At Peter’s Yard, we care about the planet and believe that sustainability and a concern for the environment should be an integral part of our business. We are therefore continually working to minimise our environmental impact. As a small company this isn’t always easy, but we are committed to doing all we can to make a difference.
- We aim to use ethical, sustainable ingredients in our products from suppliers who share our values. These include Shipton Mill flours, Hillfarm British rapeseed oil, and British dairy.
- We don’t use palm oil in any of our products
- The majority of our ingredients originate in the UK, and therefore do not need to be shipped huge distances.
- We have now consciously halved the number of weekly deliveries to one of our biggest customers, reducing our carbon footprint.
- We have now modelled the climate footprint of our Original Sourdough Crackers with Carbon Cloud. Find the full report here.
- Tracking our impact is the first step in minimising our impacts on the planet, allowing us to focus on making positive changes.
- We have eliminated single-use plastic DOY stand-up pouches from our business and replaced these with recyclable cardboard packaging.
- We have eliminated bubble wrap from the business and are now using recycled paper wrap to protect our product in transit, saving over 3,500m² (~145 rolls) of bubble wrap a year.
- We have worked with our Warehouse to optimise our packing standards, significantly reducing the amount of cardboard we use when sending out orders.
- We are now using FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified board for all of our cardboard retail packs
- We now use 100% recycled board for our outer packaging.
- We share many people’s concerns about single-use plastics. At the moment, the plastic film we use to seal our product is the best option available. It is in fact recyclable in major supermarkets as part of the soft plastics recycling scheme. We are currently in the process of updating our packaging to reflect this.
- We aim to produce minimal food waste at our bakery, but any waste we do have is used as animal feed.
- We are constantly balancing our desire to reduce the use of plastic with the need to maintain our product’s shelf life, as food waste is also a major carbon contributor*. We are constantly on the look out for new options and when a viable alternative is available, we will look to switch.
* “If food waste was a country, it would be the third-largest contributor of carbon emissions after the US and China” source: FAO 2015
If you have any feedback or thoughts on what we could do better, then please do get in touch. Contact info@petersyard.com
