PartsPak.com is the greenest parts site on the internet.  We are aware of the huge impact that gas powered equipment has on our environment.  We constantly encourage our customers to perform routine maintenance on their equipment so that their engines are running optimally.  We also know that well-maintained equipment will perform for years to come instead of being sent to a landfill.

We are also aware of the huge impact that single use packaging has on the environment.  We do everything in our power to reuse packaging when possible.  We reuse boxes, bubble mailers, and packing material that comes in our warehouse shipments.  We also advertise to our local community to get residents to supply us with their used packaging materials so that we can reuse them.  We know that reducing consumption is #1.  Then reusing is #2.  Then recycling is #3.  We periodically review items that we throw away to see if any more materials can be recycled.

Once you receive your order from PartsPak.com, we encourage you to reuse or recycle the packaging.  Cardboard boxes and paper packing material are recyclable in your curbside recycle bins.  Any plastic bags associated with your external package or individual items is typically #2 or #4 plastic and can be recycled at local stores that accept plastic bags.  The only reason that these items are usually not accepted in the curbside recycle bins is that plastic bags get caught in the sorting machines.  This doesn't mean that #2 and #4 plastic bags are not recyclable, you can just look for a local store that accepts these materials here, http://www.how2recycle.info/sdo.

We are constantly working to improve our processes and practices to be more environmentally friendly while maintaining the lowest prices compared to our competitors.  This is not an easy task, but all of our employees are fully invested.  Here are some environmental projects that our staff has done in the past.

2022 - We are still at it, growing native plants for environmental restoration projects. In the past 12 months, our staff has volunteered 129 hours to raise native plants. Native plants help to support wildlife in the area that they are planted. They are also good for sequestering carbon and shading the ground in order to help offset climate change.

2022 - PartsPak employees have finished a long term project to eliminate paper invoices for all of our customer packages.  This will save many thousands of sheets of paper and inks from being consumed each year.

2022 - Employee, Nathan, assisted the Florida State Parks with a signage program to help protect seagrass.  The project researched, installed, and documented 'No Internal Combustion Motor" signs on the boarders of many shallow water areas in South Florida.  These area contain healthy seagrass flats that show damage from boat groundings or boat propeller scars.  The project aims to give additional notification to boaters (in addition to their GPS units) that shallow water and important environmental species are present.  Boaters are not restricted from the areas.  Instead they must use 'poll and troll' methods to navigate the area in order to protect the valuable seagrass.  Seagrass provides a nursery for juvenile fish, sequesters carbon, and stabilizes the sea floor.

2021 - Employee, Ansleigh, swapped from plastic bottled shampoo and conditioner to plastic free bar shampoo and conditioner. The company she uses is The Earthling Company. The bars are packed in 100% recycled cardboard boxes. They ship all of their items in paper mailers and cardboard boxes that are made from 100% recycled materials. They use paper-based tape with a water activated corn starch adhesive and water-based ink.  One bar equals two to three average sized plastic bottles that are diverted from landfill. While plastic bottled shampoo/conditioner lasts between one to three months, you can use one bar of shampoo/conditioner that can last up to six months or longer! This company offers shampoo/conditioner bars that are free of sulphate, SLS, preservatives, paraben, fillers, and silicones. These products are also cruelty free. Plastic bottled shampoo/conditioners that Ansleigh used before swapping, have harmful ingredients such as sulphates, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, and Methylisothiazolinone. The Earthling Co donates 1% of their sales through 1% for the Planet and offer a carbon offsetting shipment option! To dig deeper into pollution related questions, Ansleigh, asked the sustainability manager of The Earthling Co how it is better to have their products shipped to my door plastic free vs buying the plastic packaging distributed to the grocery stores that one would buy during their weekly shopping trip. This was their response. From the Sustainability Manager, Courtney Hessler: "1. Plastic Free Packaging: While the disposal stage of plastic packaging gets most of the attention these days with it littering our waterways and rotting in our landfills (and emitting methane into our atmosphere), plastic is harmful to our environment in all stages of its life. From the crude oil it is made from, to the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are emitted in its production, to the chemicals that leach into our food and products that are encased in it, to the micro-plastics that break off and disrupt our natural biodiversity, the disposal stage of plastic packaging is just one small part of its overall impact. Unfortunately, when purchasing a finished product, the rest of the lifecycle is not always considered because it happens before the fact. However, that does not make its impact any less important. For us, providing low-waste and plastic-free products is not only a way to keep plastic out of our landfills and oceans, but also a great way to reduce GHGs from being emitted into our atmosphere, and to shift the dependency our society currently has on plastic products. So, by purchasing a plastic-free product from us, you are not only supporting our efforts, but consciously choosing to lessen your impact on our Earth and join the fight against climate change. Just by purchasing one set of shampoo and conditioner bars, you are keeping 4-6 plastic bottles, and their respective GHGs, from polluting our Earth.  2. Shipping Emissions: I am so stoked you are interested in learning more about this as our current society does not often take this into consideration! With things like "2 day shipping" being the norm, many deliveries are not packaged or shipped efficiently, making their impact similar to that of an in-store purchase.    As a company, we have decided to combat this issue in a few ways:        1. We ship our products with USPS. Instead of adding any more cars on the road, your package simply hitches a ride with a carrier that was going to be passing by your house/delivering mail, regardless! While this may seem similar to picking up a product in store (as you were going there regardless), it is actually quite different. Stores do not have an exact way of knowing how much product will be needed at any given time. So, in order to stay fully stocked, product is often stored in a nearby warehouse and then shipped to the store when needed. Sometimes the product even has to shift locations depending on sales and sales projections, adding even more trips and therefore more pollution into our air! By purchasing from us, the product goes straight from our warehouse in Reno, NV to your door without any added trips!        2. We offset our shipping. We partner with CarbonFund.Org to offset all of our carbon emissions from shipping products to our customers! This means whatever emissions were released into the atmosphere by your package being delivered to you, have been offset by "third-party validated and verified renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects globally that reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the threat of climate change." This is important because it not only supports green initiatives, but it helps us actively fight against climate change while still being able to provide you with high-quality, low-waste products. You can learn more about that here: https://carbonfund.org/about/. While it does depend on the brand, this is often not done for many in-store products.        3. We use plastic-free shipping materials. We take pride in how our products are shipped, and make sure that every item/material used is picked with the Earth in mind. We use 100% recycled post-consumer boxes and kraft mailers, 100% recyclable shipping labels, 100% sugarcane waste fiber packing slips, water-activated paper tape (with a corn starch adhesive), and reused void fillers if your package needs a little extra cushion. As I am sure you know, when products are shipped to stores, this is not the traditional way they are packaged. Instead, it usually involves a lot of extra plastic and excess padding--aka more waste!  Overall, choosing to purchase a plastic-free set of shampoo and conditioner bars from our store as opposed to picking up a plastic-packaged set at the store on your weekly run, can (and does) have a positive impact on our Earth! Other than the packaging and shipping impact, your purchase shows the plastic competitors that you demand better. You require that your brands stay in alignment with your values as an Earthling, and you will not settle for anything less!"

2020 - Employee, Nathan, started off the year right by helping with a marine debris cleanup effort in the Florida Keys.  The group cleaned up around 15 bags of marine debris, mostly made of plastic.  The effort will help keep this plastic from breaking down, being eaten by animals, and polluting the water.

2019 - Employee, Allison, change out all of her home light bulbs to smart LED bulbs.  This helps to save energy when the lights are on.  Controlling these with her smart devices also allows her to turn off lights more often.

2019 - Employee, Tido, created a system that allows us to drain every last drop of oil from oil containers used in our maintenance operation.  This excess oil is collected, combined, and used for later repair jobs instead of discarded into the trash.

2019 - Employee, Nathan, volunteered a total of 188 hours with the Florida State Parks in 2019.  During the year, Nathan primarily performed work in a native tree nursery to grow native trees for restoration projects.  In addition, he also participated in many tree planting and invasive plant removal projects on sites throughout the Florida Keys.  This work helps to ensure that diverse ecosystems are maintained in order to allow a variety of plant, animal, and insect species to flourish.

2019 - Employees, Jon and Heidi, began car-pooling to lower their emissions as well as save some money.

2019 - PartsPak has been growing & planting native trees to help restore our environment.  In December, PartsPak donated 23 trees to Monroe County, Florida for restoring conservation land.  In 2019, PartsPak gave away or planted a total of over 100 native trees and plants to help offset our impact on the environment.

2019 - Employee, Nathan, researched a method to upcycle plastic frozen food bags into shipping mailer pouches.  See the youtube video here - Recycle plastic frozen food bags

2018 - Employee, Jon, researched and created a weed killer that can be made from only of safe and natural ingredients.  We have started using this mixture to kill weeds around our shop instead of using hazardous herbicides.

2018 - Employee, Tido, discontinued the use of small quart plastic bottles of marine lower unit lube at our shop.  He replaced this with larger 5 gallon buckets of lube with a level pump.  This has helped us to reduce our overall plastic waste.

2018 - Employee, Nathan, volunteered 150 hours to do tree restoration projects with the Florida State Park Service.  This work included growing new trees in a nursery, planting small trees in restoration areas, and giving away native trees to local residents and other parks.  Growing and planting trees helps us offset our carbon footprint on the environment.  https://www.floridastateparks.org/learn/bahia-honda-restoration-efforts

2018 - Employee, Allison, stopped printing out paper paychecks and stubs for all employees.  She has moved to a digital system to eliminate the need for paper and printing resources related to this task.

2018 - Employee, Clint, researched ways to reduce water usage for toilets.  As a result he found a unique tank clip that we could use to reduce the amount of water flow that goes to the toilet bowl portion of the toilet.  This will help us reduce our overall water consumption at our shop by about 0.5 gallons per flush.

2018 - Employee, Heidi, developed a new method of handling one portion of our purchase orders.  This new method has saved over 600 sheets of paper in a year's time.

2018 - Employee, Ansleigh, researched single use plastics.  She found that each person on earth will use an average of 300 toothbrushes in their lifetime.  Most of these are made of plastic.  With world human populations above 7 billion and growing every day, this equates to about 80 billion pounds of plastic toothbrush waste generated in our lifetimes.  Ansleigh ordered an eco-friendly tooth brush.  She also got a bamboo straw to replace single-use plastic straws.

2018 - Employee, Mary, researched and implemented a project to reuse plastic bottle and create environmentally safe mosquito traps that use no harmful chemicals.

2018 - Employee, Jon, used excess large cardboard boxes to act as weed mat for his garden.  This is a good example of reusing item as well as finding ways to replace harmful chemicals in the environment.

2018 - Employee, Nathan, volunteered 33 hours to do sea grass restoration projects with the Florida State Park Service.  This work included adding & removing bird stakes to encourage the growth of sea grass in boat propeller scar areas, performing mooring ball maintenance, and educating the public.  Growing & protecting sea grass helps us offset our carbon footprint on the environment.  https://www.floridastateparks.org/volunteer-spotlight-nathan-collins

2018 - Employee, Nathan, volunteered with Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) to document fish species in the Tropical Western Atlantic region.  This fish research is used by researchers around the world.

2017 - Employee, Nathan, volunteered with Upper Keys Action Network (UKAN) to develop ways to encourage a reduction in single-use plastics for individuals and businesses.

2017 - Employee, Nathan, volunteered with Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) to document fish species in the Tropical Western Atlantic region.  This fish research is used by researchers around the world.

2016 - Employee, Nathan, volunteered with Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) to document fish species in the Tropical Western Atlantic region.  This fish research is used by researchers around the world.

2015 - Employee, Nathan, volunteered and donated money to Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF).  This work included outplanting corals on coral reefs to help offset the loss of corals due to poor water quality.

2015 - Employee, Nathan, volunteered with Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) to document fish species in the Tropical Western Atlantic region.  This fish research is used by researchers around the world.