journal (which we highly recommend doing for at least a few years), don’t trash it! Simply remove the elastic band and ribbon bookmarks, and toss the rest into the Recycling Bin.

Read more about us here.