Light My Fire
An obsession with the age-old technology of the spark-producing Maya Sticks began what is now the creation of Light My Fire: a Swedish outdoor brand focused on creating items functional and fun enough to be used indoors and out. Knowing others would love their ideas too, Light My Fire has been using creativity to sell and market their products in ingenious ways since 1995.
Light My Fire has been focused on philanthropy and sustainability from day one. In the early stages, founder Michael Odqvist was in awe of these ingenious fire sticks, which were produced from the discarded stumps of pine trees by Guatemala natives. With the mission to help descendants of Maya Indians raise money to send their children to school, Michael began a fair trade production facility in Guatemala. Years later, the Swedish Army and MayaSticks created a product that could be used to start a fire at any altitude and in any weather, giving Light My Fire the launching pad they needed to realize their full potential. While TinderSticks are still their claim to fame, one of their most loved products is the Spork, accompanied by other favorites like MealKit, Pack-up-Cup, ReStraw, Harness, and many other clever, practical products you need to eat outdoors in a civilized way.
Light My Fire has been focused on philanthropy and sustainability from day one. In the early stages, founder Michael Odqvist was in awe of these ingenious fire sticks, which were produced from the discarded stumps of pine trees by Guatemala natives. With the mission to help descendants of Maya Indians raise money to send their children to school, Michael began a fair trade production facility in Guatemala. Years later, the Swedish Army and MayaSticks created a product that could be used to start a fire at any altitude and in any weather, giving Light My Fire the launching pad they needed to realize their full potential. While TinderSticks are still their claim to fame, one of their most loved products is the Spork, accompanied by other favorites like MealKit, Pack-up-Cup, ReStraw, Harness, and many other clever, practical products you need to eat outdoors in a civilized way.
We Go Bio.
Sustainability isn't just a buzzword for Light My Fire. Raw materials, production, use, and recycling are all considered when discussing the lifecycle of their products, using sustainability itself as a resource. In 2019, this includes adjustments to their packaging, materials, and improvements in their transparency.
Materials: In 2019, Light My Fire made a revolutionary change to their product line by switching their manufacturing over to entirely to bioplastics. A combination of sugarcane, wood waste, and GMO free corn, this material is compostable in commercial facilties is less harsh on the environment to proce compared to plastic. These bio-products allow Light My Fire to continue their mission of bringing design, color, and function to multi-use products.
Packaging: Light My Fire sees packaging not only as a shield protecting the product but also as an opportunity. They've implemented recycled plastic mesh bags to hold many of their items as well as replacing all cardboard with 100% recycled, unbleached, energy-efficient, and chemical-free alternatives. Less waste and fewer resources being used? That's an A+ in our book.
Transparency: To accompany these changes, Light My Fire has published a page including the sourcing and supplier of every component of every product they offer. Talk about a showstopper! They urge any and all companies to follow suit. Light My Fire believes in accountability, changes what doesn't work, and is always looking for a new way to do things better.
Swedish Manufacturing: Manufacturing products in their own Swedish factory allows for Light My Fire to keep a close eye on quality, cuts down on transportation costs, and shortens turnaround time. Less transportation means lower emissions, so the environment wins, too.
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