Have you ever visited a local water company?

The other week the Fifty Shades Greener team visited Clare Spring who are committed to move away from plastic bottles completely by the end of 2022. Clare Spring is an environmentally friendly, family run company located deep in the rolling hills of Co. Clare. With process lines 100% automated and designed to run a wide range of both glass and plastic bottles, Clare Springs distribute to shops, and nationally to hotels & businesses as a premium water product in glass bottles. 

The Challenges of being an Environmentally Friendly Business

In Clare Springs efforts, they have tried plant-based plastic bottles which can be composted but they soon realised that through the delivery stacking and movement of the trucks, hairline cracks appeared in the bottles.  Through vigorous testing, Clare Springs now offers “water-in-a-box” which holds 10 litres, for households and businesses to use and in the coming months will...

I am so thrilled today to announce that we have been working hard behind the scenes in collaboration with the Confederation of Tourism & Hospitality (CTH) to create the first Level 4 certificate in environmental sustainability management in hospitality.

This is the first qualification of its kind to be regulated as an official qualification on the Ofqual framework. 

This is truly a pinch me moment for me, having suffered from impostor syndrome for years, to have one of my programmes validated in a framework of education is an amazing achievement. 

FSG was born out of the hospitality sector, with all people in my team having come from a background in hospitality, and our educational programmes respond to an urgent need to address the sector’s environmental impact, attract new talent and reduce cost.

Reducing carbon emissions should be something that becomes paramount in our daily routines if we really want to provoke a mind-set change. Environmental...

Ireland has much work to do in 2022 to implement solutions to curb the colossal CO2 emissions from our Island’s overuse of resources.  In my quest to research other solutions that weren’t tree planting, I landed on the bog! 

A day cutting turf is an age-old tradition in Ireland and has cultural importance, but our commercial destruction of these natural habitats and carbon sinks have created a hugely negative impact on our environment over the years.

Approximately 21% of Ireland is covered by peatlands, which are second only to the ocean in their capacity for carbon storage. They can also store 20 times more carbon than a forested area of the same size.

Water is a key ingredient in peat (approx. 90 – 95% of its content): the carbon of the decomposing material is stored by becoming waterlogged and “sequestered” in the peat, rather than being released into the air. The main challenge faced in the conservation of Irish bogs is that they have been...

This past year has been as unparalleled as 2020, with many hoping for better things to come in 2022...

What has been crystal clear, is that society is demanding more. More from our governments, more from businesses and more from ourselves.

2030, 2050- these 'net zero' targets and others are only around the corner and where once before, the issue of climate change was left to the policy makers around the world, people are demanding transparency and real action.

What about us? And our own impact on the environment? 

We know we have to do something about our own Carbon Footprint, but often we are not really sure how to go about it.

Customer demand for a Greener Hospitality industry is on the rise. Those that adapt, change and market their efforts well, will  see the benefits of listening to what their customers want, and become “favourites” in a landscape of competitive industry.

Working with hospitality businesses, I have heard all kinds of excuses...

 I’ve often spoken about food waste and could continue to do so for the rest of my life, this is primarily down to the fact that our food supply systems are broken, and a shocking one third of all the food we produce ends up as waste before it even hits the shops.

When we talk about bridging the gap - this is clearly a social issue as well as an environmental one.

In terms of impacting the environment - when food waste ends up in landfill, which due to poor waste segregation is often the case - it produces methane, a gas that is far more damaging than carbon dioxide.

It currently accounts for between 8 - 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions however, we are forgetting the energy it takes to produce this food, the water required and the land destroyed to grow it. As I said - it is not a straightforward figure when it comes to its cycle of life and the greenhouse gases it produces along the way.

These are the global figures of food waste, but what about  for us mere...

With the festive season fast approaching my focus has turned to a Greener Christmas.  How can I make more sustainable choices in my celebrations, decorations and gift buying? I am an advocate for shopping and supporting local businesses all year round and this time of year is no different. 

In research I came across based on the American shopping experience it showed that “for every $100 you spend at locally owned businesses, $68 will stay in the community.

What happens when you spend that same $100 at a national chain? Only $43 stays in the community” (What Happens When You Shop Local - Independent We Stand | Independent We Stand).  

In some cases, it’s not possible to buy everything locally but I encourage those who are choosing more sustainable gifts this year to make a list of whom they are buying for and select:

• Locally or nationally produced items
• Gifts made with less or no plastic material 
• Less packaging or choose reusable...

Many of our hospitality clients have asked what the best carbon offsetting projects are in Ireland, particularly as these businesses strive to become carbon neutral.  In a previous Opinion Piece, I have highlighted how I find carbon offsetting problematic: Carbon Offsetting - who can I trust? (fiftyshadesgreener.ie).

I do however understand that there is a need for offsetting to exist for businesses who cannot reduce that small remainder of carbon emissions to become neutral or achieve net zero figures by themselves.

The issue that arises for me is understanding the different options for businesses and the language around offsetting.  I feel it is not very accessible or transparent.  As I delved into some research, I find myself in murky waters and asking many questions – are there any other offsetting projects available in Ireland apart from the popular tree planting?

How are these projects regulated? What credits are the government buying and why are we not...

I am an advocate for taking personal responsibility when it comes to environmental sustainability. 

Every individual choice and action we take has consequences.

Take, for instance, our use of water. There is a perception that it is an abundant natural resource, however, it is limited. Of the 70% of our Earth that is covered in water, only 3% is actually fresh and drinkable. Of this 3% it is not that easy to get! 80% of it is actually frozen in the polar ice caps. So, what does this leave us with? A shocking 1% of fresh water available to us- globally.

As our world population and industries grow, there is a huge demand placed on our water resources. As of 2019, a total of 17 countries are now feeling the stress of water shortages. 

The World Data Institute (WRI) says that about one quarter of the world’s population, approximately 1.7 BILLION people - live in a place where farming, industry and cities use 80% of their available water supply every year.

This means...

Changing your heating system is a significant investment and can feel like a daunting and unnecessary process.  I wanted to investigate what options and grants are available for homeowners looking to move away from oil or gas heating to a more sustainable alternative. 

The most popular choice at the moment is the air-to-water heat pump. The heat from the air is transferred to the water in your heating system, such as your radiators and your hot water tank. Unlike gas and oil boilers, heat pumps deliver heat at lower temperatures over a longer period of time. It is not a new technology; it has been used in fridges since the early 1800's.

At present SEAI offer a number of different grants for homeowners, including installation, insulation and assessment grants.  The first step in the process is to get your home’s energy efficiency assessed.  The building needs to be well insulated – nearly 30% of heat escapes through the walls and 30% through poor attic...

At present in Ireland there are 53 operating data centres – 8 more are under construction with 26 having received planning permission. 

Ireland is a prime location for these centres: we are in the E.U., we have a highly skilled young workforce and a climate suited to data centres (our cool temperate climate is ideal in reducing running costs as the heat-generating computers need to be kept cool).

Dublin is reaching its full capacity of data centres so there is opportunity for other cities now to attract these centres. Tiktok, with their €420 million data centre investment, Google, Facebook, Amazon; they have all set up shop in Ireland.

I myself am reliant on the internet for work and use these data centres – this I am fully aware of. Also, Ireland is in need of job creation and investment post-pandemic, so is this not a Win-Win? What’s the issue?

Well…. A report by Eirgrid has shown that the demands in electricity are due to data centres: in...