BLOOM is our commitment to the future.
It’s an ambitious socially responsible plan, focussing on bringing everything we do for our people, our planet, the wider community, and gardeners of the future under one umbrella. We know that as growers of natural products we have a duty to care for the environment. We continually work on ever growing our responsible decision making, using our business as a force for good.
In our horticultural regime we were early adopters of non-neonicotinoid pesticides in our production beds and now host several beekeepers who have hives around our nursery. We do not spray the roses in our extensive trial programme and it is our intention that the latest generation of David Austin roses should be able to survive well in the garden, without the need for continual spraying by our customers. We continue to implement crop IPM (outdoor and under protection) to reduce our use of pesticides. We minimise reliance on herbicides by utilising alternative husbandry methods like mechanical weeders, bark toppers, membranes, cover crops and field rotations.
A reliable source of water is the lifeblood of our nursery. It is vital that we protect the river which feeds our nursery and consider the ecosystem downstream. It was with this in mind that we invested £0.75m in a water capture and recycling system that means that we capture 60-80% of the rainwater and irrigation water that falls on our nursery, which provides at least 90% of our annual water consumption. Our extended reservoirs have also provided a new habitat for many wildfowl. We have also installed an efficient biomass boiler which provides 100% of the heating for our rose-breeding greenhouses. This has now been running for eight years and has completely removed our reliance on heavy fuel oil to provide this heating. For our production facility, offices and cold stores we have installed electro-voltaic solar panels across a number of our roofs. These panels are generating around 50% of our peak electrical needs, increasing to 80% of our needs in quieter periods.
We have agreements in place with our waste-disposal company to recycle most of our waste products and the company wide waste policy ensures that waste is sorted into different streams to facilitate this.
Our distinctive David Austin Roses 6 litre pot has gradually changed recipe so that it is now formed of post-consumer waste and is fully recyclable at kerbside. The distinctive slot in label is also fully recyclable. Our mail order packaging is now recyclable too, the internal “plastic” bag is made from potato starch and we are continually working towards 100% recyclable packaging. We are pleased that our use of black plastics has been reduced to zero.
As part of our BLOOM commitments, we are pleased to be a key partner of the Young People in Horticulture Association (YPHA), supporting the future of our industry.
