GOING GREEN
HB Designs
Charlotte Hill-Baldwin and her husband Tim run HB Designs of Devizes , specialist designers and makers of British bicycle parking products and bespoke buildings , all created with sustainability in mind . The company began in 2003 and was incorporated two years later .
Charlotte said , “ Our whole ethos is one of recycle , reuse and renovate , only replace responsibly . We believe in the mantra of ‘ do it once and do it well ’. Our customers can be schools , businesses , local authorities or even homes where there ’ s a need and desire for sustainably produced , functional and practical parking solutions for bicycles which will last for many , many years .
“ We are passionate about making it easy for people to get on their bikes and get to and from work or school , and we would love to see a cycle centric world .”
Tim first got the idea for specialising in this area when he rode his mountain bike to a meeting in Bristol and couldn ’ t find anywhere to park his bike that protected the bike itself and also felt secure and as safe from theft as possible .
“ The availability of secure , beautiful , practical bike racks or parking buildings was appalling , even the location was not somewhere he felt was safe for his bike ,” Charlotte said .
The designs the couple have developed have all come from their Wiltshire base , are patented , use sustainably sourced materials and match the needs of the relevant environment . For example
Nanogreen Sustainable Cleaning
their urban rail rack is designed to have visibility around and underneath so nothing can be ‘ hidden ’ in the bike rack . Recently they have launched their product for the new , very popular ‘ e-bike ’. For more info : www . hbdesigns . co . uk
For more info : www . nanogreen . co . uk
This small team based in West Swindon is run by Founder Craig Duff who is passionate about running a business which has social impact and considers its environmental responsibilities . Using eco-friendly products , Nanogreen provides cleaning and fogging services for home owners , commercial premises , private landlords , tenants , local authorities and schools . “ When I decided to start Nanogreen there was only one thing at the time that concerned me about cleaning ; that was my health . I have always had asthma and so a number of the cleaning chemicals can cause asthma to rear its ugly head .
“ Initially , it was a health thing , and a ‘ me ’ thing … but quickly it became an ‘ us ’ thing ! As I was using green sustainable products for their biodegradability and biological enzymes it dawned on me the overall impact I was having on my slice of the world and my environment .
“ Then one day , a client rang me asked me to quote for a house clean , when I asked how she heard of me she stated specifically ‘ you ’ re the guy that uses environmentally friendly products aren ’ t you ?’
“ It made me think more about what I wanted to achieve and how I could have more of an impact . Today Nanogreen has constantly worked towards the goal of using environmentally friendly and sustainable products for all cleaning purposes , so much so we have recently changed our product supply to 100 per cent environment and sustainable cleaning products . “ 100 per cent ?!!” I hear you shout , yes , even the containers we use to hold the cleaning products are made from sugar cane and can be recycled , our cleaning products are enzyme based and biodegrade leaving only water when flushed away in the drains .
“ We use recycled business cards , although we are now looking at new technology for one-time electronic business cards .
Our only shortcoming is electric vehicles ; the commercial side of electric motoring is not great but
Recycling Technologies it is getting better . As soon as it is practical to do so , we ’ ll go electric . “ For us what started out as a small idea to help me , is now one of the key factors in why we are winning new contracts and large clients , because they share our values and ethos in looking after the environment .”
This Swindon based company is at the cutting edge of green tech both locally , nationally and even internationally . Its stated mission is ‘ we want to make plastic a more sustainable material through innovation and technical excellence ’.
The team are known for their pioneering modular technology to recycle difficult plastic waste such as cling film and crisp packets . This process , using a machine known as the RT 7000 creates a substance called Plaxx which can be recycled into other plastic goods thus avoiding such waste going into landfill or being incinerated .
Recently the company has signed a joint development agreement with INEOS Styrolution to develop and advance the recycling of polystyrene in Europe .
For more info : www . recyclingtechnologies . co . uk
THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2020 13