Earth Day Sustainability Update
In anticipation of Earth Day I'm writing to update you on the efforts we've been making over the last year to create sustainable goods and processes here at Heartell Press.
To be frank, one of my least favorite parts of being a product-based business owner is worrying about the impact our business is having on the environment.
Paper is our primary raw material, and there are definitely worse businesses to be in from this perspective. From the beginning, we’ve used 100% post-consumer recycled paper, which means we haven’t disturbed any forests or obliterated the natural habitat of any species through our work. However, there are still impacts. Using this paper weight calculator and this environmental impact calculator by the Environmental Paper Network, the production and transportation of the roughly 1500 pounds of paper we purchase each year create emissions of nitrogen oxides/ground level ozone and particulates equivalent to 2 gas-powered passenger cars and 2 eighteen-wheelers per year. Good, not great. Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to know we take it seriously, and I’m always trying to learn more and be creative about how we can minimize our negative impact. Below I’ve listed some of the initiatives we’ve implemented since my last update.
Thank you for partnering with us on our journey to create meaningful cards and gifts that help people connect and care for each other while preserving our precious resources and maintaining a respectful relationship with the earth and all its people.
Here are some of the efforts we've been making to run our business more sustainably:
+ We are now 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.
+ We switched to recycled paper boxes from plastic boxes a while back for our card sets and with our release of patterned greeting cards in assorted sets earlier this 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.
+ All our shipping boxes are made with 80% recycled content and mailers are 100% recycled now. We switched to paper tape instead of plastic.
+ Our next release of Generous Kitchen Towels are being dyed with natural pigments. Here are some of the plants and colors we are playing with:
- Sage Green - pomegranate rinds
- Rose Pink - madder root
- Golden Sienna - cutch (also called catechu) - this dye is made from the heartwood of the Acacia catechu tree
Here are some things that are helping me wrap my head around the climate crisis:
+ For several years now I've purchased most of my clothes from ThredUp. I love how searchable their huge collection of used clothing is and I've found some great things, including this rainbow sweater dress that inspired a spontaneous Sunday night rainbow-themed family party complete with face painting and homemade rainbow tortillas.
+ I recently switched to Earth Breeze laundry sheets and I love not having huge plastic tubs of liquid detergent around (or the sticky cups you have to use to pour it), or having to worry about what will happen to the tubs after we use what's inside.
+ I came across these photos of Instituto Terra, a 555 acre reforestation project in Brazil. All starting with the vision and determination of two people, Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado and Sebastião Salgado, a part of the world that had been completely robbed of all trees is now, only a decade later, living proof that the forest can recover, wildlife can return and people can find new healthy ways to relate to the land.
Thank you for being part of our efforts to foster connections between people in a sustainable way! You can read more about our approach and our history here. Happy Earth Day!