RE-USE - RECYCLE - REPURPOSE - SUSTAINABILITY

Hebridean Range of Greeting Cards

As an artist whose work is based on landscape, seascape and wildlife, I cannot fail to notice, especially over the last year, how precious our environment is. More needs to be done to reduce waste, especially plastic waste. It lands up in the surrounding fields and hedgerows of the countryside, in our seas and waterways and inside the wildlife I portray in my work.

In the studio, Chris and I reuse, recycle and repurpose wherever possible. Over the past year, one of the many tasks Chris and I looked into was how to dispense with the cellophane greeting card envelopes. In addition, some of my trade customers (including For The Love of The North, The National Trust and Northumberland National Park) are all moving in a similar direction. Many of them now require card and other paper products to carry the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification.

Chris and I have been working with my greeting card supplier over the last year to see how we could address sustainability, recycling and single use plastic issues. Research plus some trial and error brought us to where we are now. The card stock I use is FSC certified carrying the FSC logo.

We then looked at alternatives to the single use cellophane wrapper each card is packed in. Initial trials with a neat tag to keep the card and envelope together highlighted certain problems with the glue on the tag. This led to a change from the smooth semi-gloss card I currently use to a zero-plastic, matt textured finish with which I am particularly happy. The new card stock come with a number of added benefits. The cards feel lovely, more faithfully replicating the original artwork, more in keeping with an artist’s card. The quality just got even better. The tag is also from an FSC paper source. Time will tell whether we really need one.

The envelope is Eco Kraft Brown paper and that is also 100% recycled. I believe it also looks the part with the new sustainable card stock.

I hope you will agree that buying from me, you can be confident that you are also making your own contribution to the environment.

This move has increased the cost price but … I believe there is a strong appetite for such a move to environmentally sustainable products. For the moment, I’ve decided to leave the retail price at £2.95. However, I will be applying a shipping charge of £2 - minimum order of five. However … if you are a subscriber to my mailing list you will still get free shipping on orders of ten or more greeting cards. You can join the mailing list here.

When you place an order at the moment, you may find you will receive a combination of cards with and without cellophane envelopes, some with the semi-gloss cards and white envelopes, some with the matt finish and Eco Kraft brown envelopes. Once the existing stock is sold out, all orders will then be made up with the matt, cellophane envelope free card and Eco Kraft Brown envelopes. I anticipate this situation won’t last very long.

Do let me know what you think?