Sustainability

Sustainable practices

Although Untitled Thoughts has transformed many times throughout its nearly 10 years,  there has been one common thread pulling us along: Our undying commitment to nature, sustainability, and protecting this lovely planet of ours to the best of our ability. We maintain as many sustainable, eco-friendly practices as we can possibly get our hands on. As Untitled Thoughts continues to grow, the sustainable practices we incorporate will continue to move in a positive direction!

In the Studio + Library

We use as many energy efficient and sustainably sourced resources as possible within both the studio and the library. We may be a tiny operation, but that doesn't stop us from being incredibly dedicated to providing you with beautiful sewing patterns and high-quality books that keep your conscience feeling super good.

B.A. Franc hand selects each and every title that appears on the online book shelves, with the majority of the books being slightly used, but in great quality. Of the new books chosen for the online shop, B.A. Franc is super picky, only bringing in titles that she, herself, has read, loved, and would recommend. Many of them are also by indie authors as well!!

Energy

Our website is hosted by GreenGeeks which is an eco-friendly hosting provider. Not only do they run on 300% Wind Power, but they are also partnered with U.S. EPA Green Power. You can check out all they are striving to do for the environment here.

It may seem small, but all of the lights in the studio and library are Energy Star certified CFL Bulbs. Each bulb saves an estimated 84 lbs of CO2 over the course of its lifetime as compared to a traditional incandescent bulb and they last around 10 times as long. Plus, the studio is located in a pretty sunny spot, so we hardly even have to turn on the lights when working during the day, saving even more! The library tends to get a bit dark, but we mitigate this by working during the brightest hours of the day and only turning on the necessary lights when it is too dark to see otherwise. 

Garden

Both the studio and library are located inside the owner’s actual home. As such, she and her husband have worked tirelessly to transform as much of their usable space into a beautiful and productive garden! Currently, half of their front lawn has been turned into an organic, edible and floral garden, attracting all sorts of pollinators and providing us with a small percentage of our personal groceries. Over the course of the past few years, B.A. Franc and her husband have planted dozens of fruiting trees and bushes, perennial flowers and fruits, and have even built a wildlife pond! In doing so, their garden has helped to provide a good portion of the food they require on a daily basis, thus cutting back on their reliance on foods sourced from thousands of miles away. 

Recycling + Composting

In the past, when we were focused primarily on creating sewing patterns, we recycled, reused, or donated all of our textile scraps with zero waste as the ultimate goal. As we turn more towards the bookish side of things, we have discovered all sorts of ways in which to further our zero waste goals, mainly when it comes to packaging (which you can read more about below).

We are also officially composting 100% of our organic matter as well as striving to eliminate the amount we need to recycle through more efficient use of our supplies and fabrics. Every little thing adds up, and we want to make a positive difference, no matter how small.

 

E-commerce

On average, e-commerce uses about 30% less energy than traditional brick + mortar retailers do. Coupling that with an energy efficient web hosting program and Untitled Thoughts is actually offsetting our carbon footprint by offering so many of our products exclusively online. Pretty cool, eh?

Physical, Handmade Products

When it comes to making anything that graces the shelves of the online shop, B.A. Franc is always cognizant of the hidden costs of each and every material that goes in to her creations. This is why she opts to craft things slowly, by hand, and with the utmost care and attention to the full life of her creations.

For example, the quilted book sleeves she lovingly sews in small batches. Each book sleeve was cut from 100% cotton fabric, lined with 100% cotton batting, and sewn with 100% cotton thread. Aside from the button (which is thrifted/ vintage) and the elastic loop to hold the sleeve closed, the entire item is home-compostable. 

Or the linocut bookmarks and cards: Did you know that each and every one of these is hand cut, folded, and stamped by B.A. Franc using cold-pressed watercolor paper to ensure that there is zero waste in the making process? B.A. Franc even saves as many scraps of linocut block in order to carve small stamps that she then uses on the shipping boxes in order to add a bit of fun and whimsy to each order. 

Shipping

Some of the items sold on the site are digital downloads which require no shipping (yay!). However, with the rest that do require shipping (AKA physical books), we aim to create beautiful packages that are so pretty and handy that you might wish to find ways in which to reuse them yourself OR we opt to send packages wrapped in boxes/ soft packages that were sent to us first, thus reusing what we already have and hoping you might do the same. We also aim to purchase eco-friendly packages that can be easily recycled or - better yet - composted in your own backyard! 

With most book shipments, we find that we also need to add a bit of cushioning in and around the book in order to protect it. Instead of opting for plastic bubble wrap, we use what we have already got on hand: shredded cardboard and paper! Why buy brand new shredded paper when we can shred our own, unused documents and broken packages to safely pad your books for shipment that you can then recycle or compost, too. So many wins!

Service & Community

Helping others isn't all about the karma; we think it's awesome to help others just because. We are constantly looking for new ways to support local and national organizations. Currently, we donate 1-5 percent of every item sold on the website on a monthly basis to specific non-profit organizations such as:

You can find out exactly how much your purchases have allowed us to donate here. 

We also donate fabric scraps to local business Re:Loom and unsold products to individual families or shelters in need.