This post is published on the Earth day, so it’s only fitting to dedicate it to the subject of our every day use of candles and how it affect our planet.
In this day and age candles are everywhere, and we all are well accustomed to them. Their purpose isn’t to keep the darkness at bay with a warm light, nor to provide a pleasurable atmosphere for friends and family gatherings. Electricity and modern technology made all that a thing of the past. Still candles did not go out of style. Today candles are visually attractive and a part of individual interior decor. Candles also help us unwind after a long stressful day with pleasurable scents and a nice glow.
Unfortunately candles today are mass produced as cheaply as possible. Many don’t really give a second thought about what candle they use in every day life. Even worse, people don’t bother about where would remains of the candle end up once it’s been used up.
On the other side there are people who do want to have a quality candle. And not all of them want to spend enormous amount of money to buy it. Some of them insist on a non-toxic all natural no GMO, phthalate free, paraben free and vegan candle. That all is fine. Having principles is admirable. But what use are principles if they are not based in actual facts. Considering how many hand poured candle shops right now exist, it shouldn’t be a problem to satisfy everybody’s desires. But, it’s hard to really determine what is true quality and what is just for show, partly in thanks to the vast amount of unverified information present on the internet and social media.
When talking about a good candle, there is one truth that will never go out of style. A good burning candle is one created with passion by applying scientific principles in practice.
This is one of the first candles I made. I was pretty passionate about it, and as you can see a lot of things went wrong with it. Still I like to think that the candle responded back with love (through a heart-shaped polymorphism aka candle frosting). The ingredients used were all of high quality. From vegetable based wax, quality candle dye and fragrance oils I bought in France. What was lacking was my inexperience with applying some basic scientific principles in candle making. This means that production of a good candle doesn’t rely solely on the quality of materials. Without a doubt, quality materials are important, but (and this is crucial) properly integrating quality materials is equally as important as the ingredients used in candles. Personally, I think that using sustainable acquired materials is also an important part in preserving our planet.
This blog will be all about that. Enjoying life with candles but in a smart and sustainable way.
Title image by Joshua Rodriguez.