New BioRegional exhibition launches

Blustin Heath Design have also redesigned the interior of the BedZED show home, which is part of the new exhibition and features in all BedZED tours operated by BioRegional.

All the materials and products specified for the show home have been considered for their environmental sensitivity, and include a mixture of low impact, recycled and natural materials ranging from eco paints, energy efficient lighting and recycled work surfaces to natural flooring.

There is also a public study room to house our reports and publications.

You can visit the exhibition weekdays
9.30am - 5pm

If you would like an in depth guided tour of BedZED or to attend our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training days, please visit
our website for more details.

The BioRegional and Blustin Heath Design exhibition design team.

MiniMills Open day demonstrates new UK technology that can make paper from straw

The conveyer belt feeds straw into the hammer mill where it is chopped before being pulped.

BioRegional MiniMills UK Ltd, who have developed a new environmentally-friendly technology that could mean thousands of tonnes of straw from UK farms can be used as a raw material to produce quality printing and writing paper, held their annual open day in July. The day included a demonstration of the technology and was well attended by professionals working in the paper industry.

BioRegional MiniMills estimate that straw could replace up to 20 percent of imported wood pulp currently used by the paper industry, opening up a market worth some £27 million to UK farmers. Paper produced from UK straw will help stabilise the price of raw paper pulp, as well as reduce carbon related transport emissions and pressure on the worlds forests.

BioRegional MiniMills is now looking to work with the paper industry to see the technology commercialised for main stream use.

The work is part funded by DEFRA, the Home Grown Cereals Authority, the JJ Charitable Trust and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and is being carried out in partnership with UK paper manufacturers. more information

BioRegional Charcoal Company receives investment interest from major UK charcoal importer

BioRegional Charcoal Company (BRCC) currently manages a 30 strong network of rural woodland workers across the UK. BRCC co-ordinates deliveries of almost 300 tonnes per year of Home Grown Charcoal, firewood and kindling to local stores across the country, including B&Q and ASDA.

For the last 4 years we have been looking at ways to increase the amount of UK charcoal made and sold. These efforts are now paying off with one of the UK's biggest distributors of imported charcoal, deciding in principle, to finance the UK’s first regional scale charcoal plant. This will produce an additional 200 tonnes annually, increasing the area of well managed woodland by 800ha, and improving biodiversity values. This will mean that BRCC can expand its market and meet growing demand for BioRegional Home Grown Charcoal, supplying additional high street retailers such as Sainsbury's.

Work on the pilot recirculating retort project was supported by the Environmental Action Fund, BOC Foundation, The Bromley Trust, The
Dulverton Trust, WWF and D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust.

The pilot scale recirculating retort.
The new technology allows the wood to be more evenly carbonised into charcoal.

stocks BioRegional Home Grown Charcoal

Stephen Dickinson, buyer for Asda, was keen to add BioRegional Home Grown Charcoal to their range, meeting growing demand for eco-friendly products. He comments,“Asda are always looking to support the environment and assist with locally sourced products. This is a new venture for the Outdoor Living team and is something with which we are very proud to be associated”.

UK produced charcoal supports jobs in British forestry and also helps to stop illegal logging from unsustainably managed tropical forests, such as in West Africa or now, increasingly, from countries such as China. Reducing imported charcoal and supporting local produce also reduces transport related CO2 emissions, one of main causes of climate change.

BioRegional woodland workers manage woodland to create habitat for threatened butterfly and bird species. The charcoal is supported by environmental groups WWF and Butterfly Conservation, and carries the FSC logo.

New Environment Minister David Miliband recommends One Planet Living

New Environment Minister David Miliband has shown his support for “One Planet Living” recommending to Tony Blair that the appraoch of the initiative (established in partnership between BioRegional and WWF), should be used by DEFRA in their own approach towards tackling environmental degradation caused by excessive global consumption levels.

Mr Milliband highlights in his recommendations to the PM, that as a nation and across much of the globe, we are living beyond our environmental means to a level that is not sustainable.

One Planet Living states that if everyone in the world lived as we do in the UK we would need three planets to support us. The initiative includes “10 One Planet Living Principles” which aim to help bring our consumption levels down to a one planet level.www.oneplanetliving.org
David Milliband's full letter to the Prime Minister can be viewed here

A successful lavender open day

Community group Carshalton Lavender held their annual community Lavender harvesting event in July. The group, which was set up by BioRegional in 2003 to manage their award winning Lavender project, manages a three acre site at Stanley Park allotments and has helped revive the once famous lavender fields of the Carshalton area in south London.

This year’s event has been more successful than ever, with double the amount of visitors coming to ‘pick their own’ lavender, compared with recent years. Other attractions were organised alongside the harvest all adding to the fun of the day. These included aromatherapy massage, a barbecue, a lavender oil distillation display, lavender cookie tasting, Bee Keepers, local artists at work, lavender arts and crafts and herb and lavender plants for sale.

Lavender not picked during the open day is harvested and used to produce small bottles of lavender oil, which BioRegional are selling through local outlets, farmers’ markets, and their website shop.

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