Love Phodography Sustainability Policy

1.0 CURRENT IMPACT

I have calculated my businesses environmental impact in the following ways:

1.1 Carbon footprint of main business

I’m using 5573KWH of electricity each year, this currently comes from renewable resources at Octopus Energy

All packaging from suppliers is either recycled or re-used where possible, I shred cardboard boxes that I can’t recycle to produce packing materials for when products are shipped

In 2019 I converted my garage into a studio and added a (soft!) wood cabin in my garden to cut down my travel so I only use the car when going to a location shoot and have recently been shooting more sessions in my local area within walking distances

1.2 Carbon footprint of products

I’ve assessed the impact my products have and have found the following

Albums - UK Supplier with excellent sustainability policy using next to no plastic and sustainable materials. Use DPD for all their shipping

Wall art - UK Supplier who is working on their sustainability policy and who use minimal plastic packaging & where possible ensure it’s recyclable (such as bubble wrap)

Printing - UK Supplier, transitioning to all recycled papers for all marketing materials. Use DPD for most of their shipping

Photo Printing - UK Supplier with sustainability policy, currently investigating the sustainability for both “normal” and fine art prints. Use DPD for all their shipping

Memory boxes - EU Supplier (Ireland), currently reviewing their sustainability policy and calculating offsets to cover shipping

Photo books - EU Supplier (Italy,) currently reviewing their sustainability policy and calculating offsets to cover shipping

Photo Mounts - UK Supplier, currently reviewing their sustainability policy and calculating offsets to cover shipping

In house fine art Printing - all professional print cartridges are recycled

In 2015 I moved to the vast majority of my products being from UK suppliers. Having spent many years choosing my absolute favourite products on the market there are some that aren’t as sustainable as others. 

As I’d like to continue using these products so for every customer order I commit to offset 0.1 tonnes of Co2e and plant 25 trees on every standard product purchased annually in addition to my monthly “office carbon neutral” contribution.

In addition I will continue to look for more sustainable products and ensure I order no more than once a week.

1.3 Carbon footprint of customers

In order to fully understand the impact of my business I’ve calculated the carbon used by my customers travelling. I’ve calculated this on 100 customers making 2 journeys of an average of 25 miles each way. 

This produces an average carbon footprint of 2.83 tonnes of CO2e in total, so I commit to offset 3 tonnes of CO2e per year.

1.4 Additional impact

Other areas of my business that I have improved are:

1.4.1 Lighting - use of LED bulbs where possible and ensuring lights

are switched off after use

1.4.2 Business practices - Only printing essential communication

1.4.3 Electrical equipment - Switched off at source rather than on 

standby, use of 

rechargeable batteries in all required equipment

1.4.4 Business practices - Monthly offsetting both my personal and 

the business’ carbon footprint via Ecologi.com

Other areas of my business that I have also identified as being areas that can be improved are:

• 50% of products aren’t adequately off set so plant 200 trees per year to offset those products. 
  
• Normal products plant 25 trees
  
• Eco products plant 100 trees for every order
  



2.0 SUSTAINABILITY AIMS

Following the sustainability Audit I will be committing to the following:

• Reducing carbon footprint further
• Reducing travel
  
• Committing to increasing my sustainable product range
  
• Reducing single use plastics in the business
  
• Using carbon positive shipping 
  
• Only using FSC certified card in my marketing
  
• Gently promoting sustainability to my customers through my products
  
• Offering special eco products
  

3.0 SUSTAINABILITY OBJECTIVES

In order to achieve the aims set out above I will be committing to the following:

Reducing carbon footprint

• Look at grants for increasing insulation in both studio, viewing room and home

Reducing business travel 

• by 1 journey by using online meetings where possible, by combining trips (ie wedding venue visit and engagement session at the same time), utilising the local environment for location sessions

Committing to increasing my sustainable product range

• Speak to current suppliers about their aims
  
• Look for new suppliers

Reducing single use plastics

• Stop giving plastic bottles of water to customers and look for compostable bags for any customer orders that currently include plastic bags

Using carbon positive shipping companies

• such as DPD for all large orders I send
  
• combine deliveries to customers for their orders rather than asking them to collect

Only using FSC certified card 

• Reduce the amount of printed marketing info offering online alternatives and ensure all print marketing is on FSC certified card and is recyclable. 

Gently promoting sustainability to my customers

• Signature Eco range products and sharing the discoveries I make on this eco journey with my customers
• Sign up to ecologi via my link & we both get sparkly trees

Offering special eco products

• Develop a range of super sustainable products to offer customers with a premium carbon offset value contributed
  

4.0 POSITIVE ACTION

As well as reducing I will be committing to the following climate positive actions:

4.1 Business Carbon positive offset of 2.65 tonnes / year

4.2 Products Carbon positive offset of 200 trees per year plus 25 trees for every customer order and 100 trees for every customer super sustainable product order

4.3 Customer Carbon positive offset of 3 tonnes

IN TOTAL

Carbon Offset - 5.65 tonnes

Trees - 1000 trees planted

If you are interested in making a difference...

By offsetting our carbon footprint & planting more trees we are buying time to slow down climate change, it's easy (& fun!) to get involved. All you need to do is click the button below & sign up to an Ecologi plan and by going through my link you'll get an additional 25 sparkly trees when you sign up!