FSC® Certified pictureframes

Every pictureframe we make starts life as a tree …. … and we take that as seriously as the art within
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE
FSC® Certified

Would it make a difference to you whether your Picture Frames (including mounts, any printing paper, backing back boards etc – anything timber based.) are made from FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council®) certified wood

Well, I can’t say for sure what you would be getting otherwise, only what you’re definitely not getting with the certification:

  • Slave labour used in production
  • Destruction of habitat for endangered species
  • Destruction of indigenous peoples’ traditional way of life
  • Pollution of Forest regions
  • Over-harvesting of Forestry adding to climate change
WHAT MOTIVATED US TO BECOME
FSC® Certified

Many years go, Hope Elletson, Founder of Pictureframes, read “Natural Capitalism” a title considered the 1999 environmental bible:  published by the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Hope knew that he was in an industry which cut down a lot of trees but he could not be sure of any significant measures to ensure that harvesting would be done in the right way.

So, five years ago, Pictureframes started to change direction, intent on establishing a more responsible and moral manufacturing process, and has now achieved the first major success. The business has now earned a Certification from the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC). The only bespoke picture framing & printing company in the world to hold such an award.

WHY DO WE BELIEVE FSC CERTIFICATION IS
Important

We know that responsibly sourced timber is a very “environmentally friendly” construction material, unfortunately, it’s not always responsibly sourced. The Amazon Forest alone is still vanishing at a rate of 20,000 square miles a year.

The World Wildlife Fund says: “By choosing FSC certified forest products, you can be sure where they’ve come from. They won’t have been harvested in a way that causes irreversible damage to forests, people and wildlife“.

WHAT FSC PRODUCTS DO WE SELL?
Everything…
…that PictureFrames promotes face-to-face is now FSC certified. Over 88% of the frames on our website meet the FSC regulations and we expect to reach 100% on the website within the next six months. We do have some legacy customers for whom it has not yet been possible to source FSC certified materials. The materials we buy for these customers are not promoted to other customers and we are intent on moving established customers over to FSC alternatives
OUR CURRENT FSC INITIATIVES?
Heart & Soul Exhibition
Earlier this year we had a big sale to move some of the remaining Non-FSC stocks of mouldings. We gave a third of the proceeds of this sale:  £1,607.92 to the charity Hope and Homes for Children. As a result of our sustainability efforts, we won an important customer. World famous wildlife artist, Gary Hodges chose us to frame all the work for his new exhibition. Heart and Soul, a successful show which raised over £160,000 for two charities – The Born Free Foundation and the Environmental Investigation Agency.  Here’s what Gary had to say about PictureFrames:
‘When planning my recent solo exhibition in aid of elephants, of course we wanted everything to be as environmentally friendly as possible. After some research online, we found  the perfect match for our goal with the frames… pictureframes.co.uk  Amazingly, they are the only fully FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) certified framer in the whole of Europe, meaning everything they use, from frames to backing board, comes from sustainably managed forests. On top of all this, the frames were beautifully crafted, with seamless corners and in the exact colour white we wanted. It was a huge exhibition, but the 174 framed pictures were all delivered without fuss on the dates requested. We will definitely be using this friendly company again for my next exhibition!’
HAS OUR COMPANY BENEFITED FROM
Certification
  • The FSC certification helped us get the job to frame Gary Hodges’ exhibition.
  • The Blackmore Vale selected us as finalists for the Media Green Award.
It is still early days as it will take some time to change our whole portfolio over to FSC certified materials. We know that the certification has a great resonance with many artists and many customers are supportive of the motivation behind it. We are hoping that we will get a job to frame an exhibition in Berlin next year as the FSC certification will be a major factor for the artist.

“This industry is 'way behind the curve' on timber certification.”

Hope Elletson
Much of the content of this page is based on an article about us in the November issue of Forest Matters, the FSC’s own published periodical. We are delighted and proud to be the subject of a ‘case study’ for the pictureframing industry and our commitment to the policies of the FSC. Click the book above to read the article. If you would like to read the whole magazine then please follow this link

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