Eco Pom
Hello! If you’re on this page, you probably want to know all about Pom Pom’s commitment to being as eco-friendly as possible, so please read on! As a knitting and crochet magazine, we celebrate and encourage slow and environmentally-conscious fashion. This is something we take seriously and extend to other parts of our business, including printing, packaging, shipping, how we operate PPHQ, and travel.
We have an ongoing dedication to carbon neutrality. We haven’t reached our dream of being carbon neutral just yet, but it’s a factor in every decision we make. Here’s what we’ve done so far to edge us closer to our goal!
Our publications
Our quarterly magazine and books are printed sustainably in the UK by Pureprint Group Limited, a CarbonNeutral® Company with FSC® chain of custody and an ISO 14001 certified environmental management system recycling over 99% of all dry waste. The paper is Carbon Balanced with the World Land Trust™, an international conservation charity, who offset carbon emissions through the purchase and preservation of high conservation value land.They were the first ever carbon neutral printer in the world back in 2002, too!
Packaging
We spend a lot of time researching which packaging is best for Pom products. We always aim for our packaging to be as low impact as possible, made from recycled materials, be recyclable itself, and to contain low amounts of (but preferably zero) plastics.
All of our publications come lovingly packaged in a paper wrap. The reason we do this is to prevent damage to the magazine or book during the shipping process. This is beneficial because it means fewer magazines are returned to us (and therefore wasted) as damaged copies and we require less shipping. Making the paper wrap pretty is just for fun! Our customers often re-purpose Pom Pom magazine wraps by using them in other crafts or as wrapping paper. Just think of a hand-knitted gift parcelled in one of our magazine wraps! 😍
Our ‘Pomfetti’ envelopes are what we use when sending small format, back issue (40 and older)magazine retail orders. We order these from Lil Packaging and they are 100% biodegradable, use eco-friendly inks, are plastic-free, and ocean-friendly! For single copy orders of Issue 41 and newer, we use Priory Direct’s Eco Mailers; they are fully recyclable, biodegradable, plastic-free, and made from 100% post consumer waste.
For larger orders (3+ mags or a book), we use bulk wrap book packaging. The foldable edges and cardboard wrap-around flap keep the publications snug, reducing movement while the package is in transition, and therefore reducing damage. We order C2 and C3-sized packaging from Lil Packaging, whose book wraps are 100% recyclable and FSC certified.
The paper wraps we mention above are sealed with a Pom Pom-branded sticker. Our customised stickers are printed by Alocalprinter, who use eco-friendly toners and chlorine-free labels. Although we have some sticker stock from older publications which aren’t manufactured in this way, we’ll be replacing them with the more eco-friendly stickers when the time comes.
Sometimes it’s necessary to brand our packages so that our couriers can easily identify them. We often use Pom Pom stamps for this. We get the ink from The English Stamp Company, and we like them because you can get ink refills from them!
We use self-adhesive paper tape to seal the large boxes of books and magazines that we send internationally. We source this tape from Raja, and the tape is 100% recyclable.
To ensure the safe journey of hardback books from our studio to your home, we wrap them in bubble wrap to prevent the corners from getting pushed in. We use Raja’s 50% recycled bubble wrap, meaning that half of the materials used to make the bubble wrap have been recycled. The bubble wrap itself is also recyclable.
When new publications are delivered to our studio, they arrive in cardboard boxes. Trust us when we say that there are many of them! We re-use these boxes when we’re sending publications to wholesalers in bulk.
There are some elements of our packaging which are gift-set specific, including the striped paper bags and the protective paper. We order our stripey, sweet shop-style bags from Polybags and these are 100% recyclable. For products such as the Knit How gift sets, which contain several elements, we wrap them in protective paper. We buy this paper from Raja. The paper itself is recycled and is recyclable.
Shipping
Where possible we use DHL’s Go Green service. This ensures that our shipments are CO2 neutral because DHL makes a contribution to a climate change protection project through the purchase of carbon credits for the same amount of emissions our shipment generated.
In 2022 we adjusted our production lead times and made the switch from air to sea freight, a slower but more environmentally friendly service, to reduce the carbon footprint of bulk shipping new publications to our US HQ.
Pom Pom Offices
We clean our studios ourselves, so we know exactly which products are used to make our workplaces sparkle! The UK Pom team favour products by Ecover and Method, both of which are eco-conscious and cruelty-free brands.
We adhere to Cornerstone Studios’ recycling policy. They have separate points for general waste, mixed recycling (paper, card, plastics, glass, metal, tins and cans), cardboard recycling, and food waste bins. There’s also a recycling point at their front of house for batteries, light bulbs, and toner inks.
Pom Staff
When we’re not working from home, all those who are able to either walk to the studio, cycle, or use public transport.
We have an office in London UK and an office in Austin USA, so international travel is sometimes necessary, particularly for a photoshoot. Such long-distance travel is not a decision we undertake lightly, and we only do this when it’s needed.