Severn's green efforts earn company Greta and the Giants printing contract

Printing company Severn has won the contract to print Greta and the Giants, a book inspired by Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, on the basis of its green credentials.

Frances Lincoln Children's Books announced it had commissioned the fictionalised picture book from Zoë Tucker and illustrator Zoë Persico, inspired by the teenage Nobel Peace Prize nominee, last month. 

Using allegory – a story of giants who threaten a beautiful forest Greta loves – it strives to make the important topic of climate change accessible to young readers.

According to Frances Lincoln Children's Books, when it came to selecting a printer for the project it was "essential" the book was printed by a company with a "strong environmental profile".

Katie Cotton, publisher at Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, said: "We wanted to publish this book as locally and as sustainably as possible, in line with Greta Thunberg’s principles. To lessen our carbon footprint, we are printing in four locations: the UK for the UK market, the US for the US market, Europe for co-edition customers and Asia for Asian customers and Australia. Each book is printed on 100% recycled paper. Severn were recommended to us by Greenpeace UK as they are Eco Management & Audit Scheme (EMAS) registered, which only a very small number of UK printing companies are, and we are delighted that they are our print partner in the UK. Overall this project has been a great learning curve for everyone involved at Quarto and could pave the way for us to do things differently in the future."

Severn said it was "very proud" of its environmental credentials, laying claim as only one of eight printers in the UK to be accredited by EMAS, the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. A voluntary initiative, the scheme helps companies to monitor and improve their environmental performance, by openly publishing their environmental targets and reporting on the results annually via a public statement.

According to Severn, the company's entire operations are run using 100% renewables, it has removed IPA (Iso-Propyl Alcohol) from the litho printing process to reduce its generation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and its litho printing plates are unprocessed (created without use of chemicals or water) while all used aluminium printing plates are 100% recycled. It also has created a "green team" for the company, made up of members of staff from each department who volunteer themselves to drive environmental improvements. 

Ian Smith, managing director of Severn, commented: "We are thrilled to be producing this wonderful and worthwhile book. I am sure many people will choose to buy a copy, given the importance of the subject matter and the good causes behind it."

As well as donating 3% of the cover price pledged to Greenpeace UK on every sale, Quarto is planting a tree in the Amazon for every preorder of the book via the charity One Tree Planted. 

Greta and the Giants hits shelves on 19th November 2019.