our small business sustainability promise
As a small business, we believe it is our responsibility to always have sustainability in mind. The joy of being small is that every decision is our own to make - what materials go into our products, what packaging we choose, what businesses we buy from and who we choose to stock. We can’t afford a lot of the volume discounts that mean these choices don’t impact us financially, but this is part of why we price ourselves the way we do, as it’s the right thing to do.
We promise to ensure any additions or changes to the business will be done with any potential environmental impact in mind. We are continuously making small (and large) improvements with materials, packaging, suppliers and products, and pride ourselves on being a sustainable small business.
Our packaging
Book sleeve orders are sent in compostable packaging. Once the address label is cut off, they can be thrown straight into compost or food waste bins! Our packaging is certified home compostable and breaks down within 3-6 months. It’s safe for worms, worm farms, and bokashi bins and it also makes great bin liners or seedling pots!
Other items will be sent in recycled and recyclable cardboard mailing boxes and may contain either biodegradable eco pops (wash these harmlessly down the sink) or recyclable paper squiggles for protection. If you have some of our beautiful tissue paper in your order, you can rest assured knowing that it is FSC certified and made from recycled materials and soy based inks. It is also home compostable!
All of our packaging and protection is also reusable.
Our book sleeves
Fabric - We stick to cotton or linen, sourced from other UK small businesses. Our favourite female fabric designers are USA based.
Labels - These beauties are 100% unbleached cotton. Newly sourced from a slightly bigger Dutch business!
Padding - Polyester (cue crowd hiss). We know… but unfortunately there are just no viable alternatives out there at the moment - although we’re closely watching some great options that should be coming to market soon! In the meantime we take great comfort in knowing our book sleeves can be used for many years. Our padding is sourced from a small family run UK business.
Thread - Polyester and cotton. Metallic threads are part polyamide. Sourced from a small family run UK business.
We’re a climate action workforce
Working with Ecologi, Paper and Word is helping take environmental action by funding the world's best climate crisis solutions. Different projects are funded monthly, including peatland restoration, reforestation, wind energy, biomass energy and more. You can find out more about this through our partners, Ecologi.
In the past we planted a tree with every order, but the price escalated and it became too tricky to keep funding this from our profits. We now plant bonus trees whenever we can!
READERS GONNA READ
READERS GONNA READ
READERS GONNA READ
READERS GONNA READ
READERS GONNA READ
READERS GONNA READ
READERS GONNA READ
READERS GONNA READ
READERS GONNA READ
READERS GONNA READ