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"What are you doing to make your business more sustainable?"

1

Reducing Wastage

John Judson FBII
The George, Castleton
To reduce waste, we have implemented a fair few changes. Timer plugs play a big part in turning things off, like the remote coolers, drinks fridges, microwaves, hot cupboard and televisions to ensure nothing is left on standby overnight. We have sensor lighting in our satellite kitchens, beer cellar, corridors, toilets and on the residents’ landing area. And we also ask guests to turn off lights when they are not using the rooms. Locals bring their unwanted garden produce to swap with our products, which helps cut down on food wastage. Staff encourage customers to take only the sauces they need, saying they will bring more if needed. We use cardboard from deliveries in the garden, on top of the raised beds, to help retain water. “I love reading the ideas from the BII’s other Sustainability Champions which we look to adapt or adopt for ourselves.

2

Team & Community

Aimee Campanella
Reconomy
In summary, this year we’ve: Engaged with local schools to help young people learn about careers in waste management, Held a Macmillan coffee morning at our office, raising £300, Team volunteering days at local charity, FareShare, which redistributes food to those in need in the Southwest, Team gym membership and bi-monthly socials, Electric car charging point installed in car park, Online sustainability training for the team, Exhibited at our local Festival of Sustainable Business, Three local litter picks to help keep our streets clean and we have recruited two summer interns”

3

Positive Impact

Jonny Easter
Warner’s Distillery
Warner’s Distillery is a certified B Corporation, which means we actively measure our social and environmental impact and take meaningful actions to create positive impact for people and planet. At Warner’s we have our own conservation and sustainability manager who drives this, as well as looking after our 16 acres of botanical gardens and our beehives containing approximately 1.2 million bees. Here on Falls Farm, we are creating an environment where nature can thrive through the way we manage the 140 acre of farmland, with a particular focus on pollinator friendly planting. With the support of the Wildlife Trust BCN, we are engaging stakeholders in the drinks industry on how to create space for nature via Warners’ Nature Marque pub accreditation scheme.

4

Caring Approach To Nature and Environment

Tom Richardson MBII
The Three Moles, Selham
Since taking over the pub six years ago, we do everything we do everything we can to be sustainable. We use LED lighting and because we are rural, we use oil for heating. We’ve invested in a more efficient boiler, which has saved us 1,000 litres of oil a year. We have timers on all the fridges and coolers; the urinals don’t automatically flush, staff do it when they check the toilets. Cost saving is a big thing, and because we are in the country we like to do everything we can for the environment, such as leaving grass cuttings to become a habitat for wildlife and insects. We recycle as much as possible to avoid sending anything to landfill – so much so, we hardly ever fill our bins to half-way. We buy locally, as much as we can, and avoid the big brands. All our fruit juice, tonics and gin is Sussex-produced. Our meat comes from the butcher, who buys from local farms – our lamb comes from the farm next door. We recently achieved a silver award from the Green South Downs Sustainability Certification Programme and we plan to go for gold next time.

5

Recycling Scheme With Lots of Bottle

Keris & Lee De Villiers FBII
Pig & Whistle, Wandsworth
We have started an initiative in both of our pubs where customers bring in their used cooking oil and we send it off with ours to be recycled. As the scheme had been going really well, we applied for a small grant from Wandsworth Council, which we have used to have branded bottles made. Customers take away a bottle, fill it with oil and return it to us, then we swap it for a new bottle, and so on. “So far, we have collected over 200 litres of oil. This is oil that would otherwise have gone down the sink. It has been a great recycling scheme for us, a way to be more sustainable, engage with our community and we also get paid a small amount for the oil we recycle by our suppliers, which is an added bonus.

6

Commitment To Be Carbon Negative By 2025

Colin Ringer
ICRTouch
We’re always looking at new ways to be more energy efficient and, as a team, we’ve dedicated ourselves to becoming carbon negative by 2025. Our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint includes: using rainwater to power our HQ bathrooms, energy efficient lighting, reducing single use plastic and planting trees. One of our biggest investments has been the installation of solar panels on our ICRTouch HQ buildings – the battery storage on-site means we can run for periods throughout the year without needing to draw energy from the grid. We also have electric vehicle charging points for our staff and a fleet of e-bikes, which we encourage them to use for their commute.

7

Doing Well By Doing Good

Jessica Nicklin
Punch Pubs & Co
At Punch Pubs, we promise to keep Doing Well, by Doing Good for our people and the planet. We are delighted to have partnered with the Eden Project to increase the biodiversity of our pub gardens, creating spaces for local communities and wildlife to enjoy. We are investing in our pubs to improve their EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) ratings, whilst helping our publicans and management partners reduce their energy consumption. We are also working on a plethora of other sustainable initiatives, and whilst we know ESG [Environmental, Social & Governance] is a journey, not a destination, we are truly excited by what the future holds.

8

Less Waste and More Renewable Energy

Frank Poulton
New Lodge Working Men’s Club, Barnsley
We make every effort to be sustainable and continue to improve our practices to reduce landfill. We have already removed our inefficient gas boiler and reduced our electric consumption by installing solar panels. We do not use singleuse plastics and we have environmentally friendly straws. We utilise bottle banks for all of our empties. Our fridges and washers are the most efficient A+ rated units, and we use an automatic line cleaning system to reduce both water and product wastage.

9

Sustainability At The Heart Of Everything We Do

Ollie Coulombeau MBII
The Turk’s Head, Twickenham
Fuller’s is committed to procuring 100% renewable energy, sourced from wind, solar and hydroelectricity. We also carefully monitor our energy usage to help identify opportunities to save it. We have added EndoTherm to our heating system, to improve the efficiency of heat transfer from our radiators, and our remote beer coolers have smart timers, which switches them off overnight. This saves up to 25% of electricity usage. New temperature controls on our cellar cooling unit, which targets achieving the correct temperature where the beer is stored, has reduced energy usage by 20%. During events, we use Green Goblet reusable cups, and we’ve moved our waste management to Veolia, to increase our recycling. Olleco recycles our waste cooking oil. And as a Refill Station, we promote the use of refillable water bottles. Sustainability is now a key part of the planning stage of everything we do, and with this approach and the support of our amazing team and customers, we hope to continue to have a positive impact on the world around us.

10

Buying Organic and Local

Greg Pilley
We’re doing so many things, but our greatest impact has been in how we make purchasing decisions for our bar, café and brewery. Our largest purchase is for malted barley for the brewery, so it makes total sense for us to be a dedicated organic brewery – it’s the best thing any brewery can do! As well as lowering our carbon footprint, this nature-friendly approach to farming supports significantly more biodiversity (and according to the Soil Association, on organic farms, plant, insect and bird life is 50% more abundant, on average, and there are around 75% more wild bees) than on farms using conventional systems. Similarly, we have a policy to serve at least 50% local and/or organic food and drinks in our bar. In addition, solar PV panels power the equivalent of 25% of the brewery’s annual electricity requirements (saving £5,000 a year) and rainwater is collected and cleaned to flush the toilets, saving approximately £800 a year.

This interview can be found in the Autumn 2023 edition

Read the full issue

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