Green Matters

In 2019 Green Matters will be at the heart of everything we do. It’s our commitment to creating a sustainable future. From design to creation, every day we work hard to reduce our impact on the environment.

We recognise that as a business we rely on the resources that the earth provides. Wherever possible we use sustainable materials and reduce our demand for natural resources by making our production and operation ever more efficient.

 

Existing achievements 

  • Our cards and gift wrap only use FSC certified paper from responsibly managed sources, allowing us to take care of the environment one tree at a time.
  • We always use vegetable based inks when printing our cards and any waste ink is taken away and used in other applications.
  • The factory in which our cards are printed has been awarded an ‘Excellent’ BREAM rating - the leading sustainability assessment for buildings. The building includes a large array of solar panels, reducing energy consumption, grass topped roofs, rainwater harvesting for toilet flushing and natural ventilation and excellent insulation to limit heat loss. 
  • We encourage recycling at our head office and our car park collects waste motor oil for recycling.

 

Our 2019 Green Matters commitments

  • Recyclable slips - whilst reducing plastic is our aim, at present we feel the most viable and responsible option to ensure our cards reach you in 

    perfect condition is currently to use conventional polypropylene film (PP5) slips. Polypropylene (PP5) is a fully recyclable plastic, check with your local councils regarding your kerbside collection options. 

  • 100% biodegradable finishing – most of our cards are already made from sustainable and recyclable materials and we’re now taking steps to ensure that our cards finished with glitter and foil are also biodegradable by mid-2019. 
  • Reduce single use plastic in our framed prints – to prevent damage during transit and delivery we use plastic corners to protect this sensitive part of the frame. We are looking to an alternative solution to plastic corners.
  • Tree planting – we are currently in discussions with a third party about creating a new eco-space where we will be committed to planting trees to create a sustainable future.

 

May 2019 Update

At the turn of the year, here at Whistlefish we made a commitment to spend 2019 creating a more sustainable future. We promised to work hard on reducing our impact on the environment through a number of commitments and as we approach the half way point of the year, we wanted to announce something we are very excited about! 

Since long before we announced our 2019 Green Matters commitments, we have been looking for an alternative to our plastic cellophane sleeves that we use to keep our cards in pristine condition. Following on from trialling a number of greener, sustainable solutions, we are thrilled to now be in a position where we can review our next steps to an environmentally friendly solution to our card packaging. 

By working with our greeting card supplier we will be replacing our cellophane sleeves with a small sticker that binds the card and envelope together. We will be rolling this out with our 2019 Christmas Card collection and migrating it across the rest of our card range as we move into the new year. 

We can’t wait to show you our Christmas designs, so do keep an eye out for them at the end of the summer!