UPCYCLING

As a UK manufacturer there are a number of sustainable resources from our supply chain which can be easily recycled or reused to create environmentally friendly products.

Making use of wooden boxes

Some of the components used in the manufacture of our integral blinds are delivered to us in small wooden boxes. We have donated these boxes to local schools and community groups who have been exceedingly creative with them, finding new uses such as creating pieces of art, making time capsules, treasure chests and memory boxes, toy boxes and display cases – some of them are then sold and the money raised donated to charity.

A raw material for school projects

Children at Kippax North Primary School in Leeds have made memory boxes, treasure chests, curiosity boxes and picture frames while St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy used the boxes to create personal memory boxes for students in honour of their 50th anniversary. The boxes, which the children decorated and filled themselves, were then buried in a time capsule. Other beneficiaries of our boxes include the Japanese Garden Society and a local craftsman who uses them to create bird houses and bug hotels, to aid garden biodiversity.

Supporting young entrepreneurs!
Another way that our post-use wooden boxes are used is to support a unique initiative that helps children aged between 11 and 18 to unlock their entrepreneurial spirit. The Creative Enterprise Challenge is a ‘Dragon’s Den meets The Apprentice’ style programme that runs in the school holidays to give young people an opportunity to develop their skills, confidence and creativity as part of a team.



The brainchild of product designer and business founder Sami Lovett, the programme is all about creating a new product to a brief. And it is here where our wooden boxes are upcycled and put to good use, as the children in every programme are challenged to make something new using this wood.

Glass off-cuts to amazing art
We donate our glass off-cuts to a local glass artist Gael Spishak, who gives them a new lease of life as works of art. Using her own home studio, she melts the glass down and reforms it to produce stunning pieces of glass wear. Items she creates include bowls, decorations and even a Nativity scene, all of which are subsequently either sold in aid of charity or donated to community groups.

See some of the many creative ways our supply chain packaging can be easily recycled or reused to create environmentally friendly products.