HOW BURNCOOSE NURSERIES CAN HELP TO REDUCE OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

At Burncoose Nurseries, we recognise that as growers of trees, shrubs and ornamental plants we have a responsibility to protect and enhance the natural environment. As a long-established Cornish nursery, we are committed to operating sustainably while producing high-quality plants for gardens throughout the UK.

Our environmental policy is based on conserving natural resources, reducing waste, encouraging biodiversity and continually improving our environmental performance.

Water Conservation

Water is one of our most valuable resources. We are committed to using it responsibly by:

Collecting and storing rainwater for irrigation wherever practical.

Using our borehole water supplies to the nursery.

Employing efficient watering systems to minimise waste and ensure water is applied only where needed.

Regularly maintaining irrigation equipment to prevent leaks and improve efficiency.

Carbon Capture and Climate Benefits

Every tree and large shrub we grow and sell contributes to the long-term capture and storage of atmospheric carbon.

By supplying healthy, long-lived plants, Burncoose Nurseries helps customers create gardens and landscapes that:

Capture and store carbon throughout the lifetime of the plants.

Improve air quality.

Enhance biodiversity by providing food and habitat for wildlife.

Increase resilience to climate change through greener landscapes.

We recognise the important role that trees and shrubs play in reducing the environmental impacts of climate change and are proud to contribute to this through our nursery production.

The government has set up new grant systems for tree planting, carbon capture and the sale of carbon credits by woodland owners creating new woodland.

Current estimates suggest that four large growing native trees will sequester or capture around one tonne of CO2 in their above ground biomass over the next 100 years. Forty to fifty largish shrubs might well achieve the same result.

An acre of new ornamental and/or woodland trees in a woodland garden can perhaps capture the equivalent of 100 tonnes of CO2 over the next 50 years and perhaps up to 200 tonnes over 100 years.

In the last year Burncoose Nurseries sold around 7,600 ornamental trees and around 39,000 larger growing shrubs.

On the basis that one might plant and grow around 800 trees or, say, 1,400 shrubs in an acre of woodland garden then our sales of trees and shrubs last year constitute a planted area of nearly 40 acres (16 hectares).

In terms of carbon capture from the atmosphere, you can therefore readily see the potential for carbon capture which the nursery can generate over the years.

Responsible Compost Use

Burncoose Nurseries is committed to reducing peat use wherever practical.

Our potting compost is now only around 60% peat with the remainder now being composted bark.

We use peat-reduced growing media across our nursery wherever suitable. For certain ericaceous plants, including Rhododendrons, Magnolias and Camellias, a proportion of peat remains necessary to produce healthy, high-quality plants in a commercial nursery environment. We continue to monitor developments in peat-free growing media and will adopt suitable alternatives as they become commercially viable and capable of maintaining the plant quality our customers expect.

Waste Reduction and Recycling

We have now changed to using only recyclable pots rather than black plastic ones although it will take a year or two more to complete this change in the growing cycle of the plants which we produce.

We recycle pots, trays and packaging materials wherever possible. Nearly all of our packing materials are now fully biodegradable and recyclable and, apart from the plant labels themselves, no plastic is involved.

We reuse growing containers and nursery materials where appropriate.

We have made great strides in moving towards a paperless packing shed with nearly everything possible relating to your orders simply on a screen. We have also reduced the amount of packaging materials used in the packing shed.

All unavoidable waste is disposed of responsibly through approved recycling and waste management services.

Biodiversity

As a specialist nursery, we recognise the importance of supporting wildlife and healthy ecosystems.

We seek to:

Grow a diverse range of trees and shrubs that benefit pollinating insects, birds and other wildlife.
Maintain areas that encourage biodiversity around the nursery and in the adjacent Burncoose gardens.
Promote the planting of trees and shrubs that contribute positively to the natural environment.

Continuous Improvement

Environmental responsibility is an ongoing commitment and we will:

Regularly review our environmental practices.
Seek opportunities to improve resource efficiency.
Encourage environmental awareness among our staff.
Comply with all relevant environmental legislation and industry best practice.
Our propagation units are now heated with electricity rather than gas.

Beside these aspirations and objectives there are other issues which are far more difficult and expensive to address:

Plugs and liner plants which we buy in to grow on as well as finished plants for immediate resale are delivered in huge lorries; some from overseas. Shortening the supply chain for the huge diversity of plants which we offer in our catalogue is not easy.

All our mail order parcels are delivered to your door in courier vans. That is how internet mail order works across the board.

Our Commitment

Burncoose Nurseries believes that producing quality plants and protecting the environment go hand in hand. Through responsible water management, sustainable growing practices, reduced peat use, local sourcing and the promotion of trees and shrubs that capture carbon and support biodiversity, we are committed to leaving a positive environmental legacy for future generations.

The primary global temperature targets are to limit warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to keep it under 1.5°C.

Confining the global temperature rise to 1.5C to 2°C, reducing global warming, and achieving Carbon Net Zero (a 60% reduction in carbon emissions relative to 1990) requires all businesses and individuals to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions. The government has set out challenging plans to meet this target by or before 2050.

There is however much more which we can do in the next few years:

Although we have a bus stop on an A road outside the nursery entrance, we are located in the countryside. Car sharing amongst our staff and reducing the number of people coming to work in petrol/diesel vehicles becomes ever more important. Several of our staff already live on site.

We have our Click & Collect service to enable customers to pick up their orders where possible.

We can aspire to delivering to 'hubs' from which individuals can collect locally, but this is not something a small business in Cornwall can do much about on its own.

The woodland gardens at Burncoose which visitors enjoy are around 30 acres. We have recently planted up a field with around 70 different yellow flowering magnolias. Therefore, we are beginning to remove more carbon than we emit.

Estimating the levels of possible carbon capture by ornamental trees and shrubs, as opposed to more conventional native broadleaved forestry plantations, is still at an early stage. The longevity of trees and shrubs will only ever be an estimate. HOWEVER, our business, and you as our customers, ARE making a, perhaps small, but positive contribution towards carbon capture and improving the environment for us all.

Most businesses can and should be taking positive steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The added positive benefit of carbon capture by purchasing trees and shrubs from Burncoose is still not properly understood by our customers.

Economists, politicians and business leaders anticipate that a new PERSONAL or INDIVIDUAL carbon tax will become a reality in the UK within the next 10 years. For businesses this may well come sooner. This will, hopefully, cause even more people to understand the real benefits of planting trees.

So, there is much to do but our customers need to understand more about the value of Burncoose and the plants which we sell in the context of the fight against global warming.