Wearing face masks has become a daily activity for many of us. Current estimates (10/2020) calculate approximately 200 billion masks and other articles of PPE are disposed of each month, with much of that waste ending up in the ocean.
Our team is committed to doing what we can to limit our impact on the environment. We're not perfect, and we are always open to new ideas and improvements. Here we'd like to lay out some of the initiatives we've taken to reduce our collective impact on the environment.
The design team at Kilo took great care when crafting the Woobi Mask to minimize the use of materials harmful to the environment. FDA approved food-grade silicone is used as much as possible to provide a reliable, comfortable, and secure seal with the face. For manufacturing, silicone also has a lower impact on the environment compared to plastic. Silicone allows the mask to be flexible and durable. Some Woobi masks have already been in use for several years. The design is also modular, so replacing a single part if needed is a snap.
The Woobi mask design also maximizes the filter lifespan. Nobody likes touching dirty, damp masks or having them stick to your face. A damp mask can grow mold and bacteria. The Woobi Mask design isolates the filter keeping it dry and moisture-free. Compared to disposable masks, the Woobi Mask creates significantly less waste. This efficiency also results in cost savings for the consumer. We recently compared the projected annual cost of the Woobi mask against some competitors, and Woobi had the lowest overall annual cost.
While it can be challenging to clean other masks, the Woobi Mask can be easily disassembled and washed with soap and water. No special tools, or harsh chemicals are required.
Sustainable manufacturing
We ensure that our factories perform at the highest standards when is comes to sustainability. Not only do we do regular quality assurance checks, we also ensure the environmental performance is measured as well.
With this year's increase in demand, we saw the need to re-evaluate our environmental impact with packaging material, shipping, and logistics. We discovered that we were able to rework our packaging, reducing the material size by 50%. By making our packaging smaller, we can reduce packaging waste, reduce manufacturing waste, and reduce our shipping and logistics' carbon footprint.
Simultaneously, we temporarily simplified our product line. While we love the other color options, and aromatherapy pods, we wanted to focus all of our attention on our core mission. We created bundles that include more filters at a greater value while also creating a lower entry price. We are now able to deliver more masks and filters to more consumers faster than ever. Pre-existing and new accessories will be returning in early 2021.
2020 has been full of surprises and challenges. We are staying true to our core values and delivering quality products that consumers desire.
