The paper merchant developed the calculator with the Edinburgh Centre of Carbon Management and the carbon is balanced by the World Land Trust.

The calculator estimates the embedded carbon impact of HSP products and found that stocks of Greencoat and Think4 saved 1,286 tonnes of carbon between March and June last year.

The pre-balanced papers are produced by mills with carbon reduction programmes - Think4 at Scottish-based paper manufacturer Tullis Russell, and Greencoat at Arjowiggins in France.

Marketing director Dave Cooling said the business had measured the carbon impacts of all its key products.

He said: "We are moving to a carbon focused economy. Carbon balancing is where an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere.

"We believe it offers a solution with integrity and credibility for customers and end users to reduce the carbon impacts of their marketing communications."

The Think4 and the Greencoat recycled family are offered as carbon balanced products as part of the product's feature and benefits. There is no additional cost for the customer to pay.

Greencoat is available with a range of finishes as an offset, preprint, silk or gloss paper.

Think4 is an uncoated product that is used in the publishing sector for text and cover work, and in the commercial arena for multi-coloured jobs.

All other products may be carbon balanced on an opt-in basis.