Babbabing is a fine art & digital printing business based in Princes Risborough, owned and run by Mia Babb. From the its inception, Babbabing has been built with sustainability in mind, with a focus on reducing and re-using materials.
Reduce
Mia makes sure not to purchase any unnecessary items for the business, and she encourages her artist clients do the same. She does this by allowing her clients to purchase the exact number of prints they need, instead of forcing them to buy a set, minimum order which could go to waste. Unlike traditional lithographic printing Mia’s business is set up to do fast prints, so her clients can quickly order prints when they are needed, rather than relying on a stockpile of prints to fulfil their client’s requests. Encouraging artists to order the minimum amount they need may mean less sales initially but in the long term Mia has found that it builds trust and longevity with her clients.
The usage of materials when printing is also reduced, as the setting out of the art-work is optimised to limit waste.
Whilst reducing materials and purchases are beneficial for the environment, Mia has also found that it’s been helpful in keeping the costs lower in her business which she then passes on to her clients.
Re-use
There are many areas in the product lifecycle at Babbabing where items are re-used. Below is a list of the key items
- Cardboard tubes left over from the printing paper are re-used for postage
- The long boxes the printing paper arrives in are cut down into greeting card boxes for clients
- All packaging is re-used where possible – even cat food boxes are re-used for A6 cards
- Bubble-wrap that comes with picture frames is re-used until the bubble element is used up
- Prints that are created as part of the proof process are re-used for art collages
As most of Mia’s customers are artists, many of them are on the same wavelength when it comes to re-using materials, so they appreciate the efforts Mia takes in this area.
Other green initiatives
Babbabing has other energy and waste reducing activities. This year solar panels were installed to the studio roof and were attached to two batteries in order to store energy. So far, these panels have met the energy needs of the studio, eliminating a reliance on unsustainable energy sources.
The supply chain of Mia’s business also has green credentials. It’s two main paper suppliers Hahnemhule and Canson, both have strong environmental policies in place and use paper from FCS certified forests where possible. Babbabing has also started to use Bamboo paper, as it requires less water, grows quickly and still delivers on quality.
Babbabing’s printer and ink supplier, Epson have a recycling process in place to collect empty ink cartridges and their inkjet printers typically consume 95% less energy than a laser printer and create 92% less C02 emissions. There is also less waste with their ability to print exact quantities on demand.
Even with all of these changes, Mia is planning more and is keeping her eyes peeled for more ways to support the environment.
We’re looking forward to seeing what she innovates with next!
Read more about Babbabing here: https://www.babbabing.com/.
The Thame Business Initiative is a 21st Century Thame project started January 2023).
It’s aim is to engage businesses in the sustainability discussion in 3 ways :
- to showcase what they are already doing and what they are aiming to do,
- to encourage their employees to be involved in local sustainability initiatives and
- to encourage the business to help fund projects being run by the community.
The project has initially been funded by SODC via a South Oxfordshire District Council Councillor Grant 2023.
Lightfoots Solicitors have kindly supported this project to enable us to continue the work further into 2023.
