Sustainability
Eco Friendly
Great to hear that you are committed to eco-friendliness!
We take pride in using materials that are produced with the environment in mind. Our partners follow strict guidelines to ensure that our products are not only high-quality but also sustainable. Join us in our mission to protect the planet. We care about the environment. That's why we work with local companies where possible. By doing so, we ensure that less pollution is added to the environment from aviation. Join us in our commitment to sustainability!
Paper
We use Saunder's Waterford 300gsm smooth watercolour paper from St Cuthberts Mill, situated in Wells, Somerset (10 miles away). They have been making paper on the same site since the 18th century. Their papers are acid free and made using 100% cotton, the highest quality papermaking material, to high archival standards. Each sheet is buffered with calcium carbonate to help defend finished pieces of work from discolouration caused by acids present in atmospheric pollution. and comes with the Royal Watercolour Society’s endorsement. No hazardous chemicals are released into the rivers either, and they are proud to have large quantities of wildlife living in tandem with the mill.
All materials are screened in the mill to ensure minimal environmental effect. Pulps are sourced from sustainable sources (no rainforests are harmed in making their papers), and their cotton linters are an annual crop, which are a by-product from the textile industry.
Water is a vital ingredient for papermaking, and St Cuthberts Mill is located on the banks of the River Axe, close to the rivers source at Wookey Hole Caves. The River Axe provides a clean source of water, which has been naturally filtered through the limestone in the Mendip Hills. The water has the highest level of classification for cleanliness and biodiversity. They only use pure raw ingredients, to guarantee that they only make the highest grade of archival papers.
Incidentally, St Cuthberts Mill is fortunate to have one of the few remaining Cylinder Mould Machines left in the world. It is now over 100 years old, and was originally built in 1907. How cool is that.
Giclee Prints
We use the highest quality papers that are FSC certified and which are acid and lignin free. For more than four centuries, Hahnemuhle have been developing exceptional paper that lasts for generations. They respect our environment, their employees and suppliers, and clean water, natural fibres, and first-class papermaking know-how is the reason why we have chosen this manufacturer. Their papers are fully recyclable, innovative tree-free papers or cascade fibre feedstock as raw material and their resource-saving production methods are certified according to the ISO 14001 guideline for environmental management.
Hahnemühle have been using pure spring water since 1584 using a closed water cycle which means the water needs no treatment prior to and after production. It is reused several times and fed into the nearby river Ilme at the end – free from chemical cleaning agents, biocides and preservatives.
The company only uses primary paper pulp that comes from sustainable and FSC- or PEFC certified wood plantations, where for every tree harvested, 3-4 trees are replanted. No tropical rainforest in South America is destroyed either. The cellulose from eucalyptus is planted and extracted in certified plantations. The cotton rag fibres (linters) used by Hahnemühle are fine fibres that cling to the seed of the cotton plant and occur as a by-product of the textile and oil industries.
Our giclée prints are printed 11 miles from home at Redcliffe Imaging in Bristol whose prints are made on archival quality coated paper and printed with pigment-based archival inks that are UV stable. They use the highest degree of accuracy and richness of colour in their reproduction techniques and the final result is a superb giclée print that can be lightfast for up to 100+ years.
Paints & Mediums
We use professional Winsor & Newton paints and mediums for their commitment to sustainability. Rather than simply tossing water down the drain after they've used it, Winsor & Newton give it a second life. For instance, their Crown Artist Brush factory in Lowestoft, UK – have introduced a rainwater collection system. This provides a free, alternative source of water for their production, plus, it cuts back on using freshwater. In their colour factories, they have installed a closed-loop water waste system which means water can be reused throughout the plant, including to clean machinery.
Cutting down on using hazardous chemicals is a challenge faced by all paint manufacturers. Cadmium is a heavy metal that many artists add to paint to create brilliant pigments, but its use releases heavy metals into the environment. Cadmium paint is currently tricky to replicate artificially, but they are making efforts to cut down on all chemicals, and particularly this one. For the record, we do not use cadmium paint in our work.
And that's not all, their packaging comes from sustainable sources and contains more recycled content and they have switched from virgin to 100% recycled plastic for oil colour and watercolour mediums, varnishes and solvent bottles which stops an average of 248 tonnes of plastic going into landfill every year. Keep up the good work W&N.
Card and Cello Bags
All card and paper used is recyclable and the cello bags are 90% plant based polypropylene (PP) and are biodegradable. The bags we use are made of polylactic acid (corn starch/other plant based materials) which means they have a lower carbon footprint. The resin is from renewable sources and made from recycled cooking oil rather than fossil based oil. The film used on the bags is chemically and structurally identical to regular polypropylene. This renewable source can be recycled along with all other oil based films.