Green Shoots

Having a business which produces "things" always comes with a responsibility for considering one's environmental impact. To make my pictures we obviously have to buy materials, packaging, and all the sundries that come with making something. I thought it was about time that I highlighted what we do to minimise our environmental impact. It is something that is built into the fabric of the business and has been a concern since I started way back in the good old days of 2012.

Paper bubble wrap

You will not come across much plastic in our products. In fact, just about the only plastic you will see is if we are reusing it; for example bubblewrap that has been used in a parcel we have received. All of us save bubble wrap, boxes and other packaging materials for reuse. I do admit that the key rings we currently make are plastic and I am on the hunt for alternatives! All suggestions gratefully received!

When we do have to use new materials, we try and source from the UK and where possible choose recycled or recyclable materials. Our "bubblewrap", for example, is made of recycled paper rather than plastic. The tape we use on our frames and boxes is also made from paper and can be recycled, unlike the plastic tapes often used for packaging. 

The paper on which we print all our pictures is made in Somerset by St Cuthbert's Mill who "take great pride in protecting the environment we live in, making paper in harmony with the local countryside". The inks we use are water rather than solvent based and we are in the process of moving to all FSC certified wood mouldings for our frames.  

The glass in our picture frames is real, rather than the "plastic glass" often used by companies which post frames. By using decent cardboard packaging we can protect the glass and I can only remember one occasion in 9 years where a picture arrived with broken glass.

Paper tape

A fair amount of our workshop equipment is second hand, including our wonderful MORSO guillotine and my "new"toy an Adana Letterpress (you will be hearing more about that in a future blog!) It is obviously an ongoing process but I am proud of the choices we have made and continue to make.

Thank you for reading!