We’re committed to doing the very best we can in lowering our carbon footprint - and we’d like to acknowledge now that we’ll never be perfect - but we can try our best, and be transparent about the changes we’re making.

You may think that given that a third of our business model includes sending invoices by post, we might not have the lowest carbon footprint, given that we’re using paper for those invoices. But surprisingly, our paper invoices don’t have a high environmental cost.

According to research by Two Sides, paper can have a surprisingly kind impact on the environment. As paper is sourced from wood, which is a natural and renewable resource, paper use can have a positive impact on our environment. In fact, between 2005 and 2015 European forests grew by an area the size of Switzerland, and this has been attributed to the good management of forests used for paper production. The paper industry also has very high levels of certification, with 71% of wood and 83% of pulp purchased by the European pulp and paper industry being FSC or PEFC certified.

On top of this, paper is a renewable resource - and the rates of recyclability are high - on average paper is recycled 3.6 times a year in Europe, while 53% of the fibre for Europe’s paper industry is from paper for recycling.

In reality, both digital and paper communication have their own environmental impacts - and here at itsettled we realise that we need to do our part to be transparent about our impact, and what we’re doing to lower it.

Currently, all our letters that we send at itsettled are printed using Xerox dry toners which are non-toxic, non-hazardous, low emission, and designed to be readily recycled using standard de-inking processes. Our printing partners also return their used toner cartridges for reuse, and recycle any waste products (paper off-cuts, cardboard containers, waste toner etc.) from their production processes. All letters are printed on FSC certified paper to make the letters as environmentally friendly as possible.

We hope you enjoyed this itsettled article, If you have any questions, or would like to see us cover a new topic, simply email us at members@itsettled.co.uk.

Start your 14-day free trial of itsettled today.

‍

Sources:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005 – 2015

Two Sides analysis of FSC and PEFC published data, 2017

European Paper Recycling Council, Monitoring Report 2018

CEPI Key Statistics, 2018

‍

The itsettled team.

‍