I started Sítrónu about three years ago in April after returning from an amazing trip to Iceland. I was completely floored by how environmentally conscious the people are and how it permeates every aspect of their culture. From the way they eat to their decor choices to the way they travel - everything is geared toward being eco-friendly. With this inspiration, the idea for Sítrónu was born!
I wanted to create a line of bath products that were not only good for your body but also good for the environment. At the outset, I intended the branding to reflect a Nordic, eco-friendly approach with clean lines, a fresh look and minimal packaging. I think we accomplished that, but are always looking to refine and update our decisions. When we decided to include inns and hospitality clients to our roster of business prospects, we again reflected on our Scandinavian experience. The hotels we stayed at and restaurants we enjoyed were all decorated with a simplistic, clean approach, but more importantly the waste we saw was minimal. In the bathrooms, we did not encounter any of the little 1 and 2 oz. bottles we love to throw in our suitcase and take home as a souvenir. Rather the use of larger refillable wall dispensers was prolific.
Sítrónu has followed suit, offering larger 8 or 16 oz refillable dispensers easily paired with our gallons. This is not only an eco-friendly option but friendly to the budget as well. Some of the inns we work with report a 50% savings in amenity costs in the first year. Continuing on the eco-friendly path is an evolving process and as we move deeper into the business, I can see it steadily evolving with each purchasing decision we make. As we write this we are redesigning our gift boxes to ensure each box can be up-cycled in some way and each item includes only sustainable ingredients. We are also trying to come up with local sources for the items we do not make.