8:16am Wednesday 29th April 2009
By Helen Mead
Nowadays, it is possible to be green in almost every aspect of life.
Whether eating out, shopping or going on holiday, there is always a more eco-friendly way to do it. We look at three different businesses used by many people, which have used imaginative ways to go green:
Moving House
Across the UK, around 3.5million boxes are used every month by people moving house – about 3.5 tonnes of cardboard. Many of these boxes, even those in good condition, are recycled.
“In this business, reused boxes are often taken to local recycling depots to be turned back into boxes, with all the power that entails,” says Andrew Scholey, owner and director of Skipton-based Eco-Boxes. “This is an odd scenario – recycling for recycling’s sake. We wanted to find a solution to this – and we have.”
Eco-Boxes supplies environmentally-friendly ‘eco-moving packs’ to the public and to removal companies, making it greener and cheaper to move house.
The online firm emerged from a website – helpiammoving.com – which offers advice, tips and checklists for those moving home. Six years later, helpineedboxes.co.uk was born.
“Our boxes are made of recycled cardboard,” says Andrew.
“They are strong and robust and can be used more than once, so we tell people to pass them to family and friends.” Each moving pack contains a selection of 16 boxes of different sizes.
The company, based in Engine Shed Lane, Skipton, is trialling a system through which customers return boxes, or leave them to be collected free of charge.
The boxes, which include non-toxic inks and glues, are checked for weakening, marks or stains.
“If they can’t be reused, they are shredded and turned into packing material used to protect items in the boxes,” explains Andrew.
Bubble wrap included in the moving packs is OXO biodegradable, meaning that when it is left outside in direct sunlight its constituent particles start to break down.
“So if it is placed on a compost heap it will rot,” says Andrew.
They use non-toxic, bio-degradable parcel tape and are planning to include marker pens made from CD cases.
Eco-Boxes hopes this simple, approach will help to make a dent in the amount of cardboard used for moving house – around 17 trees are needed to produce one tonne of cardboard.
For the past three years the company has funded the planting of trees to offset carbon emissions, through a Lancashire-based carbon offsetting company. They plant two trees every month.
“We take environmental responsibility very seriously,” says Andrew. “People are becoming more aware of waste and in this climate, companies look to where they can reduce it.”
Visit eco-boxes.co.uk for more details, or call (01756) 795962
Bus Travel
It would take a great deal of imagination to think of ways of recycling your journey to work.
But bus company First, which operates buses in the Bradford district, has teamed up with a recycling company and made a range of basketball boots from recycled buses.
The fabric has been reclaimed from worn-out bus seats, while the rubber soles were originally tyres.
First has entered into a partnership with TRiP (Transport Recycling in Partnership) to help develop its business of reusing and recycling transport industry waste.
The new, limited-edition basketball-style trainers have now been launched. Richard Harris, commercial director of First in Yorkshires says: “I hope to see Bradford’s streets full of people wearing our bus seat covers on their feet.”
For more information on the trainers e-mail duncan.mcgraw@first group.com
Fish and Chips
Energy consumption is usually the last thing on people’s minds as they queue for fish and chips.
But, if you are green-minded, you can assuage your guilt in the knowledge that more and more outlets are installing more energy-efficient equipment.
Barkerend Fisheries, opening next month in Otley Road, Bradford, is one of a number of firms across West Yorkshire that has installed an energy-efficient fish-frying range developed in the county.
Pudsey-based Hopkins Catering has developed a range that can cut energy costs by around 60 per cent, and has also developed faster operating motors for ancillary equipment such as chippers and peelers, helping to save power.
Says the firm’s sales and marketing director Victoria Hopkins: “We launched the range at the beginning of the year and it now makes up 95 per cent of our orders.” Adds general manager Paul Barrett: “People popping in for fish and chips could be helping to save the planet without even realising it.”
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/trade_directory/