From the beginning, we’ve been committed to making our goods for you in ways that are genuinely thoughtful, intentional, and as gentle on the earth as possible.

This past year, we’ve continued to refine and improve our sustainability practices, from the way we source materials to how we package and ship your orders. We’ve introduced new products and processes that reflect our values—like our naturally dyed kitchen towels, eco-friendly stickers and a new batch of risograph postcards and posters for our Art for Change collection.

Risograph printing is such an eco-friendly printing process that we decided to experiment with a collection of greeting cards to see how we like using it in that format. We released Core Principles earlier this year and you liked it so much we've already had to reprint many of the designs.

We don't just love the visual look of riso, it’s also energy-efficient and low-waste (how cool!). Riso machines print with soy-based inks and use recyclable rice paper stencils, making it one of the most eco-conscious printmaking methods available today. For that reason we are currently making plans to add a riso machine of our very own to our studio...stayed tuned for more news on that in the coming months!

We know there’s always more work to do. But we believe that small, consistent choices matter. Below you’ll find a snapshot of what we’re doing to minimize our impact and keep sustainability at the heart of our work.

We’re so grateful for your support, it’s what allows us to keep creating goods with intention behind them for both you and the planet.

Happy Earth Day!

Here are some of the efforts we've been making to run our business more sustainably:

Risograph Printing: an eco-friendly printing process

+ We’ve been playing with Risograph printing—a new (and exciting!) process for us that also happens to be wonderfully sustainable. Our Riso prints use inks made from rice bran oil, a natural by-product of rice production. They contain no VOCs or chemical drying agents, making them safer for both people and the planet. We also print on 100% post-consumer recycled paper and they are printed using low-energy printers, consuming only 1/10th the power of similar sized digital printers. Read more about the riso process here.

Environmentally Friendly Inks

+ We continue to print our letterpress cards using vegetable-oil based inks with no hydrocarbon solvents, a choice that not only reduces environmental impact but also makes our cards easier to recycle. The black ink we use is made with the first bio-based, renewable pigment alternative to carbon black. It is created by Living Ink from algae, the very same kind (spirulina) that you can add to your smoothie!

Sustainable Packaging and Shipping Materials

+ All our shipping boxes are made with 80% recycled content and mailers are 100% recycled now. We switched to paper tape instead of plastic. :)

Recycled Paper Boxes

+ We switched to recycled paper boxes from plastic boxes a while back for our card sets with our release of patterned greeting cards in assorted sets last year, we took things one step further. Each box comes with a surprise pattern printed inside and a guide to repurposing the box into a photo frame! You can even turn the scraps into paper chains, so no part of the box has to go back into the waste stream.

Every order plants a tree!

+ We are proudly partnered with One Tree Planted. Every order plants a tree! Shoppers on our retail site also have the option to add $1 to each order and plant a second tree. Since we added this app to our store last year we've helped plant 763 trees.