The Hive Honey Shop have been selected as finalist in this years Green Business Awards!! We have been chosen for our commitment to reducing personal and business waste and reducing our carbon footprint.
We are commitment to educating and encouraging our staff and customers about the need to recycle, walk or bike whenever possible, and consume less. We feel others need to help take part to make a difference and we are here to help.
We offer free Children's Bee Talks from the shop. This we have been doing for 20 years and benefits the Wandsworth community. We now get Uni students coming back to the shop, remembering the talks and the impact it made on them.
We offer a free 'Live Beehive Experience' via the live observation beehive in the shop. It takes hundreds of man hours of hard work to maintain the shop observation hive, but we feel this close up experience, looking inside a live beehive, can inspire people to take a closer look at themselves, what they can do to help nature, the environment and reduce their waste.
THE HIVE HONEY SHOPS RECYCLE MISSION STATEMENT
1- Paper material.
All incoming post are reused! We reuse the envelopes and if the letter is not of a private nature, we use it internally as company note paper. Once that paper has been completely used we shred it and it is again used as packing material for our mail order. We then encourage our customers to try and reuse it before placing it in their recycling.
The extended useful life one single sheet of paper can have is extended by four time BEFORE it is recycled. This can cut the demand on paper products within a company by half.
2- Boxes and packing material.
We hoard and reuse all incoming boxes and packing material. They are used within the company and for mail order. We had an ink stamp made that explains we have ‘recycled the box and material’ and ask that the recipient try and reuse the box many times over as well before recycling it.
3- Liaise with local companies and reuse their packaging material.
At present NO local or government council allow companies to put out recycled material for pick up. ALL companies must pay extra for this on top of their normal paid for waste removal. Unlike resident property rates which include a waste and recycling pick up, business rates do not allow any waste pick up. As a result few companies chose to recycle.
We liaise with local companies and will pick up their foam chips, bubble wrap, boxes free of charge and we in turn reuse/recycle them. By doing this we help reduce landfill and we hope to illustrate to other companies that can get involved and implement a similar scheme helping the planet and reducing their waste output.
4- Offer your packing material for FREE!
If we collect packaging material in excess of our needs we offer it free of charge to other companies.
5- Carbon Foot Print.
Our foot print is excellent! We are unique in that we are both producers and distributor of our products. We travel very little in collecting our raw materials. We source all our containers, labels, machinery and staff as local as possible. We have concentrated in supplying our products to local business as well, thus cutting the need to travel further afield.
6- Helping the Planet.
We are one of the very few companies that can state we give back more to the ecosystem than we take away. Our beehives are directly responsible for pollinating plant species that in turn provide food for other insects, birds and mammals. We are committed to working in harmony with nature and teaching others to respect and value this.
7- Supporting Honeybees and Beekeeping.
Since 1924 the Hamill family, owners of The Hive Honey Shop have been committed to ensuring the welfare of the honeybee by proving not only financial support to the industry, but though direct education, consultations and alliance with hobbies and professional beekeepers alike.
8- Fair Trade Committed.
We can state that we have always operated a Fair Trade scheme and will continue to work on a Fair Trade policy with farmers and beekeepers. We offer support not only to all beekeepers within Wandsworth but the entire United Kingdom and throughout the world. We have travelled to many countries offering our support and training to better world understanding of bees, beekeeping and waste management.
9- Lobbing to Protect Honey Bees From Decline.
We lobby governments world wide working with beekeepers here and abroad to help find answers as to why bees are on the decline. We advocate the restrictive use of pesticides, herbicides and GMO growing in and around areas where honeybees will reside. We offer beekeeping training classes and are committed to spreading the word about caring for bees ensuring that they will once again thrive. It is clear that we all need to take into account the impact our waste has on nature and the planet. By showing people the negative results pollution and waste has on bees and the environment we hope to inspire others to act responsibly.
