What our model does to the carbon math

Made-to-order eliminates overstock waste

Every mug we sell is pressed when ordered. We don’t warehouse finished goods. We don’t bin unsold inventory at the end of season. The industry average for ceramic gift waste is around 12% of production (Statista 2024). Ours is closer to 0%.

Honest caveat: we do produce QA-rejected variants during the autonomous design pipeline. Those master files are tagged and archived in R2, but the physical mug isn’t pressed. Net waste: a few kWh of GPU compute per rejected design.

Cornish-pressed

Gelato’s UK fulfilment runs the press in the UK for UK orders. Median mug-to-doorstep distance: around 400km. International POD averages 2,000–4,000km when shipped from Asia. Net carbon: roughly 85% lower per order versus offshore POD.

Honest caveat: some mugs ship via Gelato’s Germany facility when UK queue is full. Average 600km. Still better than offshore.

Royal Mail Tracked 48

Tracked 48 piggybacks Royal Mail’s existing network. No dedicated couriers. No same-day overnight emissions. Door-to-door in 48 hours is enough — your mug doesn’t need to arrive in four.

Honest caveat: Tracked 24 is available at checkout if you really need same-day-next. It costs extra; it uses more carbon. We don’t hide the option, but we don’t default to it either.

Packaging

Recyclable corrugated cardboard. Paper void fill. No plastic. Paper-based tape. Water-based ink on uncoated kraft paper for the postal label. Every component is recyclable kerbside or compostable.

Honest caveat: pre-launch we are still negotiating with Gelato about their default packaging materials. If they ship in non-recyclable bubble wrap by default, we’ll be honest about that here and try to switch.

What we don’t do

• No carbon offsets bought. Offsets are accounting tricks; we’d rather not emit in the first place.
• No environmental advocacy campaigns. We’re a mug shop, not a climate non-profit.
• No “a tree planted per order” partnerships. Marketing dressed as virtue.
• No sustainability committee or climate report. We’re one person and a workshop.