Greeting card sellers under fire over poor sustainability disclosure

More than half (52%) of UK adults assume well-known businesses that sell greetings cards offer sustainable products made from well managed forests, a YouGov poll for WWF has revealed.

The British are the biggest card senders in the EU, and almost 2 in 5 (39%) buycards from specialist card retailers, but in WWF’s timber scorecard only one of the reviewed card sellers, Hallmark, scored highly on its sustainability policy and transparency for consumers. Card sellers like Paperchase and Clintons Cards received the lowest marks.

WWF highlights that despite the industry being worth an estimated £1.6bn at Christmas time alone, greetings cards are among the products not covered by the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR), which is designed to keep illegally sourced timber out of the marketplace.

The regulation is currently under review by the European Commission in Brussels, and WWF has been campaigning to have ‘loopy loopholes’ closed, so that all goods that contain wood but are currently exempt from the EUTR, like books, cards, chairs and toys, are included. 

Julia Young, WWF’s adviser on sustainable and legal timber trade, commented: “Consumers have told us time and again they want businesses to act responsibly and help them buy sustainably.

“Thousands of our supporters tweeted Paperchase and Clintons last week to try and persuade them to up their game. Clintons tweeted back that they are complying with the EU Timber Regulation, but say nothing about sustainability.

“Paperchase tweeted that they are sourcing from sustainable wood sources but we still can’t find any policy about this on their website, and they are not responding to our direct enquiries about this. For such well-known brands, they should be demonstrating leadership on this issue."