SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability is at the heart of Finger & Thumb. I am intentional with what I create and each item has a meaningful and thoughtful reason behind it. Therefore I feel a responsibility to make sustainable choices and advise my clients on the best ways of bringing your vision to life.

As a stationer, and maker of physical ‘things’, I am conscious of adding to the ever-growing piles of ‘stuff’ in the world. I want the products I make to do no harm to the environment in their production or during their lifetime, and for them to last for as long as they want to be kept, whilst at the same time, not lasting for eternity.

As well as the physical products themselves, I also want to run my business with little impact on the environment, from the energy in my home, to printing production, distribution, and marketing.

WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?

So what is sustainability and why is it important? The answer is actually quite complex! The short answer is it’s about BALANCE. Everyone and everything existing in harmony, in perpetuity.

THE LONGER EXPLANATION:

Sustainability is about being conscious of how we live, what we buy, what we consume, what we make, where we spend our money, and being aware of the impact both we and our actions have on our surroundings, our communities, and globally.

The United Nations Brundtland Commission in 1987 defined sustainability as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ Having, living, thriving, and caring for a planet where the future is not affected by what we do in the now.

It’s about the ENVIRONMENT - maintaining ecological balance in the natural environment - sustaining habitats and bio-diversity, using renewable resources, stopping greenhouse gas emissions, protecting ice caps, reversing sea temperature rises. It’s about the ECONOMY - paying fair wages, charging fair prices, reusing and regenerating products, putting purpose over profit. It’s about SOCIETY - building communities that are equitable, diverse, connected, democratic, and providing a good quality of life.

BEING A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

With all of this in mind, I’m on a journey to make my business as sustainable as possible and discover new ways of doing better. I’m aiming to be carbon neutral by the end of 2024, and net zero by 2030. I’m also working on reducing my waste to zero going to landfill and being totally plastic-free.

Here are some of the things I’m already doing:

FAIR PRICING: As a sustainable business, it’s hugely important to me that I price fairly to make sure that my business is viable, to value my work, to not undercut or undervalue my industry, other designers, illustrators, artists, or creatives, and to enable me to pay other businesses fairly.

PAPER: As a predominantly paper-based business, I’m very conscious of the impact paper production has, and the waste that is generated. From felling trees and forests, to water consumption and contamination during the manufacturing process, to what happens to products once they are created. Therefore I’m very particular about the papers I chose, where and how they are made. All my papers come from sustainable sources, whether they are machine-made with certification from the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), or handmade using offcuts from recycled waste cotton, or natural, sustainable resources such as hemp. They are always 100% biodegradable and recyclable in normal household recycling.

FOILING: All foiling is fully compostable in normal household waste and non-toxic. I use Foilco foils, which is a B-Corp company.

FABRIC AND FINISHING TOUCHES: All my materials are made from natural resources, that can be repurposed for other uses. I do not use silk in any form. Where possible I use recycled cotton, and I hand dye fabrics with natural dyes such as tea, coffee, avocado etc.

PAINT: I currently use Winsor & Newton watercolour paints (a B-Corp company). Watercolours are much less toxic than other paints, and I’m working on exploring the most sustainable option for paints.

PLASTIC: I strive to be as minimal as possible in the amount of plastic I use. Therefore I do not print on to or create stationery out of plastic, i.e. acrylic signage or vinyl. I also do not use added treatment to paper such as lamination.

PACKAGING: Everything I send out is either wrapped in reused plastic packaging from deliveries to my home or natural, biodegradable packaging. My aim is to totally eliminate plastic packaging coming into my home, and therefore to no longer use any plastic packaging, reusing as much alternative packaging as possible.

WASTE: I limit the production and printing quantities of products to only what is needed with a few extra copies to use for marketing purposes.

TRANSPORT: The majority of my work is conducted from home, with most meetings, chats to clients, and training taking place online i.e. via zoom. Occasionally I travel to an event such as a wedding fair. Where possible I take public transport, and where not possible I use our hybrid car.

WATER: We harvest rainwater to use in our garden.

REUSING!: I am conscious of the end life of a product, and am concepting ideas and uses for stationery beyond its original intention.

COMMUNITY: As part of my commitment to becoming a sustainable business I recognise the importance of sharing knowledge and empowering others to also make sustainable choices. I will be talking on a panel about sustainability at the South London Wedding Show in October 2023, and plan to do more in 2024.

LEARNING: In May 2023 I became a member of the Sustainable Wedding Alliance, a collective of wedding suppliers aiming to make the wedding industry more sustainable. And I’m Carbon Literate certified, via the Sustainable Wedding Alliance / Carbon Literacy Project. I’m currently working on my accreditation - so watch this space!

WHERE NEXT?

I’ll be looking at my supply chain to make sure that all suppliers I use have their own sustainability policies, and that any goods I buy are responsibly sourced.
I’ll be assessing my carbon footprint, with a view to reducing my emissions to be carbon neutral by the end of 2024.
Continue to eliminate plastic coming into my home.
Start composting waste paper in my garden!
Switch my website to being hosted using a green supplier.
Be climate-positive - contribute to projects and initiatives that support forests and tree planting, and communities.
Volunteer in my local community.
Continue speaking about sustainability and creating resources for couples.

October 2023

SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability is at the heart of Finger & Thumb. I am intentional with what I create and each item has a meaningful and thoughtful reason behind it. Therefore I feel a responsibility to make sustainable choices and advise my clients on the best ways of bringing your vision to life.

As well as the physical products themselves, I also want to run my business with little impact on the environment, from the energy in my home, to printing production, distribution, and marketing.

WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?

So what is sustainability and why is it important? The answer is actually quite complex! The short answer is it’s about BALANCE. Everyone and everything existing in harmony, in perpetuity.

THE LONGER EXPLANATION:

Sustainability is about being conscious of how we live, what we buy, what we consume, what we make, where we spend our money, and being aware of the impact both we and our actions have on our surroundings, our communities, and globally.

BEING A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

Here are some of the things I’m already doing:

FAIR PRICING: As a sustainable business, it’s hugely important to me that I price fairly to make sure that my business is viable, to value my work, to not undercut or undervalue my industry, other designers, illustrators, artists, or creatives, and to enable me to pay other businesses fairly.

FOILING: All foiling is fully compostable in normal household waste and non-toxic. I use Foilco foils, which is a B-Corp company.

FABRIC AND FINISHING TOUCHES: All my materials are made from natural resources, that can be repurposed for other uses. I do not use silk in any form. Where possible I use recycled cotton, and I hand dye fabrics with natural dyes such as tea, coffee, avocado etc.

PAINT: I currently use Winsor & Newton watercolour paints (a B-Corp company). Watercolours are much less toxic than other paints, and I’m working on exploring the most sustainable option for paints.

PLASTIC: I strive to be as minimal as possible in the amount of plastic I use. Therefore I do not print on to or create stationery out of plastic, i.e. acrylic signage or vinyl. I also do not use added treatment to paper such as lamination.

WASTE: I limit the production and printing quantities of products to only what is needed with a few extra copies to use for marketing purposes.

TRANSPORT: The majority of my work is conducted from home, with most meetings, chats to clients, and training taking place online i.e. via zoom. Occasionally I travel to an event such as a wedding fair. Where possible I take public transport, and where not possible I use our hybrid car.

WATER: We harvest rainwater to use in our garden.

REUSING!: I am conscious of the end life of a product, and am concepting ideas and uses for stationery beyond its original intention.

WHERE NEXT?

I’ll be looking at my supply chain to make sure that all suppliers I use have their own sustainability policies, and that any goods I buy are responsibly sourced.

I’ll be assessing my carbon footprint, with a view to reducing my emissions to be carbon neutral by the end of 2024.

Continue to eliminate plastic coming into my home.

Start composting waste paper in my garden!

Switch my website to being hosted using a green supplier.

Be climate-positive - contribute to projects and initiatives that support forests and tree planting, and communities.

Volunteer in my local community.

Continue speaking about sustainability and creating resources for couples.

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