Like you, we have been living through an exceptional moment in time that we have never experienced before. Something that has obviously thrown us a little and frightened us but that has also allowed us to come together as a team, moving forward with even more strength breathing more life into our project.
Our priority at this point in time, is to put the common good first and to join forces implementing the recommendations of those who are working everyday to ensure that this pandemic starts to lessen and to protect those who are most vulnerable.
As a society we have to learn from this experience, learn that every individual action has a wider reaching impact on the harmony and well-being of society as a whole. What is happening right now with this virus, also happens everyday with the current consumption model, that is very destructive for many people, especially those most susceptible.
Someday, no doubt we will dedicate a post to share our thoughts about this parallel topic, but in this post, originally published on March 16th 2020 and that we continue to update as the situation evolves, we are here to tell you that we have decided that Sinplástico will continue to operate “as normally as possible”.
WHY ARE WE STAYING OPEN?
We believe that while we can offer good working conditions and at the same time respect the health and safety regulations, we need to keep our project alive.
This virus is going to hit the global economy hard, and thereby it will have a direct economic effect on many millions of families.
As you know, through this project we are fighting for a more humane economic model and a more considered purchasing style. We do not like the frenetic speed of the current model, but we also believe in a lively economy that respects its workers.
9 people work at Sinplástico and we also rely on a broad network of self-employed professionals who help us to operate on a daily basis ensuring the maintenance of our website, helping us with our content and manufacturing the quality products we sell in our e-shop. We want to keep our project alive so that all these people can continue to develop and work on their individual projects.
→FOR ALL THESE PEOPLE, WE HAVE DECIDED TO KEEP OPERATING:
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We will continue to publish our blog as normal.
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We continue to prepare and send out our orders.
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We shared live videos to be with those who followed us during the various weeks in lockdown.
- Above all, we continue to fight to decrease plastic consumption building a way of life that is more respectful of our planet’s health and that of the people who live on it.
HOW ARE WE OPERATING DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS?
Of course we couldn’t imagine keeping the project going without guaranteeing the health of our team, their families and the society as a whole. Therefore, these are the measures we have put in place in order to be able to work safely:
Measures put in place from March 15th and whilst in lockdown:
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Our whole team started working from home except the person in charge of putting together your orders.
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The person in charge of preparing your orders started working alone, without coming into contact with anyone, and they made their way to and from the warehouse without using any form of collective transport as they live locally.
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We reduced the number of shipping days to 3 days per week and only dealt with one courier company in order to decrease the incidence of interpersonal contact as much as possible.
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We cancelled the warehouse collection service.
- We stopped offering the cash on delivery service, in order to reduce the amount of interpersonal contact required for parcel delivery.
Measures put in place from May 19th:
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We continue to encourage working online from home and we are taking turns to avoid being more than 3 people in the warehouse at once.
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The two people in charge of picking and packing your orders are working with face masks, they wash their hands frequently and they have their own individual work material.
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We have reactivated a second courier company to be able to restore our high level of efficiency in relation to delivery times and in order to give you the opportunity to choose, whilst always maintaining the recommended distances and levels of hygiene.
We have re-established the warehouse collection service with a few modifications, one can only collect order that have already been paid for on our website in order to reduce the need for interpersonal contact, and orders are to be collected at the door.
Measures put in place from June 1st:
- We continue to encourage working online from home and we are taking turns to avoid being more than 3 people in the warehouse at once. We have adjusted our work schedules to optimise our team’s work-family life balance.
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We continue to maintain safety measures in place: we are working with face masks, washing our hands frequently and respecting a safe distance between co-workers.
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We continue to offer the warehouse collection service for orders that have already been paid for on our website.
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We are reactivating the Cash on Delivery service.
We really appreciate your understanding and we know that with everyone playing their part we will come out the other side of this, most likely a little different but also stronger and more united.
Remember, during this time what we need as a society is that we all comply with the collective health measures.
Sending a (virtual) hug,
