About Us
Who are you?
Hello! I’m Charlie, and I’m the founder/owner/everything everywhere all at once of The Sustainable Book Club.
Why do you exist?
Big question. Waaaaay back in 2020 you might remember that the world went on a break for a hot minute. As someone who works in the arts, I very suddenly found myself without any form of income, no work, no prospects, and a heavy dose of existentialism. I needed something that was going to get me through the days, whilst also hopefully generating a little bit of income. The things I chose to get through the days initially were staring out of the window, crying, jigsaw puzzles, crying, baking, more baking, so much baking, eating baked goods, making cocktails, crying. None of these were earning me any money. I was also, like a lot of people, buying endless stuff online to try and help with the monotony, and the amount of packaging I was accruing was making me anxious. I also, again like a lot of people, have been developing and living with a hefty amount of climate anxiety. Every time I received an order I thought “there must be a way for this to be less wasteful. Why so much plastic? Why so much of everything?!”.
I also had inherited a huge number of books from my parents, both in the arts and both avid readers and knowledge-acquirers. I was never going to be able to read them all (too much crying and baking to be done to have any time for reading!) and I wanted to do something meaningful with them.
Thus the idea of The Sustainable Book Club was born. Why not send these books out to people, all tucked up in a lovely gift which will be delightful to receive, but crucially using as little plastic or wasteful resources as possible. Oh, and what about including some snacks which prove that not all the delicious things also have to put pressure on the planet? I sent out a few trial boxes to some willing guinea pigs and the feedback I got was overwhelmingly positive. I bit the bullet and set up an Etsy shop. Within a month I’d received 100 orders. This was mad. So I set up a website, did some advertising and by the end of 2020 - within just four months from the conception of the idea - I’d sold over 500 boxes and been featured in Red Magazine’s Christmas gift guide. People were into this idea in a big way.
That sounds amazing! What happened?
I mentioned before that I work in the arts. After the world reopened, my partner and I had written a musical, and managed to get it on at Southwark Playhouse in 2022. Suddenly I was a writer and a performer again, with myself to sell as well as boxes. I got overwhelmed. I couldn’t do both without having a nervous breakdown, and with a heavy heart I had to close the door on the Book Club for a while.
OK. Why are you back?
Wellllll, the world's settled down a bit now, and the arts is being systematically decimated by lots of things (I won't get into politics and mass media here, but if you’re into it you can find my personal Instagram account without too much of a deep dive). I’m just one of 800,000 people like me trying to make a way for themselves, and it's hard. I’ve had to go back to hospitality, and frankly I’m too old for that now. I have sciatica. Whilst applying for yet another temping job, I was writing my CV up and remembered that, hey, wait - I’d actually started and run a successful business. So I’m taking the leap and relaunching the Sustainable Book Club - this time with a bit more business nous behind me and the knowledge that a bit of planning can help me do both the things I love. And hopefully pay the mortgage.