We asked the four businesses nominated for Green Business of the Year to tell us why they should win the award, and this is what they told us...
The Dandy Cat
The Dandy Cat master barbers on Chapel Street both use and sell sustainable, natural shaving and skincare products. They told us that:
*Products are as natural as possible, come from local artisans, contain NO SLSs, parabens, and are cruelty free
*Waste hair is recycled into mats and booms used to clear up waterways UK wide
*They have a wildlife garden in their forecourt with bee friendly plants and of course, no chemicals
*Coffee grounds are recycled, and free for customers to use in their gardens
*They recycle all their paper neck rolls and razor blades
They say that "style shouldn't cost the Earth".
Juniper
Vickie and Victoria at Juniper told us that their business goes well beyond being simply being packaging free.
Environmental Impact: Juniper produces very little waste, and anything they do is recycled. They source goods from as close as possible, ideally local to Petersfield (sourdough bread, eggs, honey, spelt flour, vinegar, apple juice) or British (quinoa, oats, peas, spelt pasta, crisps, cleaning and personal care fluids). In full knowledge that Organic Farming methods offer much greater environmental protection, they always source organic where possible.
Sustainable Practices: The products they sell are rigorously researched, carefully sourced, high quality, and truly sustainable. They don’t tolerate single-use plastic and minimise all other packaging, vigorously encouraging refilling. Their bulk liquids are supplied in a circular empty and refill system.
Innovation & Green Tech: The bakery supplying their bread is powered by renewable resources and delivered to the shop in an electric van. Both company directors homes (where most of the business admin is done!) have solar pv panels.
Social Responsibility: Juniper’s staff encourage ‘try before you buy’ and offer generous sampling to allow as many people as possible to ‘give it a go’ and to reduce waste. They believe it is their collective responsibility to be informed, endeavouring to promote conscious consumption to the benefit of the local and wider community. Juniper is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to equality of opportunity, diversity and to providing a service and following practices which are fully inclusive.
Education & Awareness: Juniper has had stalls at local Eco Fairs and at Alton’s COP 26 climate change event. They have also given a talk to the Eco Club at The Petersfield School and hosted a group of Bedales students who wanted to learn about switching to sustainable alternatives. They actively encourage the sharing of information between customers and shop staff and have found this to be an effective way of influencing change.
Little Leaf Play Cafe
Little leaf Play Cafe told us that they are beyond thrilled to be nominated for Green Business of the Year.
Lucy says that the cafe works extremely hard to be as eco friendly as possible.
Examples include using biodegradable bin liners, plastic-free and natural cleaning products sourced locally, as well as biodegradable single-use coffee cups and lids. The cafe now has reusable travel mugs (with lids for safety) for use indoors in place of disposables, and has worked with Petersfield Physic Garden to raise children's awareness of our local wildlife.
Lucy and Little Leaf feel a strong responsibility to set a good example to the young children who visit the café and aim to do more to raise awareness of sustainability and taking care of our planet through vibrant and exciting activities.
St Peter's Vets
St Peter's Vets have a dedicated Green Team and have achieved a silver accreditation with Investors in the Environment as a result of reducing their energy, water, gas and anaesthetic gas emissions. Their electricity consumption (on a renewable energy tariff) has decreased by 5.8%, water by 8.2%, gas by 9.6% and anaesthetic gas by 10% over the past year. They achieved this reduction via a switch-off campaign, and by implementing low flow anaesthetic techniques, installing hippos in toilets and wearing more layers to keep warm.
They have an environmental policy, a green procurement policy and a waste management plan.
St Peter's separate waste into multiple streams and recycle soft plastics, blister packs and pet food packaging. They also encourage clients to bring back empty pet medication blister packs so that they can be recycled via their Terracycle boxes. They collect milk bottle lids for Petersfield Infant School and use recyclable ink cartridges in their printers. For the last two years they have been a collection point for empty Christmas chocolate, sweet and cracker tubs for the Macmillan recycling scheme.
They repurpose empty plastic drip bags, and use reusable alternatives for endotracheal tube ties and single-use gloves where possible.
St Peter's share environmental campaigns via social media to help raise awareness among the public, and the Green Team also regularly share tips with all members of staff to help reduce their environmental impact, including suggestions on greener driving and how to reduce the impact of ICT.