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Sustainability
Our sustainability journey started in 2018 when we created our GREENER PLANET PROMISE, and began to invest in new technologies, ways to manage our services and look after our team. We’ve been fully committed to supporting climate-first innovation across every aspect of our business ever since.
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We’re so proud that Willow Alexander Ltd was awarded Carbon Neutral status for 2021 as the UK’s first premium low-emissions garden design and maintenance company. Now, as part of the UN Climate Change Now initiative we’ve made a pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2030 and have a reduction plan in place to reach our goal.
While this isn’t the start of our journey, it does mark the beginning of a new chapter for our business as we now take this tried and tested net-zero roadmap and apply it to other services, expanding our network across the UK. Our customers will be able to come to us for sustainable solutions for a variety of everyday services that have been created to minimally impact the environment, and most importantly are provided by people who share our values.
We can’t ignore the urgency of the climate crisis any longer, and our mission as Willow Alexander is to build an honest, well-intentioned grassroots movement that leads the way as a progressive voice and provider of cleaner, greener services.
Whether you’re a customer, partner, supplier or member, join us to become Caretakers For Your Piece of Earth™.
Our sustainability credentials
Why carbon neutral?
The concept of being carbon neutral is pretty straightforward. Every day we create harmful GreenHouse Gas emissions going about our daily lives and every action and product has a carbon ‘footprint’.
Being carbon neutral is about being aware of this impact and rebalancing these damaging emissions in a way that takes the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere – or offsetting. The most well-known way of doing this is by planting trees that absorb carbon and store it for many years. The longer-term solution is to reduce the amount we are producing in the first place.
However, while this is crucial to maintaining a healthy business and a healthy planet, sustainability for us isn’t just about being carbon neutral. We align our business with the Sustainable Development Goals. This is a blueprint developed by the United Nations in 2015 to help all countries tackle climate change, end poverty and build a more sustainable and equitable world for all by 2030. In total there are 17 goals and we have identified 10 where we can have the biggest impact:
Brand
Taking action to combat climate change and its impact, and expanding reach through collaboration, partnership & community.
Service
Promoting healthy lives and lifestyles through outdoor space to ensure mental and physical well-being. Protecting terrestrial ecosystems and halting biodiversity loss. Making cities, communities and gardens inviting, resilient & sustainable.
Staff
Ensuring equality, inclusivity and diversity across the workforce. Creating full and productive employment opportunities across the UK to sustain economic growth.
All
Encouraging lifelong learning opportunities for all including promoting the benefits and necessity for sustainable consumption patterns.
We’re proud to work with companies that are putting planet before profit:
Projects we Support
We rebalance our carbon footprint by supporting projects around the world that have achieved certification through verified standards such as REDD+ and Verra. We work with a variety of partners to measure and offset our carbon footprint on a transaction, monthly and annual basis, as well as committing 1% of all revenue to emerging technologies around carbon capture.
About our projects
As part of our ongoing sustainable promise we only invest in trusted voluntary carbon projects.
We work with partners that offer high quality offset projects that have been verified or accredited, support the SDGs, demonstrate longevity and transformative action while looking at new ways to combat climate change.
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La Pitanga / Weyerhaeser Forest Plantation, Uruguay – The aim of this project is to convert degraded grassland with a long history of cattle grazing into beneficial forest plantations. The healthy and well-managed forests help the planet adapt to a changing planet by providing critical storm water management, ecosystem services and wildlife habitat. A VCS project also certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartWood programme.
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As part of our member of Stripe Climate we commit 1% of revenue to support emerging technologies to remove CO2 from the atmosphere:
- Climeworks – Climeworks uses renewable geothermal energy and waste heat to capture CO₂ directly from the air, concentrate it, and permanently sequester it underground in basaltic rock formations with Carbfix. Climeworks will remove 322 tons of CO₂ on behalf of Stripe Climate businesses.
- Charm Industrial – Charm Industrial has created a novel carbon removal pathway that converts biomass into bio-oil and then injects it deep underground for permanent geologic storage. Stripe Climate was Charm’s first customer. In 2021, Charm removed 416 tons of CO₂ on behalf of Stripe Climate businesses.
Join us
Our aim has always been to build an honest and well-intentioned grass-roots movement that leads the way as a climate-first voice in horticulture and outdoor lifestyle. Join us, hand in glove, to become Caretakers For Your Piece of Earth™.
Our Values + Our Story
We are certified carbon neutral
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