Transition Movement

How 'green' is Nicholsons? That's what we want to find out. We think we're pretty green. After all, we plant more than 40,000 trees each year and care passionately about our environment. You can't get much 'greener' than that. Well, actually, you can and that's why we've decided to join the national Transition Movement.

The Transition Movement addresses the two key issues of our time - Peak Oil and Climate Change. Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels is not only the right thing to do but also the essential thing to do if our business is going to meet the monumental challenges of the coming decade.

This needn't be a painful process by any means. By taking a positive, 'can do' approach we will be addressing issues which concern us all, and engaging our staff, suppliers and customers in the gradual transition to a more sustainable future.

To kick off our new Transition Initiative, we are currently undertaking a complete energy survey of the entire business. Records of our electricity, oil and water usage, waste disposal and recycling, vehicle efficiency, and staff travel will all be collated, assessed and analysed to see where we stand in the 'environmentally friendly' scale! We will then devise an Energy Decent Action Plan to meet our short and long-term goals for reducing our impact on the environment and increasing our resilience.

We firmly believe that our vision of a carbon-neutral, self-sustaining Nicholsons is a realistic one and we are excited about the opportunities this affords us as a company. Some of our objectives are very simple and easily achievable. Others are quite ambitious and will involve long-term planning and significant investment. But it's a commitment we are undertaking with enthusiasm and determination and we are confident that the changes will benefit us and our customers!

Useful & Interesting Links:

Green Books, publishers of "The Transition Handbook"

The Transition Network

The Ecologist Magazine

Transition reaches Ambridge

The main Transition Movement website is currently unavailable due to a complete overhaul and rebuild.

Plant Centre assistant, Barbara Saunders is the driving force behind Nicholson's new Transition Initiative.

Barbara has been an active campaigner for environmental issues for many years and is currently setting up a Transition group in Chipping Norton where she lives. She will be planning and co-ordinating a range of projects to help Nicholsons reduce its carbon emissions and meet the environmental challenges of the next decade. For more information on the Transition Movement, please contact Barbara.