Sustainability

As a business that makes "things" we are always aware of the potential environmental impact of what we do, and take steps to reduce it as much as possible. When making decisions about materials or packaging the environmental impact is always the first criterion we consider. Here are just a few examples.

Packaging

You will very rarely find any plastic in the packaging of our products. The only times when you will are when we have reused packaging that has been sent to us. 

• Our bubblewrap is made out of recycled paper and is recyclable. 
• Our boxes are made of recyclable (and where possible recycled) cardboard.
• We often reuse boxes - in which case you get a little sticker apologising for the "ugly box"!
• We use paper tape so it can be recycled with the box.
• Unframed pictures are packaged in a sleeve which is made from plants rather than plastic.
• We use recycled tissue paper as "void fill", i.e. to fill up the gaps in the box!

Materials

Finding sustainable materials from which to make our pictures is more of a challenge. Often the information needed to make an informed decision is not available, but we do our best! Here are some of the choices we have made.

• Frame mouldings are made from Forest Stewardship Council certified wood. The FSC promotes responsible management of the world's forests via its certification programme.
• Our paper is made from cotton by St Cuthberts Mill in Somerset. They aim to reduce their environmental impact and use sustainable sources.
• The Mountboard we use is made in the UK by Slater Harrison from FSC Certified materials. 

Ongoing

Sometimes there is no best option and one has to compromise. For example, glass is recyclable and made from a sustainable resource, but uses significant amounts of energy in its production. We have chosen to stick with glass because there is currently no better alternative. But that may not always be the case. This is not the end of our environmental journey. We are always looking for better ways to do things.