Case studies

Business case studies

• The Castle Climbing Centre, Hackney

  The Castle Climbing Centre, Hackney

  The Castle is an indoor climbing centre in Hackney employing 45 people. The building, a magnificent Victorian water pumping station, is being reused to accommodate climbing space, a climbing shop and a cafe.

  In 2009, The Castle implemented an environmental policy and set the ambitious target of becoming zero waste by 2015. They went through their rubbish and recycling bags to see exactly what was being wasted. Once they had a clearer picture, the centre made simple changes and reduced their rubbish collection from two bins per week to just one. This halved the cost of collection charges.

  The Castle made the following changes:

  Waste prevention

  • Stopped selling Lucozade in bottles and instead sell Lucozade powder for use with re-usable bottles
  • Started to monitor the amount of printing in the office and keep it to a minimum. Staff are encouraged to reuse scraps of paper and collect packaging to be reused
  • The climbing shop introduced a ‘no plastic bag’ policy and sells reusable cotton bags instead

  Reuse

  • Changed milk delivery in plastic bottles to washable glass bottles and sourced juice from the same dairy
  • Serve all food and drinks in re-usable crockery, instead of disposable plates and cups
    Started selling re-usable water bottles instead of bottled water and modified water fountains to make them easier to refill bottles
  • Use tea towels instead of blue roll so they can be washed and reused
  • Set up a freecycle account to donate retired equipment to community and arts projects. In 2009, a local artist made new chairs from the centre’s old climbing rope
  • Developed an organic, edible community garden. This has enabled use of home grown produce in The Castle Café meals, reduced the amount of packaging waste and saved money. The garden is also an ideal place to reuse a lot of materials including wood, cardboard and, of course, the compost produced on site.

  Audrey from The Castle is proud of how much they have done to reduce their environmental impact but says that one of the hardest things for any business with good intentions is getting staff and customers to change their behaviour. She advises that it is essential to make the process of separating waste very easy for people, and to provide constant reminders.

  “We found that by not having rubbish bins on their own we were able to get customers to help us reach our goal ofminimising waste. Instead, we have 4 ‘waste stations’ with clear instructions for which items can be reused or recycled, and what must be disposed of.

  ‘’Reuse is the best way for us to keep our waste to a minimum. Not only do we serve all food and drinks in re-usable crockery, we sell re-useable water bottles instead of bottled water, have our milk and juice delivered in washable glass bottles and find lots of uses for all kinds of ‘waste’ materials in the garden’’

  - Audrey Seguy, Managing Director, The Castle Climbing Centre

  You can follow The Castle Climbing Centre’s journey to a more sustainable future on their Sustainability Blog 

• Grove Café, Waltham Forest

  Case study – Grove Café, Waltham Forest

  Grove Café, which opened in 2002, is a small catering firm based in Waltham Forest. Most of the customer base is from the 40 small business units that surround the café. They provide breakfasts and lunches to local business staff and the general public. In the evenings they open as a Latino restaurant and dance venue.

  Owner Franc encourages his small team to be careful with resources in order to save money and reduce waste. He knows many of his regular customers who work near by, so he serves them food and drinks in reusable plates and mugs which they can return later.
  
  Other ways in which Franc has found to run a ‘green’ business include:
  

  • sourcing all fruit and vegetables locally, and on foot!
  • reusing food packaging and containers to store prepared food (labelled carefully!)
  • reusing plastic bags from suppliers to give out with takeaway orders
  • reusing small cardboard boxes to package large food orders
  • keeping paper serviettes behind counter to give out when customers ask
  • making sure every effort is made to reduce energy use
  • buying sauces and condiments in bulk and re-filling small containers
  • recycling all cardboard, paper, glass and plastic bottles
  • having waste cooking oil collected by a local company who take it to be blended for use as biodiesel

  Being a food business, minimising food waste is top of the agenda at Grove Café. Wasting food would reduce their profits. Franc has found that the best way to ensure there is no food waste is to buy fresh food daily.
  
  “I go to the market every morning, and only buy what I need for that day. If I have tomatoes left over from the day before, I know I don’t need to buy any. For me, this is the best way to minimise food waste and keep control of my budget.”

   - Franc Escudero, Grove Café