Sustainability
Our Commitment to Sustainability
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 .
Safety Standards
Our books and toys comply with all of the relevant product safety standards in the territories in which they are sold. Please email [email protected] with queries. Our GPSR Authorised Representative is HackettFlynn Ltd, 36 Cloch Choirneal, Balrothery, Co. Dublin, K32 C942, Ireland. [email protected]
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 paper 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.
Barefoot Books’ Environmental Impact
In 2021 we started a process to measure, reduce and offset 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 also measure the carbon emissions generated by our office space, home workers, general operations and business travel. We’re doing what we can to reduce these emissions and our goal is to plant enough trees each year to absorb the remaining carbon. 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.
