Burning Beeswax: A Small Choice with a Big Impact

Peter Drucker once said “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” While it’s easy to get stuck in the day to day of life, it’s true that the choices we are making each day are creating a framework for the future ahead of us. As we take steps towards the future, it’s never been more important to consider the environmental footprint we are leaving behind. Making small, sustainable choices today can make a huge impact on tomorrow.

At Big Dipper Wax Works, we are passionate about our environment and we have intentionally made sustainable choices when it comes to each and every piece of our business. And, you guessed it, it starts with the bees.

Sourcing Our Beeswax

The journey of beeswax from hive to consumer impacts ecosystems, livelihoods, and biodiversity. Because of this, we view sourcing beeswax from sustainable bee farms emerges not as a choice but as an ethical responsibility. Sustainable bee farming practices prioritize the well-being of bee colonies. By ensuring access to diverse and pesticide-free forage areas, sustainable farms support healthy bee populations crucial for pollination, a process vital for agricultural productivity and biodiversity conservation.

Beyond environmental benefits, supporting sustainable bee farms fosters local economies. These farms often operate on small scales, providing employment opportunities and bolstering rural communities. By purchasing beeswax from such sources, consumers contribute to the preservation of traditional beekeeping knowledge and the empowerment of beekeepers. To read more about our partnerships with global organizations that support sustainable beekeeping practices, click here.

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

Our conscious decision towards sustainability doesn’t stop at sourcing our beeswax. Throughout our candle-making process, our development team takes careful consideration of how we package our products from the containers our candles come in, to the packing supplies that keep your candles flawless throughout the delivery process.

Throughout the production process of our candles, we reduce, reuse, and recycle as often as we can. Our products come with minimal packaging made with post-consumer recycled paper products and soy based inks. We also recycle paper, cardboard, aluminum, and glass and in turn complete the circle by using materials made from recycled content whenever possible and encourage our customers to do the same.

Many of our candles come in glass containers that serve a dual purpose: they protect the candle during transport and provide a vessel for the warm glow of the flame, and once the candle has burned down, the glass container can be easily repurposed. We offer a handful of candle refills including our Beeswax Sanctuary Glass Refills, Beeswax Beehive Glass Refills, and you can also use our Beeswax Votives as a replacement in some of your glass containers. Beyond refilling your glass containers with candles, they can also hold flowers or help you organize small trinkets. For more information on removing wax from your glass containers for reuse, click here. This commitment to reusable packaging minimizes waste and encourages consumers to adopt a more sustainable mindset beyond the initial purchase.

Small, Sustainable Choices with Big Impact

Burning beeswax candles alone is a small, sustainable choice for your home that can make an impact on the quality of your immediate home environment, but this Earth Day, we wanted to remind you of the larger ways burning our candles can lead to a brighter future for everyone, everywhere. For more information on our sustainable practices and our commitment to the environment, you can read more here.