Shropshire worm farm owner benefits from advice of council-funded project on sustainability

Luke Boxall, who runs the vermiculture business Soil Nurture in Neenton, has taken advice from Cool Shropshire & Telford, a £20,000 project which sees Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council partnered with environmental consultants E4environment Ltd to steer SMEs and micro businesses towards understanding and reducing their environmental impact.

Luke said: “Soil Nurture started because we believe in the relationship between a healthy life and the health of our soils and plants.

"This means that we want every land and soil user, from large scale farmers to windowsill gardeners to ensure that the products they are using have sustainable benefits for everyone.

“We believe that sustainability means the positive and beneficial interaction between, soil, our environment, people, community and business and already try to act responsibly.

“We re-use as much packaging as possible and ask our customers to return the packaging so that it can be re-used rather than recycled.

“And although working throughout the UK and being in an industry where physical presence is important, we minimise travel where possible and inform customers of our journeys so that we can meet up with as many people as possible on the same day. “Similarly, we minimise the use of energy by ensuring efficient operations of equipment and aligning deliveries of products.”

Cool Shropshire and Telford, which is also influenced by Zero Carbon Shropshire, has provided expertise which will help Luke future-proof the businesses by measuring its carbon footprint and setting achievable goals and strategies to help improve sustainability.

Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council cabinet member for climate, environment and transport, said: “A vermiculture business such as Soil Nurture is already creating a sustainable product that is good for the environment and Luke has thought about sustainability.

“By seeking advice from Cool Shropshire & Telford Luke is discovering how much more the business can do and with the help of our experts he will be able to get a real understanding of where the business currently stands and what’s needed to take it further towards achievable sustainability goals.”

Luke added: “There is a lot that we can do at Soil Nurture to improve our sustainability credentials. We are the first to admit that we are not perfect. We are always learning to understand what else we can do to improve our sustainability and working with Cool Shropshire & Telford has been very enlightening.

“The biggest goal at the moment is to find a site in the UK to build our large scale facility. This will improve our environmental suitability. It will also bring a positive to the local community as we will process waste.”

Cool Shropshire & Telford gives members the opportunity to address long-term challenges of climate change by developing a green strategy, which will allow them to set achievable realistic sustainability targets and satisfy legislative requirements and adding value for stakeholders.

To find out more visit shropshire.gov.uk/shropshire-climate-action/news/news/cool-shropshire-telford/