25 September, 2019
Introduction
Heywood Hill is a small but influential bookshop based in London’s Mayfair. We were established in 1936 by George Heywood Hill and we have been selling books to readers and collectors on Curzon Street ever since.
We are official bookseller to Her Majesty The Queen who awarded the shop a Royal Warrant in 2011.
Sustainability Commitment
At Heywood Hill, we are committed to enhancing our sustainability performance and have initiated many actions to ensure this commitment is being achieved. This includes a review of our recycling and waste management, the installation of more energy efficient lighting, and the implementation of more environmentally friendly packing materials.
‘Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species – man –acquired significant power to alter the nature of the world.’ – Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)
The Shop
Established in 1936, Heywood Hill is a cultural landmark in its own right – a space where generations of writers, readers and collectors from across the globe have shared in the appreciation of good literature. Within our bricks and mortar shop, where we sell new and rare books, Heywood Hill also offers unique literary services, including ‘A Year in Books’ – where customers receive a book per month based on their personal reading tastes – and the building of private libraries for both individuals and businesses.
Each department at Heywood Hill thinks seriously about fulfilling our environmental commitments and improving those commitments wherever possible.
‘As the evidence of climate change has grown more apparent, so, too, has the need for action.’
– Elizabeth Kolbert, Field Notes from a Catastrophe (2006)
Stock
Books do have an environmental impact on the planet. Fortunately, the publishing houses and suppliers (including Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, Faber & Faber, Gardners Books, etc.) that Heywood Hill work with are increasingly committed to using recycled and FSC approved paper, ensuring that the raw materials used during the manufacturing process are respectful of forests.
Heywood Hill also sells out-of-print, second hand and rare books, together with new publications.
Office & Stationery Supplies
Since January 2019, Heywood Hill has sourced all of our general office and stationery supplies from The Green Office. These supplies include 100% recycled printing paper and environmentally friendly wash room supplies such as handwash and 100% recycled hand towels.
All suppliers of Heywood Hill stationery, such as business cards and marketing material, use only FSC approved papers.
Packing Supplies
Carrier Bags
In May 2019, Heywood Hill implemented a range of paper counter and carrier bags, to replace our plastic bags. Our paper bags are made in the UK from 100% recyclable brown Kraft paper, which hasn’t been bleached and so has been treated with fewer chemicals, thus making it more environmentally friendly.
Cloth Tote Bags
Forthcoming for summer 2019: our very own Heywood Hill cloth tote bag.
Created by London-based designer Cressida Bell, our bespoke Heywood Hill cloth tote bags are made in the UK from 100% organic cotton. We will continually encourage our customers to support Heywood Hill’s environmental sustainability and use (and re-use) one of our lovely tote bags.
Boxes
Heywood Hill uses a range of boxes for packing our individual customer orders, our ‘A Year in Books’ subscription service and our library projects. All our boxes are made from 100% recyclable, FSC approved cardboard.
In March 2019, we reviewed the size of our medium-sized box, and approved production of a slightly larger version. Still made from 100% recyclable, FSC approved carboard, this new box can hold approximately 16 standard hardcover books, rather than the approximate 10 of its earlier counterpart. This change has significantly reduced the number of boxes Heywood Hill use, particularly when delivering large library projects.
Packing Materials
Wherever possible, Heywood Hill recycles and re-uses all packing materials.
For our larger projects, such as those delivered by our libraries department, we use 100% biodegradable and compostable packing chips, made from renewable starch materials.
All our main book suppliers (including Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, Faber & Faber, Gardners Books, etc.) are committed to using environmentally friendly packing materials whenever possible.
Recycling & Waste Management
Heywood Hill has partnered with zero-to-landfill waste management service, First Mile, since 2008. Our sacks – separated into general waste and mixed recycling – are collected every day from our Mayfair bookshop.
In association with The Green Office and Q-Connect, in May 2019 we also acquired a recycling bin for our used ink cartridges. This bin is regularly collected and the cartridges are sorted and either sent for re-manufacturing or recycling. Undamaged, re-usable cartridges are packed, stored and sent for re-use.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency has been an important consideration for Heywood Hill and its fulfilment of a sustainable environment policy.
One of Heywood Hill’s recent projects, in March 2019, was to change all of the lighting in our ground floor bookshop and basement office space to low energy LED alternatives. The installation of LED lightbulbs – and the subsequent replacement of many old light fittings – has not only improved aesthetics but it has also significantly reduced our energy consumption: our new LED lightbulbs use only 7 watts of power, rather than our old incandescent lightbulbs which used 35 watts.
Staff Incentives
Heywood Hill supply all team members with a re-usable coffee cup. These environmentally friendly cups are made from natural, sustainably-sourced Bamboo and are BPA and Phthalate Free (no bad plastics).
Conclusion
Looking ahead, Heywood Hill aims to continue to review our environmental sustainability and make effective, positive changes to our everyday work practices so we can collectively reduce our impact on the planet. We will also continue to actively work with our suppliers to maximise the efficient use of printed materials and minimise our environmental footprint.
“It would take a spectacular coincidence of bad choices and bad luck to make a completely uninhabitable Earth possible within our lifetime. But the fact that we have brought that eventuality into play at all is perhaps the overwhelming cultural and historical fact of the modern era…
‘But those horrors are not yet scripted. The fight is, definitively, not yet lost – in fact, will never be lost, so long as we avoid extinction…
What happens, from here, will be entirely our own doing.’
– David Wallace-Wells, The Uninhabitable Earth (2019)
Nicole Mansour
17th May 2019