The Mothercare online green shop offers a range of environmentally friendly baby, kids & maternity products

Our environmental footprint comes from supplying stores in the UK and worldwide with products and from the operation of the stores themselves. All UK and some products destined for our franchise partners' stores pass through one of two warehouses in the UK - some delivered directly by suppliers but some imported by us and requiring transport from the dock where they arrive. At the warehouses they are checked, tested, sorted and eventually transported to our stores. Some products are delivered directly to customers' homes following an order in-store or on the internet.

The most important environmental aspects are therefore:

• Stores, Warehouses and Offices using energy and producing waste
• Transport fleets, bringing products from the docks to the warehouses, from the warehouses to stores or customers' homes
• Wooden products, ensuring what we sell is  made from wood that is legally harvested and where possible certified by the Forest Stewarship Council.
• Packaging and other bulk materials

To reduce our impacts, we have set long term environmental targets in each of these areas and we report progress on these in our annual report each year.  Reducing packaging not only reduces our waste, but also the waste our customers have to throw away.  It also lowers  the carbon emissions associated with transporting products from the country they are  manufactured in, as more can be shipped per container. We are also increasing efforts to recycle more of our waste at our warehouses and stores.

We have 17 regional Corporate Responsibility Champions, who encourage store staff to recycle paper, hangers, cardboard and plastic and also think about conserving energy.  We've also introduced technological innovations, such as automatic meter reading equipment to monitor energy consumption and lighting systems controlled by movement sensors.

In recognition of our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, Mothercare has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard. Based on a rigorous, independent assessment, the Carbon Trust Standard certifies that organisations have measured, managed and reduced their carbon emissions across their own operations, and are committed to reducing them year-on-year.

To support our customers reduce their own environmental footprint we have the Green shop on the Mothercare website, enabling our customers to search our ranges for more sustainable parenthood which offers practical advice and tips. Early Learning Centre stocks a wide range of Forest Stewardship Council certified wooden toys and outdoor play equipment.