Green Policy

I have been passionate about our planet and sustaining it for most of my life. This has infused every aspect of my working practice since I set up practice in 1998 & in my training since 2011.

In my practice, I have long used essential oils from sources that are organic, organically grown, naturally farmed or wild picked sustainably. My base oils tend to be largely organic and cold pressed to ensure you have an excellent product with maximum nourishing benefits. I mostly use a local supplier Kobashi, in Devon, who I have an excellent relationship with. They are very particular about testing their products stringently for nasties such as insecticides and pesticides.

The bottles and jars I use to mix up my “TLC in a Bottle” are simple coloured glass, and although these may be heavier to transport, I feel that they can be recycled more effectively more often than plastic and they don’t leech into the product. I also use aluminium rather than plastic caps where I can. The labels are recycled paper and printed in small batches to avoid waste.

I recycle where possible and always source with sustainability in mind.

Under endemic conditions I am not using couch roll, but reuseable cotton covers which are changed between clients and dried outside as much as weather permits.

Old towels are reused e.g. donated to animal charities or cut up and used as cloths.

I reuse stationary and packaging wherever possible and paper is either recycled or sustainably sourced, avoiding bleached paper if possible, making the course manuals as ethical as possible and I print them to order for each course. This also means that you end up with the most up to date manual, keeping course content fresh with recent references.

Good time management minimises travel and fuel consumption. I have a turn off policy, save water and use organically grown herbs from the garden for teas and treatments. I don’t fly and use #SlowTravel to get to training/speaking venues. I also attend online training, webinars, presentations or meetings if they are far away to reduce the need to travel, although I realise that the internet comes at an environmental cost.

My equipment such as phones and laptops are maintained or upgraded by a local tech company rather than replaced to reduce unnecessary consumption.

I print promotional material in small batches to prevent waste.

I bank with the Cooperative Bank as I believe they are one of the most ethical banks around who try to be careful to invest money in sustainability.

On a personal level, I try to be ethical but still need to make improvements and that is usually money dependent. We buy organic and local when we can, but I confess to the convenience of supermarket shopping all too regularly. We try to avoid frivolous consumption of “stuff” choosing to spend our money on good food and preloved. I have used 100% natural toiletries for decades, often making my own low impact deodorants and buying locally made goodness like soap, shampoo & conditioner bars etc and use refill services regularly.

I have a steel re-useable water bottle (not aluminium due to traces that can be ingested). I feel “bare” if I leave home without it. I use recycled loo roll & buy natural products where possible. I try to eat ethically but know there is room for me to improve this.

This is the main reason we sold our house, where we had a very productive veg and fruit garden, including a mini polytunnel, and bought a 1.9acre field. It took us years to achieve and finally managed this in 2017. We have already planted hundreds of young trees with underplanting of fruit, perennial vegetables and herbs as part of our mission to plant a permaculture food forest. We try different composting ideas and make our own liquid feeds. We feel we are just playing as our knowledge has many gaps, but we felt we needed to consume less and plant more, and that actions speak louder than words. We aim to improve our own food production, hopefully share what we grow and learn as we improve and learn, leaving a legacy our child could be proud to inherit.

As I learn and join up more dots, I will try and improve to reduce my impact on the planet in my home, field and workplace. Always learning … looking after me, looking after you, your family, our community, “our planet”.

“Nobody really owns anything. We give back our bodies at the end of our lives. We own our thoughts, but everything else is just borrowed. We use it for a while, then pass it on.
Everything.
We borrow the sun that shines on us today from the people on the other side of the world while they borrow the moon from us. Then we give it back. We can’t keep the sun, no matter how afraid we are of the dark.” Deborah Ellis, award-winning author, feminist and peace activist.