Newleaf's philosophy

We aim to give more than we take but to do that we need to understand our own impacts and ensure that we lead an examined life.

Keeping our own house in order

This is our work to ensure that we have as light a footprint as possible. In our 'keeping our own house in order' programme we have identified the following key impacts and are mindful of reducing them in everything we do.

Environmental footprint

We have calculated our carbon footprint from travel and energy use. This is only part of our impact though as we also use water and we know that the products and materials we use all have an associated impact on ecosystems.

Newleaf's philosophy is to be restorative so, to ensure that we give back more than we take, we donate 1% of our sales to environmental programmes close to our heart.

We also run a 'Giving Back' programme where we donate 10% of our professional time to support NGO’s and community projects.

Office

We are in the process of developing a new office in Wiltshire. This will be built along the same philosophy of our existing one which is based on traditional materials and techniques, using local craftsmen and mindfully sourced materials.

We calculate our energy use and adopt best practices to minimise it. What is exciting about our new office is that, with the addition of renewable technologies, it will enable Newleaf to be a carbon positive company in 2014. Our new offices are also being designed to use grey water in our bathrooms to minimise freshwater consumption.

We continually seek the latest technology coupled with traditional methods to minimise our business impact, promote the biodiversity around us and provide a healthy working environment for our staff.

Travel

The nature of our business means that we need to meet and talk to people in global supply chains. We balance the use of technology to reduce our business miles with the fact that we like to meet people. When we do travel we commit to using public transport where available. If this is not possible we hire low emission vehicles from our local garage to ensure that we support local businesses.

Resources

We seek to minimise our consumption and recycle at all times. We have the following rules:

• all IT, electronic and lighting equipment meets the latest standards in reduced energy use and all electrical equipment is disposed of according to the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) directives
• we only buy recycled or certified paper and stationary
• we recycle all waste where possible, including composting appropriate food waste
• we challenge our suppliers by asking them what's in the products they are supplying us - well it's our job, and
• we buy local as a first choice.