STAEDTLER is justly proud of its environmental heritage. As one of the few companies to receive the BOSS Environmental Award, the company consistently demonstrates its commitment to caring for the environment. In particular, STAEDTLER supports the regeneration of timber resources and ensures that its wood pencils are manufactured from renewable sources.
For example, an agreement was signed recently with the Malaysian Government on the reforestation of Jetulong, a type of wood used extensively in the manufacture of pencils.
Last year, following the huge success of the Millennium ‘Plant a Tree’ promotion, we repeated this competition which proved so popular with primary schools. Every primary school in the UK received a special entry pack containing details of the competition and a sample card containing three STAEDTLER pencils manufactured in line with company environmental policy. As a result, thousands of saplings have now been sent out.
There can be few better ways of demonstrating an awareness of and commitment to the environment than by planting saplings. By encouraging children to do this, we are hopefully getting the ‘sustainability’ message across to that most important sector of the community – the next generation.
Solving the packaging problem
Of course, it isn’t only the products and manufacturing process that must be environmentally-friendly. Packaging is now an extremely important consideration. Once upon a time, a sturdy cardboard box was all that was required. Now unnecessary packaging or material that’s hard to open is a source of major irritation to teachers. In addition, disposing of packing materials can be a real problem and an annoying distraction for staff.
With the emphasis now very much on bulk buying, we pioneered the use of reusable tubs for bulk purchases and were very encouraged by the enthusiastic response from teachers. Basically, anything that could stand the test of time and also help keep the classroom tidy was a definite winner as far as busy teachers were concerned.
The popularity of these classpacks and the need to reduce unnecessary packaging lead us on to use Gratnells trays. The sturdy, reusable Gratnells tray with a clip-on lid is the perfect packaging for premium STAEDTLER products. Ideal for keeping pencils or crayons in, it fits all standard British classroom furniture.
This initiative was warmly welcomed by the teaching profession and it’s not just the Gratnells trays which are put to good use. We’ve found more than one instance of teachers and children using the plastic interior packaging as seed trays for the school gardens!
As bulk purchasing is now the norm, it’s very important to be able to offer products in permanent packaging that’s also easy to store. It’s not long since the maximum quantity available in a pack was one gross, now STAEDTLER offers a series of 10 gross classpacks, all neatly packaged in the jumbo Gratnells tray.
The introduction of large pallet boxes has also made a significant impact as these dramatically reduce the need for inner and outer packaging on consignments to our suppliers, not to mention fewer deliveries and all the environmental implications that this entails.
It’s up to the enterprising manufacturer to devise clever packaging that goes way beyond its original purpose of protecting the contents. It also needs to offer ongoing benefits to schools.
