SUSTAINABILITY POLICY

“In 2016 I purchased a farm in England and created the World’s first certified Carbon Neutral honey farm. We won awards for our ethical, environmental and sustainability policies and positive impact to the environment. Now, as I work to create the World’s first certified Carbon Neutral ceramics studio, my team and I have revisited how we can be a mindful and responsible business.

As a nature lover, having grown up in the countryside, served on the board of the Soil Association, consulted with DEFRA, and worked as an organic farmer, I care deeply about the impact we make on our planet. However, I recognise the challenges involved with international travel. The below details our approach to preserving and protecting sustainability.”

Our services:

I continue to offer virtual services, and have made significant investment into online learning and development solutions to reduce the need for me to travel.

Our suppliers:

When we must travel, where electric vehicles are available for taxis and transfers, for example, these are always our first choice and specifically requested. For all unavoidable flights, we participate in Carbon Neutral/Carbon Offsetting programs, and the number of flights have been actively reduced. In almost all circumstances, I do not travel with checked-in luggage, and maintain very light carried luggage. We actively use and source recycled and reusable items, engaging closely with key suppliers of regular supplies, such as clay, to understand their own sustainability policies, collaborating for ways to reduce impact. When staying overnight, I never request room service or towel changes for my stays shorter than 1 week, and we actively participate in Carbon Neutral/Carbon Offsetting programs available, partnering with hotel groups who have strong sustainability policies like Hilton. We bank with Monzo, who, as a branchless bank, have a robust sustainability policy, with most of our transactions done contactless removing the need for physical plastic cards.

Our footprint:

All lightbulbs are low energy LED bulbs and all equipment that can be run on rechargeable batteries is. We source our energy from Octopus, opting for the 100% renewable energy tariff and invested in an energy efficient electric kiln, which reduces the energy used by 40% compared to other models, with the energy use monitored and recorded for every firing. We use local council recycling services to recycle everything that we can but aim to reuse as much as possible. All incoming boxes and recyclable packaging and post is shredded and used to pack ceramics that we post out. On item we buy printed, like our thank you cards with care instructions, we source from printers who supply recycled paper stock with vegetable inks, avoiding foil or plastic effects so everything is 100% recyclable. That includes our paper tape and stickers. We try not to print anything and use recycled paper for when we do. Purchases of new items are kept to an absolute minimum and only when necessary. Much of our equipment is sourced from charity shops and recycling centres (which makes typing this on a 100 year old kitchen table, a delight!).

As part of our Carbon Neutral plan, we are having our carbon footprint measured and monitored annually, which we will share here!