Our positive impact
Over the course of the past 2 years we've locked in nearly 7,500kg of CO2 and created multiple new wildlife habitats. Genuine sustainability is something that is key to our business, so we're incredibly proud of our efforts so far. This page gives more information on the approaches we've taken and how we've calculated this impact across 3 main areas:
1 - Our farming
How we prepare our herb beds, grow our plants and look after our soil
2 - Our processes
The impact of the energy we use, our packaging and delivery methods
3 - Our habitats
Our spaces dedicated to increasing wildlife and biodiversity across our farm
1 - Our farming: -4,753kg
We use an organic, regenerative approach so we don’t use any artificial herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers or peat and we grow in no-dig beds designed to help develop healthy soil with a rich ecosystem. We farm to organic standards and are currently in conversion so our products can be certified organic - a process that takes 2-3 years¹.
Our beds are made using locally produced green-waste compost and woodchip from nearby tree surgeons. These beds lock carbon in the soil rather than releasing it and as we grow a mix of perennial and annual plants these also store carbon above the ground (leaves, stems etc), below the ground (roots) and transfer carbon into the soil.
Balancing this with negative impacts (e.g. delivery of compost, release of carbon from harvested herbs, manufacture of organic biofilm), we estimate that we sequestered 4,753kg of CO2 in 2024, and will continue to sequester more CO2 each year as we establish new beds and maintain existing ones².
2 - Our processes: +1,368kg
In mid-2024 we carried out a carbon assessment with support from East District Council, evaluating our usage and opportunities for reducing our carbon emissions. This produced multiple recommendations, many of which have now been put in place.
Electricity - Most of our electricity consumption comes from drying our herbs, which is why we built a custom polytunnel that uses heat from the sun to heat them, using considerably less electricity than commercial systems³. At the end of 2024 we installed a 5.2kw solar array and battery, which is on course to produce over 6,000kwh of electricity⁴. This is more than we use when growing and drying herbs, powering our office and running tools and appliances, effectively removing the annual carbon emissions associated with our electricity consumption.
Water - We intentionally grow plants and herbs that are more tolerant of drought and irregular watering. We also collect rainwater from our barn but we do use mains supply for watering young plants when being grown from seed or planted out in our beds - the impact of treating and supplying mains water results in approximately 150kg of CO2 emissions⁵.
Fuel - We recently changed our personal vehicle from diesel to electric and now use this for deliveries and business transport. Whilst our compact tractor and small power scythe still use diesel or petrol fuel to carry out essential maintenance and load-moving, the majority of our transport energy can now be provided by the surplus generation from our solar panels. This switch means that we’re reducing the carbon emitted from diesel fuel by 1,300kg, leaving the 536kg of emissions from the tractor/power scythe⁶.
Waste - The vast majority of our waste is composted onsite, with carboard, metal, paper and plastics recycled. The estimated carbon cost of the remaining waste is 4kg⁷.
Packaging - This is our largest carbon output. Through our tin, cardboard and biodegradeable packaging, including delivery via Royal Mail, we estimate that we generate 977kg of CO2. Assuming slightly higher rates of consumer recycling than the national household average (80% v 75%) these materials then go on to be reused and reduce the impact of future uses. This gives us net emissions of 446kg⁸.
Digital footprint - Our website, Instagram account and digital services has a footprint of approx. 32kg per year⁹.
3 - Our habitats: -4,089kg
Habitat creation - We have created multiple new habitats since 2023, including an orchard, wildflower meadow, native hedgerows and various trees. All of these sequester carbon over time, as well as support an increase in biodiversity across our farm, although the impact is reduced during the first few years due to the size of young trees. Since their establishment in 2023 these habitats have sequestered 4,089kg of CO2 and we estimate will continue to lock in 3,639kg of CO2 each year from their 4th year of growth¹⁰.
Biodiversity value - As well as locking in carbon there are wider benefits to habitat creation. By adding 400m of new hedgerow, over 35 trees and a wildflower meadow, we're able to increase the biodiversity on our farm, protecting insects, mammals and birds. When given a monetary value the natural capital value of this is calculated at approximately £16,000¹¹.
Our overall impact
We currently estimate that, in total, we have removed 7,474kg of CO2 from the environment.
It's important to note that this calculation is an ongoing process and is reviewed regularly, as are our practices and approaches. We're a small business so rely on publicly-available tools and calculators. We're always looking at how we can be more efficient with resources, time and money, and evaluating our materials and processes to find ways to make them more sustainable. There may be impacts that we have under or overestimated and we may review and update our calculations, but through current methods we would expect that our ongoing activities would sequester around 7,000kg of CO2 each year¹².
Sources
1 - Soil Association conversion guidelines
2 - Based on 150-200kg C/t compost and sequestration rates of 15-20%. 500kg C/t woodchip and sequestration rates of 5-15%
3 - Estimated at 76kw over a drying cycle compared to 200-400kw
4 - EDCAP/Carbon Sense report. Embodied cost of equipment and installation calculated at 200kg CO2 per year of use.
5 - EDCAP/Carbon Sense report
6 - Assuming 200 litres of fuel and 2.68 kg CO₂e per litre
7 - EDCAP/Carbon Sense report
8 - Assuming 0.23kg CO2 per tin, 0.01kg per bag and 0.05-0.1kg per box, reduced through 80% consumer recycling rate
9 - Website carbon calculator
10 - Figures from Forest Research, Woodland Trust, Natural England and Farmland Carbon Toolkit. This figure includes an increase in sequestration from developing trees, but a reduction as bed renewal introduces less compost and woodchip when compared to initial creation
11 - Figures from NCC, DEFRA and Woodland Trust