Check out our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/badgerdesign) and ‘like’ us to see company news, information and our latest promotions and offers.

At the moment we’re producing retro flying badger magnets and sending out a set to every new person who ‘like’s us. They are pretty splendid, so take a look at our page and your very own set could be winging  their way to you!!!

We’re proud to become Sedex members!

Our membership number is: S000000044843

And we can also now provide a copy of a

SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) Report

carried out on our magnetic material supplier.

“Sedex is a not for profit membership organisation dedicated to driving improvements in responsible and ethical business practices in global supply chains.”

source: http://www.sedexglobal.com/

From the magnetic material, the paper we use, the inks we print with, right through to the gloss laminate – there’s no PVC in any of it!!

We have recently received confirmation that the bags we use for our packaging and litho inks are PVC free: it’s a question we’d been asked and while our suppliers thought it unusual we can now provide their answers…

From our bag supplier:

“Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is not used as additives or raw materials in the manufacture of our products. These are either not included in the formulation of or manufacture of the raw materials we use.

******* Ltd does not use any of the above materials in the products it supplies.”

Our bags are made of OPP (Oriented Polypropylene; a derivative of PP (Polypropylene) key characteristics of which are its clarity and anti-static properties. This superior grade polypropylene is formulated with anti-static additives to give enhanced visibility and reduced dust attraction.

If it’s the Litho inks you’re interested in we can provide you with the spec sheets to show exactly what is in them.

As you will be able to see from another of our blogs we were recently asked to ensure that our bags and litho inks were Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) free. We were able to confirm they were, and it lead to a bit of a discussion in the office about why it is so important…

In conclusion… according to the evidence PP is a much safer, non-toxic and environmentally friendly, alternative to PVC.

Source: http://www.albox.com.au/pages/Polypropylene-vs-Polyvinyl-Chloride-(PVC).html

Dehesa and montado support many species of flora and fauna

Discover why your corkback coasters can have a significant impact on Europe’s biodiversity.

An ancient and unique habitat

Dehesas (Spain) and montados (Portugal) are mixed farming systems, combining oak woodlands with livestock grazing and cereal cultivation, often interspersed by areas of scrub – heather, gorse, brooms, lavender, rock rose, strawberry trees etc.

Unlike other agro-forestry systems, it developed around the existing, primeval woodlands. Cork is the most economically valuable product. Spain and Portugal have more than half of the world’s cork oak woodlands, and produce around three quarters of the worlds cork. Natural wine corks represent about 90% of the economic value of the cork market.

‘a diverse, ancient woodland ecosystem based on native flora has developed’

The outer bark of a cork oak tree can be stripped every 9-14 years without harming the tree. Since the harvesting involves no logging, a diverse, ancient woodland ecosystem based on native flora has developed.

The oak trees and associated shrubs bind the soil, prevent erosion, and maintain the water table by protecting the soil from evaporation. The wildlife these forests support is unique, and includes the endangered Iberian lynx, the Spanish imperial eagle (with a world population of around 130 breeding pairs) and the Bonelli’s eagle.

What is at stake?

Removal of the native oak forests would destroy a habitat unique in the world. Its destruction would be comparable to turning Yellowstone National Park into a wheatfield.

Species such as the Spanish imperial eagle and the Iberian lynx would probably become extinct. Soil erosion, water evaporation and carbon dioxide emissions would increase.

Montados and dehesas and their important wildlife are also under pressure from powerful agribusinesses, building and real estate interests for tourism, and building of new dams, irrigation networks and highways. Falling cork prices would make it more difficult to resist these threats.

In Spain and Portugal the cork industry provides around 80,000 jobs – many local communities are virtually dependent on cork. As the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) puts it: ‘If the market demand for cork back coasters were to decrease significantly, the entire system could collapse’.

1. Forestery – all face and backing papers are made with pulp sourced from sustainable and registered forests in Scandinavia.

2. Chlorine – all the papers used are ECF

3. Other Chemicals – all highline items conform to the European directive 94/62/CEE

4. Acididty – All the papers used are manufactured PH neutral to be acid free.

5. Adhesives – These are water based acrylics and therefore solvent-free. They comply with regulation EN71/3 ‘safety of toys” and FDA for ‘Food Contact”

6. ISO 14001 – Green Dove Award. Arconvert hold this highly respected Swiss Certification.

When it comes to buying recycled paper, you naturally look for as high a recycled content as possible. You can rightly assume that where it states 100% recycled the finished product is made totally from waste paper. But what about the ‘bits’ you’re left with? What happens to these?

With Cyclus 100% recycled paper, you get what it says – a paper made entirely from recycled waste paper and the added advantage of knowing all waste resulting from the production process is also recycled.

The by-products are used to make fertiliser and cement and they even use it within bio-fuel. What other recycled paper has these credentials?

The range starts at 80gsm up to board weights of 350gsm in sizes of SRA2 up to B1 in packet wrap and bulk pack.