Earth Day | Invest in Our Planet

At Natural Baby Shower, we make sure that we operate in a way that’s kind to our planet all year round, however today, on Earth Day, it is always super special to give thanks to this lovely place we all call home.

And, because every eco initiative is a small step to big change, now is also the perfect opportunity to shout how we're continuing to invest in our planet here at HQ. 

All our paper used in NBS packaging is fully recyclable but we decided, this wasn’t enough. Now we can officially say – thanks to Carbon Balanced Paper – we can measure and offset all the paper we use through the work of World Land Trust.

The World Land Trust are doing incredible things for the preservation of ecology, so much so, its patrons include Sir David Attenborough, Steve Backshall, David Gower and Chris Packham. Therefore, for Earth Day this year, we want to shine a light on all the wonderful work this conservation charity is doing and why we’ve taken positive action to help combat our carbon footprint…

Who is World Land Trust?

As an international conservation charity, World Land Trust protects the world’s most biologically significant and threatened habitats in Africa, Asia, Central and South America and the UK. Protecting more than 700,000 acres, they create reserves for both habitat and wildlife.

What is Carbon Balanced Paper?

You may be wondering where Carbon Balanced Paper comes in and how it’s connected to World Land Trust.  So, investing in this paper enables us to offset unavoidable carbon emissions of office paper and printed marketing communications. Through the work of World Land Trust, it follows the principles of (REDD+) - reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries - and is one of the fastest ways to arrest the rise of atmospheric CO2 and global warming effects.

Why is this important?

Forests are the lungs of the Earth and produce around 30% of our oxygen, providing habitats for 80% of amphibian species, 75% of bird species and 68% of mammal species. Yet, since 1990, it is estimated that some 420 million hectares of forest have been lost—an area 17x greater than the United Kingdom.

We understand that as a business, we have a corporate responsibility to operate sustainably to combat this issue. So we're always focusing on ways we can reduce our environmental effect and in every aspect of operations. Carbon Balanced Paper is a simple choice, that will hopefully lead to a hugely positive impact on the planet - reducing carbon emissions, quantifying CO2 levels and preserving rich and diverse conservation areas.

Making a difference

World Land Trust have many projects across the globe; that includes one very successful division in Vietnam which is benefiting from the Carbon Balanced Paper initiative. Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and an area of international conservation importance, which is why this country is putting immense pressure on protecting its exceptional biodiversity.

World Land Trust is working with Viet Nature Conservation Centre to protect the entire forest of the Khe Nuoc Trong, an area covering nearly 50,000 acres. By protecting and aiding the recovery of the forest approximately 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will be absorbed each year. Khe Nuoc Trong is home to 41 threatened species listed on the IUCN Red List, 8 of which are endangered and 6 of which are critically endangered.

Supported by the facts

Carbon Balanced Paper is paving the way for all businesses and people alike to act more sustainably, and their progress proves its value. Here are some of the astonishing figures to note...

• 169,500 tonnes of CO2 has been Carbon Balanced, which is the equivalent of taking 41,600 cars off the road for a year
• 2,000 brands have taken positive action by using Carbon Balanced Paper
• 16,000 acres of threatened forest has been protected, which is equivalent to 9,080 football pitches

More from our packaging 

Using Carbon Balanced Paper is just another step to making sure our packaging offers eco alternatives - this way, Natural Baby Shower can bring our customers the ultimate planet friendly service.

Below are just some of the steps and measures we have been taking to ensure we operate that little bit greener;

• We ensure that only the essential packaging is used. We offer a wide variety of different size family items from large car seats to little bibs and muslins, so it was important that we also use a variety of different packaging options to ensure we do not create more waste than the product we are shipping needs.
• We use recyclable packaging where possible. Our larger items are shipped in fully recyclable cardboard boxes that can be reused or recycled.
• Instead of the common plastic sealed bags you find from other retailers, we use recycled potato sacks for the small to medium items which can also be recycled by our customers.
• In our Surrey store we use only paper bags for purchases and we email our customers their receipts to save on paper.
• Instead of air bags for padding inside boxes we use paper stuffing. There are some cases however, where those extra delicate or hygiene items will need a little extra packaging for protection to ensure your goods arrive safely and in good condition.
• We ship our bigger items like pushchairs in their original packaging instead of doubling up packaging and putting boxes inside boxes.
• For those extra special deliveries where our customers request gift wrap, we add an extra special personal touch with our recyclable tissue paper, brown paper and finished with a natural jute ribbon. 
• Natural Baby Shower even think of the smaller details such as tape. On all of our parcels we seal them with 100% recyclable brown kraft tape.

• We also encourage the brands we stock and suppliers we promote to use eco-friendly packaging too so we are all working together to help reduce waste. In fact, we wouldn’t stock a brand that uses unsustainable materials and packaging in their shipments. We want every part of our business to be sustainable and eco friendly everywhere it possibly can be.

Help us take extra sustainable steps

The extra steps of carbon offsetting our still recyclable paper makes sure we offer our customers and the planet the very best, but it is also important for you to help finish the cycle. So, we encourage our customers to make the effort to recycle our packaging when it arrives at your door.

You can put them on the compost pile, reuse them for storage or re-gifting, or simply pop them into your recycling bins. When recycled, paper and cardboard can be used for so many different things from chipboard to writing paper. But we think why not have a little fun with it first and give it a second or third purpose before it is recycled!

Every parent has been there, when you buy your little one a new toy online, and when it arrives they are more interested in the cardboard box it came in than the gorgeous doll house in front of them! This got us thinking, what more fun can families have with our cardboard boxes before they get recycled?

We love the initiative by Joolz. All of their packaging innovatively converts into a bird box, a reindeer, a boat, chair and more! So don’t throw the packaging away - recycling is better for the environment and, who knows, your little one might learn something too. 

Happy Earth Day!