Jewells Art chooses Business Services who work to sustain the planet and its resources.
Business Services
Since 2017 my chosen hosting platform uses 100% renewable energy and
works with Ecologi, Trees For Life, the Million Tree Pledge and the UK
Business Climate Hub to reduce their business carbon footprint.
I bank with a UK bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy, committed to
limiting: global climate change, destruction of ecosystems, decline in
biodiversity. Promoting: human rights, social justice, equality and
animal welfare.
I manage my accounts with a company who value diversity, equity and
inclusion and are committed to reducing global carbon emissions by 2
million metric tonnes, 50 times their 2018 footprint, by the year 2030.
My energy provider is 100% green, returning the annual power used by their customers
to the grid
with an equal amount of renewable energy each year, effectively making
them net zero. They buy renewable energy directly from UK producers, are
buying their own generators and manage 300+ UK green energy producers
(mostly solar and wind farms).
Partnering / Service Providers
I look for companies to work with who have not behaved in a way that contradicts
my ethics and values or
behaved irresponsibly.
Etsy uses 100% renewable electricity in the data centres that host Etsy
applications, the global offices and the homeworking US employees.
They also offset 100% of carbon emissions from packaging and delivery of
every order. They are committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2030.
Fine Art America supports 100,000's of independent
artists and photographers from all over the world to sell their artwork.
They have 16 global production facilities which manufacture products and
deliver them, they are currently working on ways to create an overall
green policy.
Suppliers / Materials
Where possible I choose companies and products who have and follow an ethical policy of their own
and are striving towards a better world, this is getting easier over
time.
Like Jacksons Art Suppliers; who provide carbon-neutral shipping,
with 78% of their energy use purchased from renewable sources.
Since 2011 they've been planting trees to offset the use of paper in our
catalogues ( As of 2021 that's 1000 trees planted with Trees for Life)
Their packaging boxes are 100% recyclable with recyclable paper tape,
with 100% compostable packaging peanuts and cellophane bags.
Hahnemühle produce naturally sustainable papers from
their mill which is located within a nature reserve.
Great Art introduced their Great Green Earth Project where artists can return their used art materials to the disposable stations and receive money off when purchasing new supplies.
Clairefontaine have been using ecological technology as far back as the 1970s.
Winsor & Newton developed cadmium-free paint alternatives and switched to 100% recycled plastic for their oil colour and watercolour mediums, varnish and solvent bottles.
Derwent burn the waste sawdust from the pencil making process which is used to heat the factory in the winter months; employ rain water collection and motion sensors on their lighting.
Recycling & Reuse
I re-use packaging where possible; recycling, repairing
and repurposing to reduce waste across the business. For example, when
wrapping an order the first layer in direct contact with the surface of
a painting or print must be acid free (glassine paper) and in pristine
condition in order to ensure the surface is not scratched, damaged or
discoloured during transit. But that doesn't mean the glassine paper
can't itself be a recycled product. The additional layers of packaging,
like bubble wrap, brown paper or cardboard are all either recycled or
reused. As an Artist I use lots of paper for sketching, if I don't need
to keep the work I reused the other side for notes or more sketches.
I've also installed smart gas and electricity meters to monitor and
reduce usage. Waste food goes into the composter or to the garden to
feed the wildlife. For many years I've grown plants which the bees and
butterflies love and been part of the Hedgehog Street project to
record Hedgehog
Numbers and and this year I'm experimenting with a meadow garden.
Delivery
I use Royal Mail and Parcelforce for Deliveries.
Royal Mail are already the UK’s greenest parcels business and are
committed to reducing their carbon footprint to zero. They are
increasing their use of electric vans for deliveries (5,500 by 2023), using 100% renewable electricity, reducing domestic flights, moving
more mail by train, recycling and asking for
standardised reporting on CO2 emissions per
parcel so customers can decide on their delivery service.
All ParcelForce operational and headquarter sites have achieved the
ISO14001 standard in environmental management. They've improved their
delivery and redelivery service reducing the number of parcels that
require a second delivery attempt, which reduces fuel consumption.
Switched UK parcels from air to road distribution, for a significant
reduction in the overall carbon generated. They recycle wherever
possible and are working hard to reduce the amount of waste sent to
landfill to an absolute minimum.
I am committed to continuing to investigate ways to become more sustainable in the future.
