Sustainable is the easiest word in home fragrance to print and the hardest to check. Nearly every brand uses it. Very few say what they mean by it. Perhaps you buy natural scented candles partly because you want less waste. If so, a few things are worth looking at. One common claim tells you almost nothing on its own.

The jar matters more than the wax

Most of what you throw away with a candle is not wax. It is glass, metal and cardboard.

A jar you can refill removes that. You keep the vessel and replace the insert. The Refillable range works this way.

If a candle is not refillable, the next best thing is a jar you would happily keep. A plain glass jar becomes a pen holder or a small vase. A heavily branded one usually goes in the bin.

What does a refill actually save?

The glass and the lid, every single time you buy again. On a jar candle that is most of the weight you are paying to have shipped to you. It is also the part that lasts longest in a bin.

Be careful with the word natural

Natural is not a regulated term in home fragrance. It might describe the wax, the fragrance oil, both, or neither.

Soy is a plant wax and paraffin comes from petroleum. That difference is real. But plant does not automatically mean lower impact, because growing, processing and shipping all count too.

The National Candle Association publishes the industry position on wax and emissions. Independent testers such as CHOICE publish their own findings. Reading both beats trusting a label. One is an industry body and one is a consumer tester, and knowing which is which is the useful part.

Three things to check before you buy

• Can the vessel be refilled, or easily reused?
• Is the outer packaging paper or plastic?
• Does the brand say plainly what the wax is?

None of these need a chemistry degree. They are on the box or on the website. If a brand will not tell you what the wax is, that silence is your answer. You can see how ours are described across the full candle range.

Quick answers

Are soy candles better for the environment than paraffin?

Not automatically. Soy is a plant wax and paraffin is petroleum based, but growing, processing and shipping all add up. Container and packaging waste often matters more than the wax does.

What is the most wasteful part of a candle?

Usually the container. Glass and metal outlast the wax by decades, and most of it is thrown out after a single burn.

Buy fewer jars and refill the ones you already like. That one habit does more than any label on the box, and it costs you less over a year. If you want a scent worth keeping the jar for, start with the Fruity range.

Related reading

• How to Recycle and Reuse Your Glow Collection Jars: what to do with the jar once the wax is gone.
• Our Commitment to Sustainability: what we do about packaging and sourcing.
• Why We Use Essential Oils: what actually goes into the fragrance.