Incentives see small firms take meaningful steps on the environment

Waterford City and County Council has come up with a novel scheme to encourage small businesses in the area to become more sustainable. “We wanted to encourage businesses to make sustainability a priority,” explains council climate action officer Grainne Kennedy. “The idea was that we would offer a discount on rates for smaller businesses who do certain things in relation to sustainability.”

The Rates Energy Discount Scheme applies to businesses with an annual rates bill of less than €10,000. Last year, the first year of the scheme, businesses which completed online sustainability training were eligible to receive a discount of 5 per cent on their rates.

“This year we are asking the 4,000 eligible businesses to go further and to carry out an energy audit to identify where the greatest energy savings can be made,” says Kennedy. “In exchange for carrying out this assessment and meeting the requirements, the discount this year will be 8 per cent of their rates. Once businesses have their audits done, we hope that a number of them can be included for funding on the Better Energy Communities application that Waterford City and County Council submits each year to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The Better Energy Community fund gives businesses 30 per cent towards the cost of energy efficiency improvements.”

Local businesses are already making significant progress on their sustainability journeys. Metalman Engineering recently installed 38kW of solar panels on its factory with and will also install a battery storage system in October to further reduce energy consumption from the grid.

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Another business making real progress is Molloy’s Butchers Ardkeen. All of its suppliers have stopped using single-use packaging when delivering produce and instead work on a colour-coded reusable crate system which completely eliminates waste. The business also ensures all of its outgoing packaging is either recyclable or compostable where possible and is working in partnership with BioBag Ireland on the development of a new beeswax alternative to cling film. In addition, customers are incentivised to bring their own reusable containers when buying meat through a generous discount scheme worth up to 20 per cent of their order.

Amber Henderson’s newly opened Naph Studio hair salon has embraced sustainability from the outset and is part of the green salon collective, which means that everything is recycled – including hair.

“Green salon collective comes to collect my bins when they are ready and all the materials are recycled and reused to make the most amazing things such as rope, materials for tables, and even the hair is used as blocks for oil spills,” Henderson explains. “I’ve chosen the luxury brand Oway (Organic way) for the same reason. Oway shampoos and styling products come in beautiful glass bottles and every part of the manufacturing process has sustainability in mind. Most of these products are vegan.”

The Beautorium Beauty and Skin Clinic and Training Academy is just starting its sustainability journey. “We are currently reviewing all our working practices in the salon and academy to be more sustainable,” says owner and director Joanne Quinn Geoghegan. “We are in the early stages as yet but we are actively researching methods where we can improve and I have also been on a focus group with other industry professionals to brainstorm how the beauty industry as a whole can become more sustainable.”

So far, the business has eliminated 90 per cent of its paper usage. “The academy would have created a lot of waste paper with manuals and so and now we email PDFs as well as using an online learning platform for all class notes and tests,” says Quinn Geoghan.

Tramore Racecourse has been making sustainability strides of its own. “All racecourses have a high level of water use to maintain a safe racing surface for both horse and jockey,” says general manager Owen Byrne. “Especially in the summer months, a huge volume of water would be used. Here at Tramore we are completely self-sufficient for water using our own spring. To minimise waste we store this water in a 1.9 million litre lagoon which is filled via our well and by capturing rainwater. In the last number of years we improved our drainage system on the racecourse and capture rainwater in storm drains at the bottom of the track which is then periodically pumped back to the lagoon for storage and reuse.”

Over the last three years the racecourse has moved to 100 per cent organic fertiliser. “Prior to this we would have used large amounts of phosphates,” Byrne notes. “By introducing only organic fertiliser we have stopped any potential run-off into drains and so on and it has actually improved our soil quality and racing surface.”

Blossom & Berry florist and has successfully implemented a number of sustainable practices. “We source flowers from Irish flower farmers and greenery from Irish foliage farmers as much as possible,” says florist Claudia O’Neill. “Also, our plants are ideally grown and sourced locally or from Irish plant nurseries. Not only does this cut back on harmful airfreight carbon emissions from overseas transportation, it also supports Irish flower and foliage farmers.”

Plastic reduction is also high on the agenda. “It’s so important to eliminate plastic. Blossom & Berry is proud to offer a plastic-free bouquet-wrapping solution. Cellophane and plastics have been swapped out for eco-friendly paper options. Any plastic that cannot be substituted for an eco-friendly alternative is reused and repurposed as much as possible. Traditional floral foam is single-use plastic and we aim to use natural materials such as moss or straw instead.”

These individual efforts have the potential to add up to a very significant impact, says Kennedy. “Businesses account for a significant part of our carbon emissions – 17 per cent in the city – so it is important we work with them to help them reduce their carbon emissions,” she says. “We are very lucky here in Waterford to have strong collaborative links with the business community.”