Our Approach to Sustainability

As a small maker, we believe that thoughtful choices can make a difference.

From the timber and finishes we use to the way we work in our workshop and package finished products, we look for practical ways to reduce waste and lessen our environmental impact without compromising the quality or durability of what we make.

We don't claim to have all the answers, but sustainability is something we consider when choosing our materials, processes and packaging — and something we will continue to improve as Pyefinch grows.

Making Products to Last

For us, sustainability starts with making something worth keeping.

We design our products to be useful, durable and capable of providing many years of service. Wherever practical, we also consider how a product can be maintained or refinished in the future rather than simply replaced when its original finish begins to show its age.

Working predominantly with solid wood also means many of our products can be repaired or refinished if necessary, helping to extend their useful life.

Our aim is simple: to make products that earn their place in your home rather than becoming disposable purchases.

Making the Most of Our Timber

Wood is a valuable natural material, so we try to make the best possible use of every board that enters our workshop.

We carefully plan how products are positioned and cut to use the available timber efficiently, while also considering grain, colour and natural character.

Useful offcuts are kept wherever practical and used for smaller products, prototypes and future projects rather than automatically being discarded. Even pieces too small for our products can find another use, with suitable clean hardwood offcuts retained for our own hot smoking rather than being thrown away.

We're also currently testing ways of making use of clean hardwood sawdust produced in our workshop as cold-smoking dust, potentially turning another by-product of making our products into something useful in its own right.

Our aim is to find a useful purpose for as much of the clean timber waste produced in our workshop as we reasonably can, getting the greatest possible use from the timber we buy.

Choosing Our Finishes Carefully

The finish applied to a wooden product plays an important part in protecting it and extending its useful life, so our first consideration is always choosing a finish appropriate to the way the product will be used.

For many products we use a professional UV-cured hard wax oil, selected for its durability, low maintenance and ability to retain the natural appearance and feel of the timber.

Environmental and food-contact characteristics were also important considerations when choosing it. The manufacturer's technical information states a VOC content of 0 g/l, while treated wood samples have undergone independent laboratory testing for their food-contact characteristics.

For products where the way they are used makes a readily renewable finish more appropriate, we instead use Pyefinch Board Butter. This provides a finish that can be easily maintained and refreshed at home, helping the product remain in use for longer.

We don't believe that one finish is right for every wooden product. We choose according to the needs of the individual product, with quality, durability, suitability and long-term care taking priority.

Find out more in our Product Care Guide →

Small-Batch Making

We're not a mass-production business.

Many of our products are made individually or in small batches in our own workshop. This allows us to respond to demand rather than producing large quantities of stock simply in the hope that it will sell.

Small-batch production also gives us greater control over material selection, quality and how efficiently we use our timber.

It also gives us the freedom to continue developing new ideas and finding useful applications for smaller pieces of material that might not suit larger-scale production.

Packaging With a Purpose

We want our packaging to protect your purchase properly while keeping unnecessary waste and plastic to a minimum.

Our products are dispatched in cardboard boxes containing recycled material and designed to be recyclable after use. Our principal packaging supplier, Kite Packaging, states that its standard cardboard boxes contain 60–90% recycled content and are fully kerbside recyclable.

Products are wrapped in acid-free tissue paper and protected using wood wool made from shredded timber, rather than conventional plastic bubble wrap or plastic void fill. We also use paper kraft packing tape, while our branded packaging labels are paper-based.

Shipping labels are produced using a thermal printer, avoiding the need for ink or toner cartridges.

Where practical, we've deliberately chosen packaging materials that can be reused, recycled or biodegraded, while still providing the protection a handmade wooden product needs on its journey to you.

We don't believe reducing packaging at the expense of adequate protection makes environmental sense. Replacing a product damaged in transit would consume considerably more materials and resources than packaging it properly in the first place.

Reducing Waste in the Workshop

Making things inevitably produces some waste, but we look for sensible ways to minimise it throughout our processes.

Careful planning and efficient cutting help us get more from our materials, while useful offcuts are retained wherever practical rather than automatically discarded.

We also aim to buy and use consumables sensibly and avoid unnecessary material use throughout machining, sanding, finishing and packaging.

Not every form of workshop waste can be eliminated or reused, but we believe reducing waste is an ongoing process rather than a box to be ticked.

An Approach That Keeps Evolving

We're always looking for practical ways to improve.

As new materials, packaging options and processes become available, we'll continue to consider whether they can reduce our environmental impact while maintaining the quality we expect from a Pyefinch product.

We would rather make realistic improvements that we can stand behind than make broad environmental claims that are difficult to substantiate.

For us, it's about making considered choices, wasting less where we can, and creating quality products intended to be used and enjoyed for a long time.