The

Green

Room

Wildlife

It is amazing what you can achieve even in a small town garden.

Since we have been at our present location, we have made a very determined effort to improve conditions for native wildlife, by avoiding any use of artificial fertilisers, weed-killers or insecticides, by planting only plants that are useful to native insect species, and by providing a wide range of habitats.

The results have been spectacular.

At the far end of the garden, we have created a thriving wildlife pond, which teems with insect life and now sustains its own breeding colony of frogs.

But, more astonishingly, over the last three years, a breeding colony of these beautiful Scarlet Tiger moths has established itself around our front door.

Recycling

All our regular customers will be familiar with our policy of re-using cardboard boxes whenever possible for the despatch of our orders.

This seems to us to be a common sense way to reduce the consumption of primary resources. But it is also one way for us to encourage other businesses to re-examine their own impact on the environment.

We have also been active locally in promoting the various recycling options available to businesses (and individuals) in our area, acting as voluntary brokers to help recycling businesses to link up with new clients.

Cars

Our policy on car ownership is often misunderstood. We are not opposed to cars as such. We choose to own no cars, either as individuals or through the company, but we are happy to hire cars or vans when we consider it appropriate.

There are two main reasons why we avoid car ownership.

Firstly, as car manufacture consumes large amounts of the earth's resources, it makes sense to minimise the number made and share their usage. Car hire firms and courier firms are two efficient ways of arranging this shared use.

Secondly, we believe in promoting the use of public transport, and not owning a car ensures that we always thoroughly consider all the public transport options. If we then decide that a car is more appropriate for this particular journey (or set of journeys), we hire one.

But of course before all of this comes the old Ministry of War question: "Is your journey really necessary?" And with the ever-expanding opportunities of modern technology, this question has gained a whole new set of answers.

To return home, click your heels three times, or this button once:

There's no place like home!