Our Sustainability Commitment

We are committed to reducing our impact on the environment and are always looking for new ways to improve our processes and use of materials.

Products

• Our commitment to sustainability is reflected in the brands we choose to distribute:
  • Kaweco pens are made to be used for many years.  They are not a throwaway item.  They come with a 2-year manufacturer’s warranty, and after that all parts can still be replaced / fixed, so that you need never to consign your pen or pencil to the bin.
  • Marius Fabre is the ultimate sustainable product!  Made from natural, eco-friendly and biodegradable ingredients, Marius Fabre soaps are not only kind to your skin and clothes but also respect the environment by not harming waterways when they are released.  Marius Fabre black soap is also certified for use in organic farming.
  • Schmidt Technology make high-quality pen components are refills, which are used in long-life pens and pencils.  We supply components to consumers as well as pen-makers, so that older pens can be repaired and given a new lease of life.

• We re-use as much of the packaging we receive as possible.  You will notice that we use the cardboard pen trays from Kaweco as void fill, and that we re-purpose boxes from goods-in as long as they are in good condition. Any void fill that comes with our goods-in is kept and reused in our own shipping.
• Any cardboard that cannot be reused is recycled on the business park.  There is also provision for recycling of plastic and food waste, so very little goes to landfill.

• We switched a few years ago from using plastic tape for sealing our goods-out boxes, to just paper tape, which makes our external packaging entirely plastic-free (excluding the clear tape we put over shipping labels to ensure they don’t come off in transit, and any packaging received from our suppliers).
• We have a machine that fills paper or potato starch pillows with air, which are used to maximise protection for the goods we ship whilst having minimal environmental impact.
• We use packing “peanuts” made of corn starch to cushion and secure goods in our smaller parcels and boxes.  If you don’t want to re-use them, these “peanuts” are biodegradable they can be dissolved in water or disposed of in compostable waste bins.  
• We are looking to invest in a paper cushioning machine to replace the 30% recycled bubble wrap we currently use.

• We don’t fly goods. Our goods are imported by road, not by air, to reduce their environmental impact.  We have also consolidated our deliveries to reduce the number of individual journeys each product goes on.

• We do operate a back-orders system, which can lead to an increased number of shipments.  However we try to aggregate these as much as possible, whilst still taking in to consideration the needs of our customers.

• We have always been an online business. Our customers order via our website, and we do not have a team of travelling sales staff.  Where we do make customer visits, these are targeted and only when necessary, with the preference being phone, email or video calls.  We prefer to see our customers at trade shows, where we can see many customers under one roof.
• We do not regularly travel overseas.  We consider rail options for European travel, cost and time permitting.

We will continue to work towards being a greener business, and to quantify our environmental impact so that we can become more aware and implement effective strategies to being greener.