SUSTAINABLE
The word is thrown about too much. I’ve recently made the decision to NOT call myself a sustainable business any more. Literally, everything we do as normal humans without a shit-ton of money behind us, is NOT sustainable! Recent business awards handed out ludicrous ugly trophies for “sustainable” businesses that do NOTHING for sustainability other than have some LED lightbulbs and know what the recycling bins do, meanwhile they’re free to decorate and stock their shops with plastic leaves & imported crap sprayed with 25 tons of shit and glued together with melted plastic. The whole thing makes a complete mockery of what sustainability actually is and only removes the chances of normal humans ever getting educated in the intricacies of what’s involved.
My nursery is, at best, low impact. But I’m big enough to say I’m nowhere near sustainable. There is no closed loop system, I’ve got holes all over it! I have to buy my compost in, which is peat-free and allegedly organic, but is STILL a result of forestry waste, one of the most destructive industries out there and also its imported. I also produce everything from seed and cuttings from parent stock and I grow using organic methods, but that’s only a small nod to sustainability because I still have to rely on plastic pots and the compost is in plastic bags because it’s the only way I can get it on site! To be truly sustainable you need wads of money behind you and a flat site. Yes, I am probably a lot more sustainable than most businesses in the area, but I think we really need to stop throwing around the word so freely! It’s completely eradicated the impact of the whole point! The word has become a cop-out token gesture that businesses can put on their advertising and feel like they’re fulfilling their role as “responsible” and “earth-friendly” traders.
My business isn’t even sustainable on a financial basis! There are back-garden level honesty boxes pulling more money than I am!
Anyway, I’ve decided to tweak all my wording to reflect the ACTUAL environmental standing of my nursey. I’m not allowed to use “organic” in anything and I’m recently kind of ashamed to say I’m sustainable.. so LOW IMPACT is where I’m at. We can only do what we can do. Be fucking honest and keep on trying to be better.
