Businesses in Action (continued)

Case Study 3:
Lorna Davies, Perth

'Lorna Davies', run by Lorna and her business partner Lynn Smith, is a florist shop in the centre of Perth which, in their words, produces lots of green waste. 
The shop heard about the new service after Carol Holbein, Sales and Marketing Officer for Perth & Kinross Council, visited the shop back in May. Carol said: "Lorna Davies is the perfect example of a business suitable for the green waste collection. Aside from some plastic and other packaging, their waste is mainly stems and leaves from preparing arrangements and left over flowers - material which is suitable for composting."

Lynne commenting on the result of the first visit said: "Obviously with the amount of green waste we produce and our thoughts on recycling in general we were very keen to get on board."

The bin proved so successful for disposing of the green waste that one container could not cope with all the green waste they produced over the fortnightly collection period.

Lynn added: "Having not one but two green waste bins allows us to help the environment and frees up space for our commercial waste bins. The recycling bin is also economical for us."

She also mentioned that: "The service is very easy to use and the bin men are very helpful - occasionally reminding us to put out our bins when we forget!"

Case Study 4:
Arisaig Guest House, Perth

Arisaig Guest House is a family owned guest house run by Stewart and Wilma Bousie. Stewart has been concerned with environmental issues, both as a householder and a businessman, and has been recycling his commercial glass and paper for some time.

In March 2005, Arisaig took part in a Waste Analysis carried out by Perth & Kinross Council.

The Waste Analysis took a sample of businesses throughout Perth and Kinross from different industry sectors and sorted through their waste. This was to see how they were performing in terms of recycling and to identify if improvements could be made.

In comparison to other local accommodation providers the waste produced by Arisaig was significantly lower due to their recycling efforts. Stewart said: "After participating in the Waste Analysis the results indicated that although we did some recycling we could do much more."

To take it a step further they have also implemented the recommendation of the Council to use green labels for recycling cardboard.

Stewart feels that he has made good progress and estimates that he is now recycling over 60% of his domestic and commercial waste. The commercial waste has been reduced so significantly that it is virtually negligible and he has managed to reduce his weekly commercial bin collection.

Although he has had some small initial outlays, for example, purchasing the green labels he said that this has been offset by reducing his weekly collections. He added that apart from the economic incentive: "Another benefit is that we are reducing the amount of waste that the guest house is sending to landfill."

Although Stewart runs a small business he does recognise that his business creates an environmental impact and thinking of the future he adds that: "There is considerable scepticism about climate change and what (environmental) impact individuals and businesses can make. We all have a contribution to make - if we don't future generations will have to suffer the consequences of our decisions."

Arisaig Guest House is currently pursuing Green Tourism Business Scheme accreditation due to their successful waste minimisation efforts.