Retail Advice

Eco - how are we doing?

Henri Davis considers how far the greeting card industry has come on its eco and sustainable journey - and how far it still has to go…

For many years now companies in the card and gift industries have been working really hard to improve their eco credentials and reduce their impact on the planet, and pre pandemic there were some big changes being made including the widespread use of card clasps in preference to bagging cards.

The impact of climate change on weather systems, food production and the melting ice caps is constantly in the news but will the worsening economic situation take our eye off the environmental ball? I caught up with some leading industry figures to ask their opinions.

Sue Morrish, co-founder of The Eco-friendly Card Company, which launched in 1993, has built the whole business around its eco commitments, which apply to every card they publish. These include: FSC certified; 100% recycled card; 100% recycled envelopes; Alcohol-free print technology; Powered by green energy; Vegetable based inks; Naked cards with card clasp or compostable bags; Free of foil, glitter and plastic-laminate; Made in the UK; Carbon Balanced paper (With the World Land Trust), and Carbon Zero Company (Through the charity C02 Balance).

The company is quite clear that its cards should not cost more than any other card so they work very hard to ensure ranges are competitively priced, ‘so retailers can make positive green choices without breaking the bank’.

James Stevens, founder of James Ellis cards, has been producing cards for 25 years and for a lot of that time was worried by the amount of plastic they were using. It was a trip to Thailand where he saw a beautiful coral reef surrounded by plastic bags that gave him the impetus to reinvent his Glitter Shakie range and create the award-winning Paper Shakies we see today.

The glitter became paper confetti, and the plastic window was swapped for tracing paper, so now the confetti sits behind the image and still moves around within the card; cello bags were ditched for clasps and at the same time the white textured board was replaced by coloured board, which marked less obviously.

In the warehouse, glassine bags, which are biodegradable and recyclable, are used to pack the products to protect them in transit. James, like Sue, is quite clear that these products should not be more expensive than the previous cards: “If enough thought is put into the evolution of the new product it doesn’t have to cost more.’’ While James is pleased with these first steps in reducing the company’s use of plastic, he wants to do much more to make the business sustainable. 2022 is its 25th anniversary and it has a target to plant 2,500 trees in Glen Affric through Scottish charity Trees for Life.

And suppliers have been busy in the gift industry too, with businesses such as Talking Tables working hard to reduce its use of plastic to the point that now most of its products are plastic free – a huge achievement. Its recent Jubilee range was ‘right royally recyclable’ so any customer could recycle it in their kerbside collection. Clare Harris, MD of Talking Tables, is not sure that this necessarily drives additional sales but she knows it makes many

customers, retailers and the Talking Tables team far more comfortable about using the products. They too do not charge a premium for recyclable one-use products as they do not feel customers would pay extra for them. However, when it produced organic cotton bunting for the Jubilee it sold out and Clare sees this as a clear indication that there is demand for reusable products; it will be part of the Coronation range for May 2023. One of the biggest challenges for retailers and suppliers of all sizes is how to protect products adequately in transit and storage. As a small retailer with relatively low sales on occasions cards, damage in storage and on display are a concern and I don’t think customers accept that this is the trade-off for the reduction in the use of plastic packaging; they want to send a card for a special occasion and they want it to be pristine. The Eco-Friendly Card Overall, the consensus from these three suppliers Company seems to be that there have been significant changes made already but they recognise that there is still plenty more to do; many customers are happy and pleased to be part of this journey but won’t pay more to participate. I believe that we are past the point of ‘a nice thing to do’; the re-engineering of products and their packaging to reduce their environmental impact is something we need businesses to do, and as retailers and consumers we have to learn to work with and love the changes.

Glitter Shakies Paper Shakies

Henri Davis is an independent retail advisor to businesses in the cards, gifts, stationery and heritage industries with more than 35 years of retail experience. She worked for Habitat, Next, WHSmith and the National Trust and now advises retailers, visitor attractions, manufacturers and suppliers. A past chairman of the Giftware Association, during lockdown she has taken over a village stores and moved to Cornwall. For more information visit www.henridavis.co.uk