We spoke to Dominic Humphries, owner of popular local bars and eateries The Townhouse and Annie Jones, to find out what these businesses are doing to reduce their environmental impact. With a background in marine biology, Dom has always been concerned about our impact on the planet and has striven to make sustainable choices for the two venues.
Both businesses proudly support local suppliers and producers, sourcing all their wine from the General Wine Company and their meat from Morgans, both on Lavant Street, with fruit and vegetables provided by Bryant Bros at Petersfield Market. Celebrating independent local brands has always been a core objective.
Dom is happy to admit that waste management is an ongoing challenge, particularly for bars and restaurants, but the two businesses do their best to separate waste and recycle as much as possible. This is in fact in businesses’ interest, as under commercial agreements it is more cost-effective to recycle than to send mixed waste to landfill. Dom uses Basingstoke-based company Southern Waste Management, which he is satisfied properly processes the waste.
One of the most impressive initiatives the two venues have adopted is their GiftTrees scheme. GiftTrees are committed to planting one billion trees and lifting one million people out of poverty. By planting high yielding fruit trees in the developing world, they are able to offer some of the poorest communities the means to grow their own food and make an income from the surplus, which in turn leads to better education and employment opportunities.
At The Townhouse and Annie Jones, when you spend over £30 an optional £1.23 charge is added to your bill – and this pays for a GiftTree. Customers are of course welcome to remove the donation from their bill, if they prefer.
Incredibly, at the start of this year, the two venues announced that together they had reached the milestone of 15,000 GiftTrees!
With the population of Petersfield sitting just under that number, their customers have paid for a tree for every resident of the town.
Any restaurant can join this scheme, and after a short certification process, Dom tells us there is nothing more to do. The staff should be well briefed, of course, and customers made aware, but that aside business owners and managers can rest easy in the knowledge that trees are being planted due to this brilliant collaborative initiative.
Please go to plant.gifttrees.com to find out more!
