Though small in size, Solight’s female-driven team brings a lot of passion to the work we do. We care deeply about delivering products that are useful and durable to our customers, whether they live in Houston or Haiti. When writing about our love for our work and customers, the light puns are nearly impossible to avoid. So, though it may sound cheesy, you, our customers, and those with whom we work are truly the lights in our lives.
We want to dedicate some space to share how Solight puts our values - transparency, inclusivity, authenticity, and education - into practice. We hope that in learning more about Solight’s product lifecycle and commitment to sustainability, you will recognize the importance of supporting responsible businesses.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE
All Solight products are manufactured in Pinghu, China. All factories are required by law to acquire manufacturing compliance certifications, meaning it has undergone and passed audits on working conditions, to ensure the quality of conditions are safe and free of children. Our team has visited the factory on several occasions to double-check conditions and get to know the people and process behind our product assembly. Once our team in Pinghu has constructed and packaged our lights, they are then shipped by air freight or ocean freight to our warehouse in Grove City, Ohio or one of our many distributors across the globe.
SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AND CONSCIENTIOUS ACTION TO MITIGATE POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE
All Solight Design lights are made of durable and recyclable materials. The SolarPuff™ uses PET (polyethylene terephthalate), which is recyclable and not made of toxic PVC, an ingredient found in the other inflatable solar lamps in the market. PET is the same material used in making sailcloth and engineered for extreme weather and conditions. It is highly durable and resilient. The Solar Helix and the Twilights are made with ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). This material is 100% PVC-free and phthalate-free. Each light contains a high-efficiency monocrystalline solar panel, LED circuit, and a lithium-ion battery.
Solight believes all products should be PVC free. PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a type of halogenated plastic that contains two known human carcinogens: vinyl chloride and dioxin. These carcinogens are not only emitted in large quantities during production but on the plastic itself. Vinyl chloride is an essential component of PVC that is not used in any other plastic. Dioxin is a bioaccumulative substance that builds up over time in human bodies and emissions from PVC are higher than other plastics. As Solight Design lights are meant to be safe for the entire family and pop open, Solight Design is happy to produce 100% PVC-free lights.
SOLIGHT'S COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION AND HELPING THE UNDERSERVED. EDUCATION AND RECYCLING GO HAND-IN-HAND.
Because Solights are made of durable materials, they should last several years of use. Once they do break, however, we have a plan to make sure they don’t end up in a landfill. Solight Design lights are made from completely recyclable materials. You can recycle Solight Design products anywhere that cell phones, digital cameras, or iPods are accepted for recycling (ex: Home Depot). We offer a 1-year replacement warranty and our lights are made to last many years! We have customers that still use their undamaged solar puff purchased in 2015!
Alternatively, you can return your broken Solights to us for educational purposes and you will get a 30% discount on our store as a thank you! We use the recycled lights as part of the educational program for underprivileged youth. Our founder, Alice, has visited schools in Detroit, Boston, and Dominica. Alice most recently visited Utah, where she was the keynote speaker for this year's American Indian Services’ PREP graduation, a rigorous summer STEM program designed to prepare students for higher education. Alice spoke to 200 middle school kids from the Navajo to Cheyenne tribes, teaching them about her solar innovations. She uses the end-of-life Solight products as learning tools for workshops and lectures to teach students about solar technology. The students are encouraged to disassemble the recycled units and rebuild them into new working products to take home to show their families. You can read more about the work we did in Detroit in 2019 here.
WHAT ABOUT OUR PACKAGING?
We prioritize sustainability at every step of our Solight production and distribution. We recently reworked our packaging to be made of eco-friendly craft paper. This material is produced using recycled paper materials and is biodegradable. Eliminating single-use plastic from our business is important because plastics can take over 200 years to degrade and leech toxic chemicals into water and soil as they break down. Read more about Solight’s decision to use eco-friendly craft paper packaging here.
WHAT IS TO COME?
Solight will continue to create products that function using renewable energies and maintain rigorous attention to detail. We are committed to using non-toxic materials and ingredients that are safe and sustainable for a better planet. We will continue to monitor innovations in the material technology industry with the hope that we can more extensively incorporate materials that lower our carbon footprint. We will also continue taking steps to lessen our impact on landfills and ocean waste, and keep the light shining brighter for future generations.
We encourage everyone to do a little bit each day--use your own bag at the store, turn off the lights and use a solar puff, buy less polyester and more natural fabric for your clothing, carpool, or ride your bike, etc. These are just a few small ways we can make a difference in our global environment if we all work together. If 7 billion people on the planet contributed to the demise of the planet then if we all work together, we can heal the planet.
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