The Environment

Environmental awareness is to understand the fragility of our environment and the importance of its protection. 

Over the years, Blue Diamond has taken many positive steps to reduce our impact on the environment and implemented measures to help reduce our carbon footprint.  We also support our local communities in their efforts by helping local schools in creating more green space and free talks and advice about all aspects of gardening.

By gardening, we can truly "go green" to benefit the earth. Plants act as highly effective air cleaners, absorbing carbon dioxide, plus many air pollutants while releasing clean oxygen and fragrance. Insects such as bees and butterflies depend on our gardens which are an integral part of the ecosystem.  Without insects, our lives would be vastly different.  Insects pollinate many of our fruits, flowers, and vegetables. We would not have much of the produce that we enjoy and rely on without the pollinating services of insects, not to mention honey, beeswax, silk, and other useful products that insects provide.   Read more...

At Blue Diamond, we are aware that we are part of a greener, cleaner future and this page sets out some of the steps we are taking to reduce our carbon footprint and promote a greener, cleaner way of working within our garden centre and restaurant environments. 

For decades, peat-based potting composts have been used to raise and grow-on plants. Due to the concerns about the damage done to the environment, some gardeners are now reaching for peat-free or reduced-peat products as an alternative.

Progress is continuous, and significant progress has been made in developing peat-free and peat-reduced alternative products for plants to grow and thrive, new products are coming onto the market all the time. Alternative materials such as composted bark, coir, wood fibre, and green waste can all play a role in developing growing media that replicates the properties of peat, an adequate supply of these is key.

Read our full PEAT STATEMENT here...

We are also now recycling compost bags...CLICK HERE to find out more...

Cardboard compacting machines are installed in many of our larger garden centres that produce more waste. This cardboard is then sent on for recycling and reusing through the supply chain.

Amongst others, we also recycle plastic, food waste, paper and card, glass and lightbulbs where possible.

Battery recycling collection points are available in all locations. A number of our centres also use solar panels to produce the majority of the electricity they use which in turn power the lights throughout the group which have been converted to low energy LED lighting.

Many of our centres have waterless urinals or use rainwater to flush toilets. The majority of the water we use in our plant areas is abstracted straight from the ground rather than using precious drinking water.

A number of our larger centres also have energy management systems to help ensure our energy usage is optimised. 

Recycle your old electricals at Blue Diamond! If you are buying a new electrical item, we will recycle your old one for FREE.

We are pleased to offer our customers the chance to recycle their old electrical items when purchasing a new item from us.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requires UK distributors to maximise separate collection and environmentally friendly processing of WEEE. UK distributors (including retailers) are required to provide a system which allows all customers buying new electrical equipment the opportunity to recycle their old items free of charge. As a responsible retailer, we have met these requirements by offering all customers buying new electrical and electronic equipment free take-back of their old electricals on a like-for-like basis.

Blue Diamond will encourage customers, employees and suppliers to reduce the use of plant pot plastic and to use only kerbside recyclable plant pot plastics. 

We also undertake regular audits of our suppliers to ensure they are doing all they can to eliminate the use of non-recyclable plant pot plastics and expanded polystyrene to ensure these materials are eradicated from Blue Diamond’s plant products.

Checking our plant suppliers to encourage the use of recycled water in the production of their plant products and to use Biomass fuels and/or other renewable energy sources for the heating of glass houses is another step we are taking. The majority of plant suppliers have been doing this already for a number of years.