With all of the excitement around Pivot Power and Cloak, we haven’t blogged much about Petal Drops. Petal Drops is now shipping and I’m thrilled. I love the design and the final product looks beautiful.
A lot of my personal background is in environmental enterprises and non-profit. So, naturally, I’ve been excited about Petal Drops from the start. I love products that help us re-use waste – in this case water bottles. I’m particularly thrilled that we are using green raw materials, opting for minimalist packaging and sourcing the manufacturing locally. Overall, the carbon footprint and environmental impact is very low.
Now I have one more reason to love Petal Drops. Our fulfillment house introduced us to a social enterprise to do our kitting work: tying on the label with a string. The non-profit Handi-Crafters employs people with disabilities, and they have found some very capable people to do our kitting work. The US Department of Labor reports that only 55.8% of Americans with disabilities are employed. Employment brings confidence and allows disabled people to fully participate in community and find independence. And, from what we hear, the Handi-Crafters team is enjoying the work we’ve sourced with them.
One of the reasons I love social enterprises is that they provide market-based solutions to social problems. So, it’s more than just making money and it’s more than just charity. It’s a hybrid that can lead to efficiency and help build a healthy, balanced economy. Sometimes this comes in the form of a for-profit, like the last company I worked for, Tri-State Biodiesel. Sometimes this comes in the form of a non-profit like Handi-Crafters.
