Are Your Canvases Vegan + Sustainable? (Materials Sourcing Transparency)

Yes — AmourPrint canvases are fully vegan and built with sustainability in mind. The canvas is 100% cotton, the inks are water-based pigment with zero animal-derived ingredients, the stretcher bars are FSC-certified wood, and the included hanging frame uses FSC wood with water-based finishes. Packaging is curbside-recyclable cardboard with no plastic film or styrofoam.

Why this question matters

We get this question more often than you'd guess — roughly 6% of customers ask before purchase, particularly customers shopping for vegan friends or family. The honest answer is that canvas-print sustainability is a real story to tell, and we want to be specific rather than vague about it.

Is the canvas itself vegan?

Yes. The canvas is 100% cotton, which is a plant fiber harvested from the cotton plant. No animal products are used in the weaving, sizing, or coating process. Some traditional artist canvases historically used rabbit-skin glue as a sizing agent — ours never do. Our cotton canvas is sized with a vegan acrylic primer, which is what makes the surface receptive to pigment ink without absorbing the ink in an uncontrolled way.

Are the inks vegan?

Yes. We use water-based pigment inks. Pigment inks are made of finely ground mineral or synthetic colorants suspended in a water + acrylic binder. No animal-derived dyes, no bone char (sometimes used historically in black inks), no shellac (a beetle-derived resin). Our supplier provides full vegan-certification documentation on the ink formulations.

The wooden frame: is it sustainable?

Yes. The stretcher bars inside every canvas (the wooden frame that the canvas is stretched over) and the included hanging frame are both made from FSC-certified wood — meaning the source forests are managed under Forest Stewardship Council standards for sustainability, biodiversity, and worker rights. The finish on the wood is a water-based, low-VOC clear coat. No solvent-based stains or animal-derived shellacs.

What about packaging?

Our packaging is intentionally minimal and curbside-recyclable:

• Outer box: Corrugated cardboard, recycled content 70%+, fully curbside-recyclable.
• Inner protection: Recycled kraft paper padding. No bubble wrap, no styrofoam, no plastic film over the canvas surface.
• Care card + gift note card: FSC-certified recycled paper, soy-based inks.
• Tape: Paper tape with water-activated adhesive, recyclable with the box.

The one non-recyclable element is the small plastic corner protectors we use on larger canvases (16x20+) to protect the corners during shipping. We're transitioning these to a molded-pulp alternative in 2026 — current estimate is full transition by Q3.

Carbon footprint + shipping

Honest answer: shipping is the largest carbon contribution per canvas, larger than materials or production. We ship via USPS and UPS standard ground for domestic US orders, which is the lower-carbon option compared to air freight. We do not offer carbon offset purchasing at checkout currently, though several similar print companies do — we're evaluating whether to add this in 2026.

Production-side: our printing facility runs on a mix of grid electricity and is partially solar-supplemented. The water-based ink process produces significantly less air pollution than solvent-based inkjet or screen-printing.

What we won't claim

We try to be honest about what we are and aren't doing. We're not claiming to be carbon-neutral, climate-positive, or zero-waste. We're claiming that the materials are vegan, the wood is FSC-certified, the packaging is mostly recyclable, and that we're working on the remaining gaps. If we ever do achieve a third-party-certified carbon-neutral status, we'll publish the certification.

How we compare to alternative wall art categories

Generally:

• vs metal prints: Canvas has a smaller manufacturing carbon footprint and is more recyclable at end-of-life.
• vs acrylic prints: Canvas avoids the PMMA polymer manufacturing footprint and the longer end-of-life decomposition timeline.
• vs framed paper prints with glass: Comparable; glass adds shipping weight which adds shipping carbon, but glass is more recyclable than the corner protectors on a canvas.
• vs traditional oil paintings: Canvas with water-based ink is significantly lower in solvents and animal-derived materials than traditional oil painting on a vegan basis.

What customers say

"I'm vegan and asked AmourPrint about their materials before ordering for my sister's wedding. They sent me actual documentation. The canvas, inks, even the frame finish — all confirmed vegan. Refreshing to get a real answer instead of a vague PR line." — D.L., AmourPrint customer

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