How our production teams make environmentally informed choices in their day-to-day work

Last year we created a Sustainability Toolkit to help all production, editorial and design teams – teams whose day-to-day work have the biggest environmental impact – make informed choices during the design and production process for our books. The toolkit includes information about the environmental impact of key papers and printers we use, as well as other raw materials including glues, inks and finishes. 

Emilie Hames, Production Controller in the Ladybird Children’s team, shares how she sees the sustainability toolkit affecting the production process, and ultimately reducing our environmental impact.

What is the role of the production team in the publishing process?

The role of production may seem somewhat indistinct to many in the industry, but production teams at Penguin Random House UK play a pivotal role in the publishing process, transforming print files into physical and digital books for readers across the world. 

We are involved with each book from its inception to its delivery to the customer, and project manage each book by liaising with several departments throughout the process to ensure that everything is running smoothly, and that we meet critical deadlines within the schedule. After a title has been allocated within the team, we then work with our suppliers to provide costings based on the editorial brief. Once a book has been given the green light, we’ll then raise the purchase order, work with the printer to answer any order-related queries and liaise with the shipping companies to arrange delivery of our books to customers across the globe. 

How does the sustainability toolkit fit into this?

One sunny Sunday in Buenos Aires, my daughter and I were playing her favourite game on the swings. She was two at the time, and would happily spend the best part of an hour sailing backwards and forwards through the air, occasionally tilting her head to look up at the sky. I liked to push the swing from the front so I could watch the permanent smile on her face as she fully enjoyed the moment. Every few minutes, in my naive, adult way, I would suggest she have a go on the slide or the seesaw, assuming she must be getting bored. I couldn’t understand how she could spend so much time on it.

Obviously, I was using my timescale, not hers. Every now and then, I would stop pushing the swing to check my smartphone for emails, browse the newspaper online, or send a message. I did this strategically so that before the swing lost momentum and she had to ask me, I would resume pushing, and her curly locks would once more flutter against the back of the seat.

What is the role of the production team in the publishing process?

One sunny Sunday in Buenos Aires, my daughter and I were playing her favourite game on the swings. She was two at the time, and would happily spend the best part of an hour sailing backwards and forwards through the air, occasionally tilting her head to look up at the sky. I liked to push the swing from the front so I could watch the permanent smile on her face as she fully enjoyed the moment. Every few minutes, in my naive, adult way, I would suggest she have a go on the slide or the seesaw, assuming she must be getting bored. I couldn’t understand how she could spend so much time on it.

Obviously, I was using my timescale, not hers. Every now and then, I would stop pushing the swing to check my smartphone for emails, browse the newspaper online, or send a message. I did this strategically so that before the swing lost momentum and she had to ask me, I would resume pushing, and her curly locks would once more flutter against the back of the seat.

What is the role of the production team in the publishing process?

One sunny Sunday in Buenos Aires, my daughter and I were playing her favourite game on the swings. She was two at the time, and would happily spend the best part of an hour sailing backwards and forwards through the air, occasionally tilting her head to look up at the sky. I liked to push the swing from the front so I could watch the permanent smile on her face as she fully enjoyed the moment. Every few minutes, in my naive, adult way, I would suggest she have a go on the slide or the seesaw, assuming she must be getting bored. I couldn’t understand how she could spend so much time on it.

Obviously, I was using my timescale, not hers. Every now and then, I would stop pushing the swing to check my smartphone for emails, browse the newspaper online, or send a message. I did this strategically so that before the swing lost momentum and she had to ask me, I would resume pushing, and her curly locks would once more flutter against the back of the seat.

What is the role of the production team in the publishing process?

One sunny Sunday in Buenos Aires, my daughter and I were playing her favourite game on the swings. She was two at the time, and would happily spend the best part of an hour sailing backwards and forwards through the air, occasionally tilting her head to look up at the sky. I liked to push the swing from the front so I could watch the permanent smile on her face as she fully enjoyed the moment. Every few minutes, in my naive, adult way, I would suggest she have a go on the slide or the seesaw, assuming she must be getting bored. I couldn’t understand how she could spend so much time on it.

Obviously, I was using my timescale, not hers. Every now and then, I would stop pushing the swing to check my smartphone for emails, browse the newspaper online, or send a message. I did this strategically so that before the swing lost momentum and she had to ask me, I would resume pushing, and her curly locks would once more flutter against the back of the seat.