Eco Cred
People often assume that, because Nicholsons is a nursery business, growing and selling plants, we must be doing our 'bit' for the environment. Yes, over the last 20 years or so we have been instrumental in the planting of approximately 10 million trees and shrubs; but at what cost?

More and more over the last five years we have been examining our impact on the environment, our use of resources, and where we can make a difference. There are several areas in which we have invested in recycling and reduced our environmental impact – here are a few examples

• All our water – upwards of 10,000 cubic metres per year, is now recycled and not drawn off the mains. (See Reservoir details).
• We now send all our compostable material to recycling centres.
• We separate out our different plastics, cardboard, polythene and metal – all goes to be recycled.
• Our pots are either washed and reused or we pack together 48 full crates and these all go to be made into new pots.
• Any waste wood, offcuts and broken pallets – of which we get many – are collected for recycling and resale by an Oxfordshire charity.
• We have been actively sourcing UK provenance plants for many years and constantly endeavour to minimise our imports from the continent.
• We have supported Cycle to Work Scheme for employees.
• We spend a lot of time on the logistics of delivery to make journeys as efficient as possible.
• We have reduced our skip use by about 75%

There are endless ways in which we still hope improve. The great part about much of the investment that we have made is that it pays for itself, and even if that takes ten years or more, then it is sill only a short period to wait in the bigger scheme of things.