My steps towards becoming a more Eco Friendly Business (so far!) - Jane Foster

My studio

It’s been a huge aim of mine to become as eco friendly as possible with my small business and I’d like to share with you some of the products I’ve swapped to over the past few months as I’ve done more and more research. I’ll admit, swapping for more eco friendly products has meant that they’re more expensive to buy but I feel this is an area of my business I now refuse to cut corners on. I also know that with increasing demand, these costs will inevitably come down.

Being an illustrator whilst also running a small online shop, selling ‘stuff’ doesn’t always sit well with me so I’m going to make sure that I make eco conscious decisions around what I continue to sell, to sell products made from recycled paper / card / organic cotton / sustainable birch ply … and to sell products that will decompose and not end up in a landfill! I shall also pledge to use eco friendly packaging and when I create small items (such as lavender bags) I use small amounts of fabric with very little waste.

I really do hope that I might inspire others to make similar choices. I’m fully aware that I’ve still lots to learn and that things will keep evolving for me here.

*Would love to hear if you’ve managed to source good products too so please don’t hesitate to share them with me!

I shall talk about the products above - all purchased here in the UK.

The custom paper tape shown above featuring my head logo is from the company Noissue. It’s a great product - you lick the reverse (or run it through a special device with a roller and water tray) and you can also cut it into little stickers. It’s fully compostable and is made from plant based materials. (*You’ll love their other products and custom tissue paper too!)

My second photo shows you my new custom printed biodegradable large sticky envelope labels to use for customers addresses. They’re by a company called INKREADIBLE - The biodegradable stickers are made from uncoated, wood free printing paper composed of 95% sugar cane fibres and 5% hemp and linen. You can find them here.

My third photo shows round biodegradable compostable clear sealer stickers by a company called Eco-Craft. * They look like normal clear stickers but both the sticker and the backing sheets are compostable and biodegradable. You can find them here.

My fourth photo shows my 100% recycled custom stickers created by eco printing company Print.work.You can create your own here.

*My fifth photo shows my organic cotton printed fabric labels. They're from a company called hallmark labels.

My sixth photo shows my print tubes that come with aluminium end caps (instead of plastic ones) - I bought them from Defendapack.

My seventh photo shows some toy stuffing by HOOOKED - 100% ecological cotton filling that’s recycled and made from textile waste from fashion industries! I bought mine from SisterstitchersUK but you can also buy smaller bags from John Lewis. *I’ve also discovered recycled polyester toy stuffing which is made from recycled plastic bottles. (last photo) Both types of stuffing are more expensive than than the normal standard but I’m very sure the prices will come down as crafters demand more.

I’ve recently signed up with Ecologi to plant 34 trees each month - something I feel very passionate about.