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sustainabletimes
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greenAgenda
Sustainable catering
The University of Brighton and
Plymouth University have become
the first higher education institutions
in the UK to be recognised for
their sustainable catering under
a new scheme developed by the
University Caterers Organisation
(TUCO) and run by the Sustainable
Restaurant Association (SRA). The
University Catering Rating has been
established to recognise outstanding
achievements of university caterers
across the country and help
drive best practice. Brighton was
recognised for its policy of ensuring
all the seafood it serves is from
sustainable sources and for its
commitment to selling Fairtrade
products at catering sites across
campus.
Green inks
Single Source, a leading supplier
of single portion products to
the catering industry, is using
Earthinks natural printing inks
and coatings on its packaging
following an agreement between
the two companies. The most
sustainable commercial inks on
the market, Earthinks are made
using natural products, such as
soy, sugars, starches and tree
resins; are free from glycol and
silicones; contain no heavy metals;
and have near zero volatile organic
compound (VOC) levels.
Mapping the
health of trees
Aerial mapping specialist Bluesky
is working with researchers at
the University of Leicester to
investigate the effectiveness
of aerial photography, thermal
imaging and airborne laser
mapping systems in the
identification and containment
of Sudden Oak Death, Dutch Elm,
Ash Die Back, Red Band Needle
Drop and other tree diseases.
Professor Heiko Balzter,
project leader and director of the
Centre for Landscape and Climate
Research at the University of
Leicester, said: “Remote sensing
offers new approaches for the rapid
large area mapping of tree disease
outbreaks. By working with Bluesky,
in partnership with Forest Research,
we can use a state-of-the-art aerial
mapping system to collect data for
already infected trees and compare
this with data for healthy sites
nearby and historic, pre-diseased,
baseline data.”
Bluesky has already created
the UK’s first ever National Tree
Map. Using high resolution aerial
photography, colour infrared data
and detailed height models, it has
mapped more than 280 million
trees with a canopy cover of
20,000 square kilometres – 13.5%
of UK land cover.
Going native
Commercial interiors specialist
the Fourfront Group has
helped re-establish an ancient
woodland at Harewoods Estate
in Redhill, Surrey in a voluntary
carbon offsetting programme
with the National Trust.
Sixteen employees from the
Egham-based company planted
more than 500 broadleaf oak and
hornbeam trees in place of an
existing crop of conifer to support
a more diverse range of birds,
invertebrates, mammals and plants.
Fourfront Group, comprising
design and fit-out company
Area Sq, workplace design
consultancy 360 Design Studios,
interior contractor Cube Interior
Solutions and commercial furniture
specialist Sketch Studios, uses
environmentally-conscious design
in all of its projects.
It has delivered over a quarter
of the UK’s existing SKA Gold
projects and is ranked as one of
the
Top 60 Sunday Times Best
Green Companies
. In 2013, it
won the GreenbuildWorkplace
Retrofit Award for its work with
Constituency Management Group
at their offices inWaterhouse
Square, London.
Coffee trials convert waste
into energy
Technology that converts coffee waste into energy is being
introduced to Brazil and Peru after successful trials in Nicaragua,
Honduras and Guatemala.
New methods of treating both solid waste and waste water were
developed as part of the Energy from CoffeeWastewater project set up
by UTZ Certified four years ago to address environmental and health
problems caused by coffee processing.
These include excessive water consumption – 140 litres of water are
needed to make enough coffee for one cup; the discharge of untreated water
into rivers; and large volumes of organic waste that degrades soil quality and
produces methane and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Trials of the technology at 19 diverse coffee farms in Nicaragua,
Honduras and Guatemala revealed a number of benefits including a
50% reduction in the amount of water needed for coffee processing; the
successful treatment of waste water; the production of biogas from solid
waste; and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
Making biogas available to the coffee mills and local households has
reduced the cutting down of native trees for energy and created better
indoor environments for families that use domestic gas stoves for cooking
rather than firewood.
Terracycle launches
new recycling service
Febreze and TerraCycle have
launched a recycling initiative to
encourage consumers to recycle
‘air and home care’ products
including plastic air fresheners,
plug-in refills, bottle trigger
heads, pumps and caps.
Technically, these products
have always been recyclable, but
the high cost and difficulty of
recycling mixed plastics means
that the infrastructure to recycle
them hasn’t existed across the UK
causing much of the waste to end
up in landfill.
With the launch of the Air and
Home Care Brigade, any individual
or organisation can now go online,
download freepost Royal Mail
labels and send waste air and
home care products and packaging
to TerraCycle for recycling.
To celebrate the launch of
the initiative, TerraCycle has
announced a six-month collection
contest and sweepstake, with
£5,000 worth of charity donations
to be won. Find out more at
