We are always looking for new ways to make our workshop a little greener and more sustainable, a move that is good for the environment, and in most cases great for the bottom line as well.

So however big or small your workshop is, here are 5 really easy changes that could make your workshop a little greener.

Switch to a green energy supplier

The easiest thing you can do is switch over to a green energy provider. Many electricity companies will proclaim to be green, but there is only one that I know of which actually lives up to this claim by self-generating and supplying 100% renewable energy. Ecotricity (and no we are not getting paid to promote them) are Britain’s greenest energy supplier, and it is super easy to switch over to them.

Buy local, buy sustainable

Whenever possible, buy local. Reducing delivery emission and costs. A good example of this is with our main raw material – wood. We will always try and buy wood from our local timber yard and make sure it has been FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified. FSC certified means it has been harvested from forests that ware responsibly managed, socially beneficial and environmentally conscious.

Get creative with your offcuts

Despite doing everything possible to reduce waste from our work, we will always produce quite a lot of wooden offcuts that can very often seem useless. But as the old adage goes – one man’s waste is another man’s treasure – and we have found that quite often someone can always make use of our offcuts, not matter how small or odd shaped they are. So why not post your offcuts on local social media pages.

Re-use packaging

We haven’t had to buy any packing materials for a while now and there are two reasons for that. The first is because we keep all of the packaging that we have received from someone else and re-used it to package many of our smaller orders. Then for the much bigger items that we are transporting or delivering, we wrap them up in removal blankets (made from recycled fabric) which can then be used again and again.

Recycle anything that’s left

Lastly, anything you cannot reuse within your own workshop or community, try and make sure it’s not going to landfill, but getting recycled instead. So, our last tip, is to check if your waste supplier recycles your waste or not, and if they don’t switch to someone that does. Our suppliers (CSH Environmental) have a “zero to landfill” target and their new state of the art facility divert 99% of waste away from landfill at present.

There is loads more we can still do to reduce the environmental impact of our workshop – a few areas we are still looking into are, greener options for paint and packaging, how to better use our sawdust and options for workshop heating that won’t cost the world, literally.