Environmental Policy

We are working towards sustainability at Buttercup Learning by implementing environmental, social, and financial strategies. We acknowledge that we are not perfect. We take our responsibility for sustainability very seriously.

We have put green practices into place to lessen our negative impact.

We use local suppliers to reduce our carbon footprint and support the local economy.

We refine our design and production processes. All print and nature curious subscription box orders ship without any plastic packaging.

All Teemill orders (prints, t-shirts, stickers, etc) are shipped in sustainable, eco-friendly packaging made with natural materials. They are rip-proof, splash-proof mailers made from paper. Large orders come in cardboard boxes sealed with environmentally friendly tape.

Our on demand print supplier, Teemill, uses vegan water-based, Oeko-Tex certified inks. The inks have also been approved by Greenpeace Detox my Fashion campaign. As a certified organic company, they use low-waste digital printing tech and inks that conform to the GOTS/Soil Association organic criteria. All our teemill printed products are vegan friendly. As part of their GOTS certification they are audited to ensure that their products and inks do not contain animal derived ingredients, and to ensure their products/inks have not been tested on animals. This certification is seed-to-shop and includes their organic cotton and printing technology.

Our art prints come on premium quality 300gsm, acid free, 100% recycled heavyweight stock that’s Forest Stewardship Council certified, meaning they’re made from responsibly sourced materials that comply with a wide range of social and environmental standards. The art prints are printed using a digital press. The ink used is Ricoh ‘liquid powder’ toners, which come in recyclable cartridges and packaging.

Designed with the environment in mind using natural materials, our paper stickers are printed with water based ink with an easy-peel calenderised greaseproof, paper backing and water based rubber adhesive. These sustainable, environmentally friendly stickers are permanent, but work best indoors.

Our Teemill clothing products are made from certified organic cotton, powered by renewable energy and every product is designed to go back to Teemill when it’s worn out – they make new products from the material they recover. In every garment, they use organic cotton labels so it can all go back into the system.

Wastewater from dyehouse effluent is a major source of pollution in the clothing industry. However our Teemill products are dyed, the water is recovered, cleaned and recirculated. Firstly, a lime neutraliser is added to the mixture which separates the colour from the liquid. This colour is removed and dried out in direct sunlight, and reused in road marking substrate. Then the remaining water is put through reverse osmosis 3 times, separating the salt and the water. Both the water and salt are reused in the next batch of dyes.There’s actually a video of Teemill founder Mart drinking the recirculated water on a visit a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2QPs6E8X3Q&ab_channel=Teemill

Our mugs are made from superior quality heavy weight natural ceramic with a super hard dishwasher-safe coating. One of the most exciting things about them is that Teemill have been able to create robust plastic-free packaging which protects the mugs during shipping. Whilst we expect mugs to last for decades in customers’ cupboards, they are still part of our circular economy. If a customer wants to send them back, the material will be sorted in Teemills factory in East Cowes and sent to the relevant recycling stream. They don’t have a QR code to scan but can be sent back through remillfibre.com.

Teemill won the Queen’s Award for Innovation for their work on making the first circular economy for fashion. Their entire business is carbon neutral. Their factories, offices and servers are powered by renewable energy. Learn more about their award-winning sustainability.

Our print-on-demand model ensures that our products are only made when they are sold, reducing overstock and minimising energy and raw material waste. We also use a paperless order system to connect our products with our print suppliers.

DPD, one of our print-on-demand delivery partners, has a carbon-neutral commitment.

We use recycled and reused plastic-free packaging for our wholesale orders.

We promote sustainability within our organisation by providing training to all staff. Staff can take part in sustainability team challenges through Giki and Drawdown. Rachel is certified carbon literate.

Our goal at Buttercup is to achieve net zero emissions. We tax ourselves for the amount of carbon we emit and fund projects that offset our footprint.

As of April 2021, we are working towards offsetting our carbon footprint by planting trees through Ecologi. www.ecologi.com/buttercup

And through B1G1

and donating one percent of every Stripe payment to emerging carbon-reduction technologies.

We have reduced our digital footprint by using a new website that is 65% better than the average for carbon emissions and is green-hosted. Our company HQ operates on a green energy tariff, and we aim to operate a virtual business structure to minimise excess travel and keep costs to a minimum.

We use recycled or recyclable stationery from sustainable paper sources. We try to avoid using physical stationery and printing business documents wherever possible.

We reuse second-hand products where available, including our IT kit. In our design studio, we recycle all cardboard and paper. Buttercup HQ uses refillable ink cartridges for their test prints. Test prints are then donated to local schools and community centres.

We commit to social projects.

We are launching Pants Club, a local community project. Aimed at removing children’s pants from landfill and encouraging parents to donate pants.

Rachel will be working with local primary school children. Helping them create their own biodiversity-themed prints. We will support the school with a new website for their green club. Supporting families to re-wild their gardens.

We are also on the lookout for regional and national schemes. We want to support longer-term regenerative projects to re-wild the UK. Get in touch if you have a project.

We are working with others to enable a clearer picture of the carbon we emit. We want to achieve carbon synching. This is the idea that we need to not just remove CO2 from the atmosphere, but we need to do it at roughly the same speed (or faster) than we are emitting.

We also plan to add a carbon footprint label to each of our products. Inspired by footwear brand All Birds. Our new labels will keep us accountable and our customers informed.

Our reason for existing is to make a positive impact. We are striving to get better at monitoring and reporting our environmental and social impacts. We will be sharing our first environmental and social impact report soon. To support our journey towards becoming a B Corp in the future.