Acorn Woodshack is trialling new plastic-free, compostable cardboard packaging for its kindling.
The Woodshack prides itself not only on utilising 100% waste timber but also being a zero-waste operation. With the acquisition of a briquette machine and wood burner two years ago, it doesn’t waste anything. Even dust and sawdust is collected to make chemical-free briquettes in the Woodshack workshop. This in turn generates an income as it is sold to the public.
Acorn has made its own kindling since 2015. However, for a while now and following customer feedback, they have wanted to get rid of the plastic packaging around kindling.
An opportunity arose following a visit by the president of the Rotary Club of Jersey. Richard Harwood had seen the results of a trial of plastic-free, biodegradable pots in the plant nursery, which Rotary funded. This has been successful and will be extended next year.
When Mr Harwood saw the Woodshack, he knew it was the kind of project he wanted to support. Rotary secured £1,600 from the Co-op Environmental Fund which the club will match to give £3,200.
“We are delighted to continue working with Acorn towards our long-term goal of reducing unnecessary plastic usage,’ he said. ‘These small changes will make a massive difference if we all work together to reduce our negative impact on our planet” said Mr Harwood.
Woodshack manager John Hill said: “A few years ago, after some research, we realised that most of the kindling wood used in Jersey was imported from the UK. Our aim was to change this and by doing so help our local environment and community.”
“We are now entering our seventh season of kindling production and make up to 7,000 bags of kindling per year. That’s approximately 20 tonnes of kindling. This equates to 140 tonnes of timber taken from the local waste stream, used on kindling alone since we started.”
“Trialling a more sustainable packaging from our outlet at Acorn is the next move to becoming as environmentally friendly as possible and we thank the Rotary Club of Jersey for the funding to get this latest initiative off the ground.”
*The new boxes of kindling will be sold from Acorn Reuse for £4.70 for the initial box and £4 per box when customers bring it back for a refill.
