How it all began
Several years ago, we found ourselves waiting at Waterloo Station on the way down to Bestival (back when it was held on the Isle of Wight) and, just like every year before, we dashed into Boots at the last minute to try and grab all our festival essentials – mini toiletries, poncho, a spare torch, ear plugs, glitter – all the things festival-goers typically need to get through a weekend of festival shenanigans.
Not only could we not get everything we needed at that moment but we thought, ‘wouldn’t it be great if you could get all the festival stuff you need in one place without being restricted to buying all the items in a set pre-packed festival kit?’ Several years, festivals (and a few kids) later, with the help of her husband, Jodie created Pic ‘n’ Mix Festival Kit.
Our journey to sustainability
When we launched the business in 2017, we didn’t give plastic pollution a second thought because we knew hardly anything about it. It was around this time that Blue Planet was making its way onto our screens and the media frenzy surrounding the issue of plastic pollution was in full swing.
We soon learnt that, not only is single-use plastic extremely detrimental to the environment, but a lot of those plastic-packaged products we were putting into our bodies may actually be harmful to us.
So after carrying out a huge amount of research and speaking to lots of our customers, we realized that people were in desperate need for more eco-friendly products to be made more easily available on the market.
Not only that, but we realized we wanted to be a company that does so much more than good business. We wanted to do good by the planet, for all of us, especially our children and future generations.
It was at that point that we made the switch to using, buying and selling natural, plastic-free products in our business and personal lives.
The interest in sustainability has accelerated tremendously over the last few years and people are much more conscious about the environmental impact of what they are using and buying.
A new name, a new chapter
We have loved festivals for a long time and always will. But we also love travelling to different places, camping trips with the family and the odd glamping weekend away.
This is why we added lots of new products to our expanding inventory, products that we and others can use in all aspects of our lives.
Not only that, but we wanted to partner with other brands and communities that share the same values as us. So we embarked on a year-long journey of self-reflection.
In March 2020, we rebranded our company to better reflect our products, values, and customer base. We are now called The Jolly Turtle and we’re so excited to make our lovely sustainable products accessible to even more people.
We are a small but fast-growing family business influenced by the festivals and travel adventures we’ve experienced on our journey so far and our desire to rid the world of single-use plastic.