A LITTLE LESS WASTE

Keep the good stuff around.

I’d rather make something you have a reason to keep than another thing you have to throw away. That means candles you can refill, glasses you can reuse, and finding new purposes for materials that have already lived one life.
A few ways we keep things going:

Candle Glass After the Burn

Refills Without Another Vessel

Recycled Glass With Another Life

Vintage That Still Has Work to Do

Lighters Made to Be Refilled

Still useful when the candle is gone

The glass is made to stay in your home after the last burn. Clean it out and use it for cocktails, coffee, dessert, small objects, or whatever gives it a reason to stick around.

I’d rather make a vessel worth keeping than another piece of single-use glass headed straight for the trash.

Keep the glass. Replace the candle.

Refill candles let you use the same vessel again instead of starting over with another piece of glass. Once the original candle is finished, clean the vessel, add a refill, and keep it going.

It’s one of the simplest ways I’ve found to make candle buying a little less wasteful.

Glass that already existed

Some pieces in the shop begin with glass that has already served another purpose. Wine bottles collected locally are cut down and turned into candle vessels, while select incense holders are made from recycled glass in Japan.

New use, less need for newly made material.

Old things, new jobs

I have a soft spot for objects that have already been around awhile. Vintage bowls, trays, and dishes occasionally make their way into the shop as incense holders, catchalls, and other useful pieces - nothing new had to be made.

They just needed another reason to stay in circulation.

Keep it working

A lighter shouldn’t be finished because the fuel runs out or a flint wears down. The refillable lighters I carry are made to be fueled again, and can be maintained with replacement flints, wicks, and a little basic care.

Small parts wear out. The whole lighter doesn’t have to.

Refill Candles

A refill is a plant-based wax pillar candle made to settle inside a compatible vessel as it burns. I make each one in small batches here in Colorado Springs, so you can keep using the glass you already have instead of starting over with a new one.

Made for the glass you already have.
Shop Refills

Keep the Vessel

A favorite glass, ceramic cup, or candle container gets a second life

Settles as it Burns

The refill softens, collapses, and conforms to the shape of your vessel as it burns.

Less Material, Same Candle

No permanent container. Just the wax, wick, and fragrance.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX

I pack every order myself, and over the years I’ve learned that the simplest-looking packaging isn’t always the least wasteful. Glass needs protection, and sometimes a small amount of cushioning means using much less of everything else, so I use what makes sense: Bio-based packing peanuts, recycled kraft paper, and the occasional reused bubble wrap.

Bio-based packing peanuts

These packing peanuts are made from corn starch instead of polystyrene foam. They’re lightweight, protect all that glass we ship, and will break down over time. They also dissolve in water, though there’s no need to run the faucet just to watch them disappear.

Recycled kraft paper

Our shipping boxes and kraft packing paper are made with recycled fiber and can usually head right back into paper recycling. I also save clean paper from shipments coming into the studio and use it again.

reused bubble wrap

I don’t buy bubble wrap for shipping, but it occasionally arrives with supply orders. Rather than throw perfectly good material away, I save it and use it again when an especially heavy or fragile order could use the extra protection. It may not be the prettiest thing in the box, but giving it another trip through the mail seems better than sending it straight to the trash.