Sustainability
Our Commitment to Sustainability
From sustainably sourced paper to carbon offsetting, the materials that make up our books are ones that you can feel good about having in your classroom or home, and our manufacturing partnerships and methods contribute to a fairer and more sustainable future.
“Although our current problems have been generations in the making, Earth's future will be in our children's hands. And children can make grownups listen, and act. They can educate their families about climate change. Children around the globe are doing this, right now”
–Christy Mihaly, educator and author of Barefoot Books Water: A Deep Dive of Discovery
Children already have the passion. We can give them the tools to take action! Our online resources and free Toolkit inspired by our Planet Protector Pack encourages kids to discover their superpower: protecting the planet.
Paper
We want to protect the world’s remaining ancient forests and ensure that the forestry and paper manufacture undertaken on behalf of Barefoot Books is ethical and legal. The welfare of the people involved in and affected by the supply of paper to Barefoot Books is also of paramount importance to us.
Our printers only use paper that contains pulp from legal and sustainable sources in the manufacture of our books.
Manufacturing and Social Standards
Barefoot Books supports internationally recognized environmental management and social accountability standards such as ISO 14001, SMETA and the ICTI Ethical Toy Program in the manufacture of our books. These promote manufacturing efficiency, good working conditions, worker health and safety, fair remuneration and the prohibition of child and forced .
Recycling and Reduced Use of Plastic
Our printers are working towards removing plastic from their supply chains. The packaging they use is made from recycled material and can be recycled again after use. We buy recycled material where possible and recycle as much as we can in our own offices. We do our best to avoid plastic in our warehousing and marketing operations.
Carbon Offsetting and the journey towards Net Zero
In 2021 we started a process to measure the carbon emissions generated in the process of making our books. From the manufacture and delivery of raw materials, through printing and then transport by sea, rail and road to our warehouses, we collect data from our suppliers and then calculate the amount of carbon that has been generated by this activity.
We’ve also started to measure the carbon emissions generated by our office space and home workers, general operations and business travel.
We’re building partnerships to help us minimize the carbon emissions we’re responsible for and offset any that are unavoidable. We’re learning and improving as we go and this will be an ongoing process for us – measuring, reducing where possible, and offsetting the rest.
