This year, we reduced our impact to 9 tonnes. This pie chart summarises the reported percentage of carbon emissions from each operation.

The carbon emissions assessment was carried out in-house using detailed reports from our printers and shippers, carbon calculators available from travel providers, and the UK Government Conversion Factors for greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting protocols.

Quality is (and always will be) paramount, so we use responsible, reliable printers in China with the highest of sustainable and safety standards.  It’s interesting to note that as detailed in this Publiship report, shipping is the most environmentally friendly way to move freight:

Moving a 40’ container of books weighing 18 tonnes door to door from factory in Shenzhen, China to Warehouse, Oxford by sea would generate approximately 1.17 tonnes of carbon. The same cargo moving by truck from Milan, Italy to Oxford would generate over 1.3 metric tonnes and from Bratislava, Slovakia it would be over 1.53 metric tonnes.

Of course, shipping from a port in Italy to the UK is a quarter of the distance, so while we grow our network of trusted printers to include those closer to home (as far as we know, there is no printer in the UK who can produce the type of board books we publish), we will reduce our impact by annually offsetting our carbon emissions.

Instead of using a carbon offset programme, we have supported The Woodland Trust – the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity. They suggest a ‘carbon donation’ of £25 per tonne.

Next year, a new European directive is coming into effect – the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). This means that every manufacturer of paper products placed into the EU is responsible for ensuring that there is no (or negligible) risk that the product’s raw materials have caused deforestation or forest degradation. The UK should soon follow their lead.

Mama Makes Books has always been committed to using FSC paper and board for all the books we publish as a minimum standard, and we support this legislation wholeheartedly.

Our printers already have the following certifications:

• Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC) certification. This is the only wood certification endorsed by organisations such as Greenpeace and WWF. 

• The ISO 9001:2015 which represent quality assurance system and ISO14001: 2015 for implementing an Environment Management System.

We are working with them to provide the evidence and certification that we will need to supply when the system goes live in 2026.

Our distributor, Booksource in Glasgow, only uses cardboard packaging for all their deliveries, and paper void fill, all of which can be recycled.

Our catalogues are printed on recycled paper by an eco-friendly, sustainable vegan printing company based in London. 

Our other marketing material is printed by a local printer on recycled paper.

In carrying out our day-to-day work we are always reducing, reusing and recycling cardboard, paper, plastic and metal waste. Although we are small, we try to be a positive influence on our suppliers and customers.