This is a guest article written by the Eco-friendly Card Co. team.
How it started
The Eco-friendly Card Co, previously known as Glebe Cottage Studio, was established back in September 1993 by art student Scott Morrish with the intention of supporting his passion for photography. He was shortly joined in the business by Sue, who would drive around Devon’s narrow lanes visiting independent retailers to sell their blossoming range of greeting cards from a cardboard box in the back of the car. Now, 30 years later, The Eco-friendly Card Co publishes over 400 designs using Scott's photography, over twenty contributing artists and also offers a range of products through a much-valued partnership with The Wildlife Trusts.
Eco-friendly by name and nature
During 2005, Sue and Scott started wondering how to promote the idea of environmental responsibility within the greeting card industry and how they could label their products in a way that would be relevant to consumers, and meaningful for the environment.
In 2006, they became the first direct to-retail greetings card publisher in the UK to obtain an FSC chain of custody certification and for over 15 years all of their products have been FSC-certified.
“Our outlook is simple... we care about the environment, and so, we try to minimise our environmental Impact!” says Sue Morrish, Director at The Eco-friendly Card Co. “We want to enable consumers to make positive choices in favour of the environment, based on credible environmental claims. Obtaining FSC certification was a big step forward in this respect”.
Their environmental credentials don’t stop there. In 2008, they became the UK’s first CarbonNeutral® greetings card company, in 2015 they became the first card publisher to use paper made from pre-industrial coffee cup waste and they have Carbon Balanced all the paper they have used since 2019 with the World Land Trust. The publisher’s other environmental commitments include exclusive use of vegetable-based inks, alcohol-free print technology, printing everything in the UK and being powered by green energy. They also ensure that all of their products are easily recycled, so they don’t use foil, flitter, glitter, or plastic-based laminates on their products.
Sue adds: “Through the high quality of our products we want to dispel any lingering myths that environmentally responsible publishing has to equate to dull colour and poor quality, or that it has to look recycled, or be more expensive. We think they have a really exciting role to play in encouraging a greener card industry. Naturally there have to be green products in the marketplace before consumers can make green choices; and that is the choice that we’ve always wanted to make possible.”
Supporting British wildlife
The Eco-friendly Card Co. has a long-standing relationship with The Wildlife Trusts, publishing licensed Wildlife Trusts cards, calendars, notecards, and Christmas cards since 2011. These have been used by individual Trusts to help with fundraising efforts and are also stocked by independent retailers across the UK. The publisher has recently launched a brand- new collection of cards showcasing the very best of British wildlife, with every product featuring interesting text about the species depicted. Like all cards from The Eco-friendly Card Co., they are printed on 100% recycled FSC® board Carbon-Balanced with The World Land Trust. Browse the Wildlife Trust range including Christmas cards and the stunning 2024 calendar here: https://ecofriendlycards.shop/the-wildlife-trusts/
Retailers can find out more about The Eco-friendly Card Co. on their trade website