Inside Château Léoube, the Bamfords’ Organic Winery in Provence

Since Carole Bamford launched Daylesford back in 2002, it has become a household name in the UK – synonymous with the Cotswolds and all things organic. Lesser known, though, is one of the Bamfords’ other ventures: a wine estate in Provence, which, over the past 25 years, has been quietly but surely flying the flag for eco-minded viticulture. 

We’re talking about Château Léoube, a perfectly polished vineyard spread across four miles of coastline in the heart of Cap Bénat (the largest protected site in the Var), nestled within the sleepy town of Bormes-les-Mimosas. The Bamford family bought the estate back in 1997, enthralled by its seaside location, which not only looks beautiful, but also brings a unique quality to the winemaking. They set out to transform Léoube into an organic winery that showcased their holistic philosophy of nurturing the soil and working with the rhythms of the seasons. 

Brought in to spearhead the process was Romain Ott, fourth generation winemaker of the esteemed Ott family, who, having grown up in the region, was already well acquainted with the land. After ten years of careful planting and planning, the first vintage was born in 2008. Nowadays, Léoube produces around 350,000 to 400,000 bottles of wine each year, with 80 percent of that being rosé, alongside white, red and sparkling. 

The land is protected, meaning it has reached capacity in terms of production – allowing the focus to be on quality rather than quantity. ‘The Léoube style is authentic fine wines that are balanced, delicate and elegant,’ describes Romain. A love for the natural world dictates everything at the estate. ‘We have three jobs: to look after the land, to nurture nature, and to look after its biodiversity,’ Jérôme Pernot, Léoube’s head of export, tells us. ‘As much as we can, everything we do is by hand, from the planting to the trimming.’ The soil is nourished using only natural composts and manures, with no herbicides or pesticides used, and during the winter months sheep graze the land, acting as a natural method of weed control. 

Naturally, there’s a bit of Provençal glamour too – albeit in a relaxed way. Café Léoube is the estate’s chic beachside restaurant serving Mediterranean fare, made using ingredients from the on-site market garden.

And in 2021, James Middleton had his wedding at Château Léoube, attended by the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. But beneath the crisp glasses of rosé, pristine white linen and VIP guest list lies a clear, important message: that saving the earth starts from the ground up. As Romain puts it: ‘Viticulture at Léoube is and always has been a long-term vision, so sustainability is vital.’

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Bring Back The Beasts: Why Rewilding Might Save Britain

I am lucky enough to live at Cannwood, at the centre of a growing inkblot of nature restoration on farms in Somerset’s Brewham Valley that are working to restore a long-gone hunting forest known as Selwood. This great forest was never that of our collective imagination: a kind of dense, dark closed-canopy affair. Selwood was, in fact, a vast mosaic wood pasture, not so different from the wildwood that blanketed nearly all of Britain in pre-history. Selwood was converted into the patchwork quilt of neon green fields and neatly clipped hedges we see today not so very long ago, perhaps a century or two. With it went a natural vibrancy and an abundance of wildlife that we can barely conceive of today.

Among the species lost from Selwood were Britain’s own keystone species. Keystone species are those animals who play a disproportionately vital role in maintaining ecosystems, and on which therefore all the other species depend. In the same way that each arch of a medieval bridge is supported by a keystone that, if removed, causes the arch to collapse, it is now understood that the balance of ecosystems also hinges upon the activities of certain species that create so-called trophic cascades that bring exponential benefits to everything else.

Principal among the keystones of Selwood were the native horned cattle belonging to the people living and farming here, who turned them out to roam freely across an unenclosed landscape. Horned cattle are descended from the fearsome wild ox or aurochs that may have survived in the wild in Britain until at least Roman times. The browsing, grazing and trampling of these large herbivores prevents the darkness of the tree canopy from closing over the landscape, instead engineering semi-open woodland punctuated by sun-dappled glades and meandering grazing lawns in which wildflowers, berry-laden scrub and small fruit trees may flourish.

The native horned cattle free-roams at Selwood

A second keystone was the pig, herded domestically for millennia, and its untamed, curious, sensitive, social cousin the wild boar, which lives in matriarchal family groups known as sounders. These are nature’s gardeners, whose incessant rootling and turning of the ground exposes the bare soil for the benefit of plants whose seeds require open ground for germination. All kinds of plants have disappeared from our landscapes in the absence of this rootling; from delicate, annual grasses and wildflowers such as poppies and scarlet pimpernel, to trees such as black poplar, aspen and sallow – from which the word Selwood is derived. Many songbirds too depend on pigs to access bugs and other food in the earth, and all kinds of fungi and microorganisms are propagated through the landscape by pigs.

A third is the beaver, hunted to extinction in Britain by the middle ages. By building dams, beavers create strings of pools that have the appearance of gently ascending Japanese rice terraces. These beaver-made wetlands and wet woodlands, sunlit by the felling of trees, are one of the lushest, most naturally abundant habitats we have in our country. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the wolf is our own apex predator, whose hunting maintains healthy populations of wild herbivores, keeps their numbers in check, and keeps the herds on the move. To some extent humans have usurped the wolf, whose role we do our best to fulfil, poorly it turns out, as deer numbers continue to grow out of control.

Our big idea here in Selwood is inspired by Knepp, a big former industrial farm on poor land in Sussex whose owners, Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree, exasperated by years of economic losses, took the decision two decades ago to embark on a grand experiment: rewilding. Charlie and Isabella’s plan was to allow natural processes and self-willed wood pasture to return across all of their farm. Without any fixed outcomes in mind, they turned out native, domestic proxies for the keystone species.

They chose hardy breeds that can live outside all year round without supplementary feeding. Old English longhorn cattle were used in place of aurochs; Tamworth pigs for wild boar; and Exmoor ponies for Europe’s
long-extinct wild horse, the tarpan. Red and fallow deer were added to the mix. At Knepp, all these rewilded animals are free to roam where they like, eat what they like, sleep where they like.

Across the entire landscape a shape-shifting wood pasture has grown up, rich in scrub and in wildflowers, a mosaic of habitats that teems with wildlife in an abundance that we are unused to seeing in Britain today. Isabella’s bestselling book, Wilding, charts the astonishing recovery of nature through rewilding that is unfolding at Knepp, and the surging return of species that are disappearing almost everywhere else in Britain: turtle doves, nightingales, white storks, kingfishers, all five British species of owl and countless other species are present in unfathomable numbers. Populations of insects and small mammals are sky-rocketing, and with them everything that depends on them for food. Most astonishingly, Knepp has never been so profitable.

Here in Selwood, farmers in our growing cluster are ripping out fencing and field drains, filling in ditches, opening up gaps in hedges and replacing their sheep and commercial cattle with free-roaming Old English Longhorns equipped with NoFence collars that respond to an invisible, moveable boundary. A re-emergent wood pasture, now so rare in Britain, is beginning to shine all around us. Surveyed moth, butterfly, bird and bat numbers are rising fast. Beavers are back, and on dark summer nights glow-worms hang once again suspended in iridescent patterns over their pools.

If nature is wealth, Britain ranks among the poorest countries on Earth. We can barely conceive of the magic and natural abundance that was known by previous generations. Thankfully, public demands are now growing for the restoration of nature and rewilding, on which we depend for everything we have and everything we do. In December 2022, Britain joined the nations of the world in pledging to restore 30 percent of our land to natural health and 30 percent of our sea by 2030. Our national parks and other less agriculturally productive landscapes, which contribute a minuscule proportion of our national food production, are the obvious areas in which to centre these efforts. And it is families that have farmed these landscapes for generations who are best placed to lead them.

Farming communities are in many ways the soul and the backbone of our country. In our least productive landscapes, and especially within our national parks, their hordes of sheep have become hopelessly non-viable in economic terms, unable to provide a decent living. As the average age of sheep farmers creeps ever higher, their take-home income creeps ever lower. In sheep farming, there are now no winners, only losers. In landscapes dominated by sheep the ruination of nature has gone hand in hand with economic and social decline.

The role of native horned cattle as a keystone species offers us a kind of silver bullet in these places. The dramatic recovery of nature through rewilding can go hand-in-hand with continued, albeit reduced, food production and the breathing of new economic life into our remoter landscapes. The switching from non-native sheep to native horned cattle will give us swathes of restored wood pasture, currently so rare in Britain. Landscapes like Selwood can once again play host to an extraordinary array and abundance of wildlife, of the kind that we have simply forgotten can exist here. Once you’ve visited a place like Knepp, or now Selwood, and have experienced for yourself a wall of birdsong so intense that it feels overwhelming, everywhere else seems colourless and silent by comparison.

God is an Octopus by Ben Goldsmith (£20, Bloomsbury) is out now.

Featured image from Pexels, by Lauri Poldre.

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Climate News You Might Have Missed

The EU Proposes First Soil Law

5 July 2023: This week in Brussels, the EU set out plans for the continent’s first-ever soil law, which will aim to undo some of the damage done by intensive farming. This would mean states must monitor soil health against criteria such as erosion and fertiliser use – but the proposal would not oblige them to achieve minimum soil health levels.

Big food companies including Unilever have criticised the plan, deeming it unambitious. The One Planet Business for Biodiversity, a coalition of companies including Unilever, Nestle and Danone, said in a statement: ‘Despite the worrying state of EU soils and the solutions mentioned in the proposal, it fails to propose an ambitious framework for coordinated development of soil health at the European level.’

Monday Was The Hottest Day Of All Time

Unsplash

5 July 2023: In yet another worrying milestone, it was confirmed yesterday that Monday 3 July was the warmest day since records began. The average temperature topped 17 degrees Celsius for the first time – a result of the El Niño weather event plus carbon dioxide emissions. This surpassed the previous record of 16.92 degrees Celsius, reached in August 2016.

Thames Water Fined Over Gatwick River Pollution

5 July 2023: Thames Water has been charged with discharging millions of litres of undiluted sewage into two rivers near Gatwick, resulting in the deaths of thousands of fish. The company admitted to pumping raw sewage into the Gatwick Stream and River Mole in East Sussex – a move that was branded a ‘reckless failure’ in operations. 

At a sentencing at Lewes Crown Court yesterday (4 July), it was revealed that investigators had found almost 1,400 dead fish in both waterways – though the Environment Agency believes many more were killed. Eyewitness accounts, meanwhile, described the rivers turning ‘black’ and ‘grey’ as a result of the pollution.

Thames Water has been fined £3.3m, adding to a number of fines brought to the business over the past six years, totalling £35.7m.

A Record-Breaking Hot June Caused Unprecedented Wildlife Deaths

2 July 2023: It’s no surprise to anyone that the world is getting hotter – with the UK experiencing its warmest June on record this year, according to provisional figures from the Met Office. And now, environmental groups have warned that these high temperatures have led to increased deaths in fish, insects and plants. 

Mark Owen from the Angling Trust told BBC News: ‘The reports of the number of fish death incidents in rivers for this time of year has been unprecedented. I would normally expect rivers to be affected later in the summer when it’s hotter and drier.’

Ali Morse from the Wildlife Trusts, meanwhile, highlighted that insects like bees and butterflies will have less to eat, as many flowering plants wilted in the high temperatures. ‘Every month seems to be the hottest, the driest, the wettest, or whichever record-breaking event it is. If we have a one-off pollution event or a wildfire, then there is normally time for nature to bounce back, but now it seems to be continually pounded by extreme weather,’ she explained.

UK No Longer A World Leader On Climate Issues

(c) Massimiliano Morosinotto, Unsplash

28 June 2023: The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has indicated in a 2023 progress report that the UK has lost its leadership when it comes to climate issues on the world stage, with government efforts to scale up climate action described as ‘worrying low’. Like many other countries, the UK has set legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 – but the CCC is now worried that we will struggle to meet these targets on time.

One of the key issues stemming from this announcement was the government’s backing for new oil and coal expansion plans, and slow uptake on heat pumps. Last December, the government approved the UK’s first new deep coal mine in 30 years in Cumbria, as well as a new oilfield off the coast of Scotland (forecasted to produce 300 million barrels of oil in its lifetime) which is set to be approved by regulators within the next two weeks.

The Committee has indicated that a switch to renewable power needs to be more quickly implemented, as well as the installation of heat pumps, better home insulation, reduced meat consumption, increased planting of trees and less flying. Overall, the CCC believes that there is a lack of urgency when it comes to making positive changes.

In response to the report, Graham Stuart, Minister of State for Energy Security said that the UK government has met all of its carbon targets to date and will continue to do so in future. He also said, in response to the new coal mine in Cumbria, that it would be used to produce coking coal for making steel rather than energy production.

Overall, UK greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 46 percent from levels seen in 1990 – but, at COP26, former prime minister Boris Johnson promised the UK government would cut emissions by 68 percent by the end of the decade, meaning there’s still a way’s to go to stay on track for both 2030 and 2050 targets. Chair of the COP26 summit, Alok Sharma, has also indicated that the UK is at risk of falling behind on its goals and losing its reputation.

World Massively Off Track To End Deforestation By 2023

(c) Renaldo Matamoro, Unsplash

27 June 2023: During COP26 in 2021, over 100 world leaders signed the Glasgow Declaration – a commitment to to collectively ‘halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030’. A new report by Global Forest Watch, however, reveals that 11 football pitches worth of forest was lost every minute in 2022, throwing plans to end deforestation well off track.

Brazil continues to have the greatest primary forest loss in the world, with 2022 seeing the Brazilian Amazon’s highest rate of non-fire-related loss since 2005. The rate of primary forest loss increased by 15 percent between 2021 and 2022 alone.

Similarly, primary forest loss in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains persistently high, having lost over 500,000 hectares in 2022. Ghana also experienced the largest percent increase in primary forest loss amongst tropical countries in 2022, soaring up by 71 percent.

Tropical primary forests, otherwise known as old-growth forests, are especially valuable in the climate crisis, as they absorb huge amounts of green house gases. When these forests are burned, this stored carbon is released into the atmosphere. And, with trees taking years – typically decades – to grow into forests, the solution of planting trees in their place is too slow-acting to make much of a positive difference.

In better news, many countries have have reduced their primary forest loss by over 50 percent since 2022: Indonesia, Costa Rica, China and Malaysia. ‘The question is, are we on track to halt deforestation by 2030?’ asks Rod Taylor from the World Resources Institute (WRI), which runs the Global Forest Watch. ‘And the short answer is a simple no. Globally, we are far off track and trending in the wrong direction. Our analysis shows that global deforestation in 2022 was over 1 million hectares above the level needed to be on track to zero deforestation by 2030.’

The Ocean Race Sees Teams Help Track Sea Temperatures & Plastic Pollution

(c) Naja Bertolt Jensen, Unsplash

25 June 2023: Finishing this week is the Ocean Race, a 60,000 km circumnavigation of the globe that lasts six months and is considered one of the most difficult professional sporting events in the world. Teams undertaking the race this year have come together to gather information on plastic pollution, rising ocean temperatures and the amount of carbon dioxide and salt in the seas.

All the boats competing this year have been fitted with scientific monitoring equipment, which teams will use to take readings across oceans (including more remote areas that are usually difficult to get to) and to send data to the UK Oceanography Centre.

Ocean temperatures this year have been the hottest on record since 1982. Warming oceans have led to the Ocean Race itself being extended by 30 percent in the last 10 years, with the exclusion zone around Antarctica being moved 1,000 miles further north due to melting ice and icebergs.

The amount of plastic in our seas has also increased in recent years, with some areas suggesting a 20 percent rise since 2018 (the year of the previous race).

London Summers Expected To Hit Same Temperatures As Nice By 2070

(c) Danilo Pantalena, Unsplash

21 June 2023: The Met Office has warned that rising carbon emissions will bring more unpredictable weather patterns to the UK, with huge temperature increases and intense rainfall.

Speaking on the topic, Jeff Knight, who leads the Met Office’s climate variability modelling team, said: ‘Despite the events of July last year, 40°C days are still considered rare, but by […] 2070, then we could be thinking about those kinds of temperatures occurring every five years.

‘If we think about a four-degree temperature increase, that would be like transforming the climate of London, the summer temperatures of London, into something like historically we might have seen in Nice.’

Intense rainfall is also predicted to increase as temperatures rise, as the UK continues to see more variability that Mediterranean climates.

Featured image: Renaldo Matamoro, Unsplash

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Japan Airlines Has Launched A New Holiday Clothes Rental Scheme

This is the thinking behind a new scheme from Japan Airlines, the ‘Any Wear, Anywhere’ venture, which allows travellers to rent a package of clothes ahead of their trip. It’s running in partnership with trading company Sumitomo, who will source pre-owned items and overstock before delivering the items to your Airbnb or hotel. You’ll be able to choose from styles such as casual and smart casual, with clothes available in sizes ranging from small to extra large.

There are, of course, personal benefits to travelling light – swanning through the airport with no suitcase in tow is always nice. But Japan Airlines will also be looking into whether the project could have an environmental impact, monitoring how a lighter load on board could affect the aircraft’s carbon emissions.

The aviation industry contributes to five percent of the world’s global warming problem, so anything that might help reduce its impact is worth exploring. According to the rental website, cutting around 22 pounds of luggage on a flight from New York to Toyko cuts carbon emissions by around 16.5 pounds – the equivalent of 78 days of not using a hair dryer. 

Experts have highlighted that it could also help with a mindset shift. Richard Cope, sustainability consultant at Mintel, has suggested schemes like this could ‘raise awareness, to a degree, around emissions related to weight and distribution, and the need for all of us to buy, own and make do with less.’ 

On the other hand, while the carbon footprint might be cut from the airline’s side, there will be new emissions created from the rental service itself. Saif Benjaafar, a professor and supply chain expert at the University of Minnesota, has argued that rental services ‘often fall short in delivering on the environmental promise’ as a result of the emissions from the delivery, return and cleaning of items.’

Japan Airlines has said they are looking into greener delivery options, and other ‘sustainable transportation solutions’.

Others have predicted the venture might mean people end up just filling their luggage with other items – books, accessories, make-up, whatever floats your boat. And there’s also the question of: will travellers actually go for it? We’re all for renting clothes, but going on holiday and not knowing whether your outfits will suit you, or fit well, might not be so appealing.

The scheme kicks off this week for a 14-month trial, so watch this space.

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10 Tips To Go Plastic-Free On The Move

Quick Eco-Facts & Tips

• You will use either five menstrual cups or 12,000 disposable menstrual products in your lifetime (A Waste Free World)
• One bamboo toothbrush = four plastic toothbrushes (Charlie Fiest)
• One cloth tote bag = 170 single-use shopping bags (Charlie Fiest)
• One reusable coffee cup = 500 single-use coffee cups (Charlie Fiest)
• Polyester takes 20 to 200 years to decompose in a landfill  (Charlie Fiest)
• Soft plastics (such as straws and the soft film from fruit punnets) will pollute for 200 years
• Plastic bags take 500 to 1000 years to break down
• Plastic bottles take 70 to 450 years to break down

10 Tips To Go Plastic-Free On The Move

1. Reusable Water Bottles

Always carry a reusable water bottle with you, wherever you go. Why? Because a plastic bottle (for juice, water or energy drinks, for example) will be used for an average of three minutes but will remain on the planet for approximately 450 years, releasing harmful chemicals into the soil, or falling into the sea and emitting micro-plastics which can end up in our own bodies. Most restaurants and cafés will refill your reusable bottle for you if you ask. Plus, if you’re travelling abroad, many airports (such as London Luton) have taps with fresh water specifically implemented for the refilling of water bottles.

2. Tote Bags

Always carry a tote bag. This is an important one for those who cook for themselves, and for anyone travelling abroad. Bring a tote bag or two when going on holiday so that when shopping you have somewhere to put all your goodies – as opposed to using a plastic bag.

Dior book tote Oblique bag, £2,400, dior.com

3. Tupperware

Bring your own tupperware to pick up takeaways. I discovered this myself a while back: if you bring your own tupperware when picking up a take-away (after calling to let them know beforehand), the restaurant will most likely pack it with your order, while some places will even take money off the bill. Try the Adoni Leak Resistant Lunch Box, £18, asliceofgreen.co.uk

4. Reusable Straws

Bring your own straw. Planning a picnic? Bring your own straw to avoid using single-use plastic. These make a great present for eco-friendly friends and family, too.

5. Reusable Coffee Cup

Carry a reusable cup for hot drinks. Avoid drinking from single-use coffee cups by investing in your own reusable cup. You’ll often be charged less for your drink, plus there are tons of beautifully designed coffee cups, such as those from Ecoffee Cup and Keep Cup. If your main quarm about purchasing a reusable cup is that you don’t want to carry it around all day, get a collapsible one like the below from Stojo.

stojo.co

6. Reusable Cutlery

Carry your own cutlery. Grabbing lunch on the go? Whole Foods has biodegradable cutlery and with the single-use plastic ban coming into effect in October 2023, places have started offering unpleasant single-use wooden cutlery instead. Carry your own handy eco-friendly cutlery set so that you’re always prepped for food-to-go.

Cutlery roll, £7.48, tabithaeve.co.uk

7. Refuse Plastic

Request no plastic. Booking a hotel or renting a holiday home? Go plastic free whilst travelling by contacting the hotel or host before arriving and requesting that no plastic products (i.e. shampoos and body lotions) be inside the room.

8. Smoke Smarter

If quitting isn’t an option, smoke smarter. The filters on cigarettes (made of plastic), can take up to 10 years to decompose. Not only are these off-putting to see outdoors and on beaches, but they also pose a danger to animals and young children. Switch to an electronic cigarette from blu, who can recycle your old one when you’re done with it, and when sending a product, will only use cardboard packaging. blu.com

9. Be prepared

Be prepared to shop sustainably. Life can be busy, but if you take a little time to research and prepare waste-free options, avoiding plastic on-the-go can be much easier than you think. Get to know the zero-waste shops in your local area, or those mainstream stores that are offering plastic-free produce. See our London picks here.

Leigh Farmer

10. Reusable Food Wraps

One of the best ways to save money, avoid buying single-use plastic and to eat healthy is to bring your own meals to work. Rather than using cling film (of which ‘more than 1.2 billion metres, equating to 745,000 miles of cling film, is used by households across Britain every year – enough to go around the circumference of the world 30 times over’, according to beebeewraps.com), use a natural alternative which can be reused. The same thing can be said for makeup wipes – opt for washable pads instead.

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What is Plastic Free July?

Plastic Free July is a global movement aiming to help people reduce plastic pollution, which is causing severe and increasing harm to our oceans. Organisers are providing participants with resources and ideas on how to reduce single-use plastic waste at home, school, work and while on-the-go, encouraging people not to completely stop using plastic, but to seriously cut down.

The initiative is run by a non-profit organisation called The Plastic Free Foundation, established in 2011 by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz and a small team in local government in Western Australia. So far, it has inspired over 100 million people in 190 countries, making it one of the most influential environmental campaigns in the world.

How Has Plastic Free July Helped?

The initiative’s impact is lasting much longer than July. Some of the campaign’s long-term effects were highlighted in the organisation’s 2022 impact report, including:

• 88 percent of participants had made at least one lasting change.
• Participants reduced their waste and recycling (across the last few years) by 18kg per person per year (4.1 percent less waste).
• Globally, in 2022, participants reduced their household waste: non-recoverable (landfill) waste by 1.7 million tonnes, recyclable waste by 0.9 million tonnes, plastic consumption by 0.3 million tonnes.
• Participants are ahead of the global trend, being 21 percent more likely to adopt plastic waste avoidance behaviours.

Getty Images

How Can You Get Involved?

Sign up here to take the Plastic Free Challenge. You’ll receive weekly emails throughout July with environmental news, tips and motivation. There are also plenty of ideas on the organisation’s website, as well as inspiring stories from participants.

You can also donate to the campaign here, or attend or organise a Plastic Free July event at your local school, council or community hub.

To kick things off, check out our guide to going plastic-free on the move.

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The Country & Town House Responsible Buyers’ Guide

Lauren Scott-Harris On The Creation of EARNT

Lauren Scott-Harris, Founder of EARNT

Hi Lauren, thanks for joining us today! Can you please kick us off by telling us a bit about EARNT and what it does?

Hi! Yes, of course. Last year we launched EARNT with a simple idea: what if there was a limited-edition item (like a pair of sneakers) that you could ONLY access to purchase if you came to a hosted and verified beach clean-up. No gifting, no short-cuts – if you want the item, you must first do something good for the planet or society.

By triangulating brands with causes and consumers, EARNT creates a virtuous cycle to benefit each stakeholder, using the energy people have for things they desire and converting them into actions the planet needs. When we do this, brands do business better (and ‘better’ not only means for the world but also for their bottom line), causes get an army of volunteers, and consumers consume better having done good along the way (while also supporting their own mental health). Communities are created and reconnected while trees are planted, litter is picked, and schools are painted.

EARNT is changing the system to create a brand-new type of VIP – those that do good for the planet or society. EARNT creates, manages, and monitors the system.

And how was EARNT founded?

We had been thinking of the idea for ages, but our first activation was last year with my son’s school, Barnes Primary. Like many other state schools, they are in need of a lot of funding and in this instance needed funding and volunteers to help rebuild the school playground. It was going to cost them about £2k and take the groundsman all summer, so we asked if we could take on that problem as our pilot project.

They agreed and we said we could get it all done for £250. They thought we were mad but here’s what we did: we went to the pub next to the school, The Brown Dog, and asked them to be our partners. We then used the £250 to buy silver tankards and put posters up letting people know that if they wanted their own tankard in their local, they could earn it (and their first pint would be on the house in August) by coming and helping fix the playground for the day. It worked – we had 40 people sign up and we got the job done. The best bit was that it was a great way for everyone to meet one another and then they all used the pub more (showing off their tankards), meaning the pub did better business too! Our goal is to make triangles where everyone wins.

From there we worked with Soho House, Desmond + Dempsey, Design Hotels and even The River Cafe where we had 600 people sign up for a litter pick on the Thames to get access to a secret reservations email so that you could get a table whenever you liked. We are re-inventing VIP status so that it’s those that take action and help the world that are the people the brands look after – not just the famous ones.

EARNT turns one this year – what’s the journey been like to bring it from idea to actuality? 

It’s been so exciting. Taking an idea from brain to paper, from paper to action is quite a process. We have an incredible board of advisors and a most brilliant chairman who keep us going when we face challenges. But the highlights are just seeing how much everyone seems to enjoy these missions and being part of a community, and talking to causes and being able to help them in creative ways. It’s making me optimistic about us as a society, especially since the news is consistently pretty alarming.

What has the response been like to EARNT? Do you find people, both brands and consumers, are eager to get involved?

All of our events book up immediately, which is so much fun to see. Leader brands jumped in straight away, but the fun thing is you can do this with sport, film, music, fashion – the list is endless, and there are always so many jobs that need to be done.

How do you go about connecting the right brands and artists to certain causes?

Sometimes they know exactly what and who they care about and want to support, and sometimes they tell us about themselves and we suggest something – it’s basically the world’s most fun brainstorm session. We ask the brand what they have that people really, really want, then we match that up with something they or their staff or their customers really, really care about. We have three silos – environmental, community or children’s causes – so we start by asking them to pick one of those and go from there.

EARNT has a great concept in that it not only pulls people away from their internet browsers, but it also connects them with brilliant groups and causes. Would you say that the events you put on are helping create a community focused on positive change?

Absolutely. They can be hard work, but there is nothing more rewarding – and doing it with some friends and other brand fans is also such a great way to meet people. We have done a partnership with Thursday dating recently, so people dated while doing good, and it was just brilliant. It’s so good for your mental health to spend some time thinking about others and taking action.

What are your top tips for consuming with intention?

Well, I am biased, but I would say first ask yourself how much you want and need it, and then, if you still do, see if you would be prepared to go the extra mile to earn it.

Additionally, be educated on the ramifications of the choice: if you want to buy fast fashion, do so with an understanding of the system and know that each of us is responsible. When I found out that most of the clothes that are returned to store are simply binned or end up in landfill, I was heartbroken.

The world can feel a little scary these days, and climate anxiety can take a toll on your mental health. How do you think individuals can simultaneously get involved in the climate battle and be kinder to themselves?

I really think it’s about baby steps. We’re all feeling an existential crisis when it comes to the enormity of the situation, but taking little actions or signing up to do acts like litter picks really do help us all feel less hopeless.

Where would you like to see EARNT in 10 years’ time? Do you see it evolving in a particular direction?

A global app that is used by all great brands.

Is there anything exciting in the pipeline for 2023 or 2024 (that you can tell us about)?

Lots, but I am afraid we can’t reveal anything just yet! We have music, sport, and much, much more, and the app will be ready in its first form by the end of the year. But the best way to stay tuned is to sign up to our database, which is how and where we announce our collaborations.

And finally, how do you think we can live a life in balance?

I think it’s about being kind to yourself. I find searching for perfection is a waste of time and you set yourself up to fail. Little actions often. Ask your local restaurant if they would be able to use less plastic when they deliver, teach your kids by setting a good example (kids also love litter pickers, so buy them!), just stay connected and don’t be overwhelmed or despair. We can do this, but we have to all do it together, so being kind to ourselves and others.

Any parting words for our readers?

Everyone is welcome to join this movement. We’d love to see you at one of our events soon – I promise they are really good fun, and the brands and causes we are working with are awesome.

DISCOVER

earnt.co.uk

Images courtesy of EARNT

The post ‘Our goal is to make triangles where everyone wins’: Lauren Scott-Harris On The Creation Of EARNT appeared first on Country and Town House.

The Sustainable Restaurant Association’s New Standard: Everything You Need To Know

What is the Food Made Good Sustainability Standard?

Created by The Sustainable Restaurant Association, the Food Made Good (FMG) Standard is a global sustainability accreditation for the hospitality industry. The Standard is awarded to restaurants and other F&B businesses that meet a set of rigorous, measurable criteria across three main focus areas: sourcing, society and environment. The accreditation aims to encourage, support and recognise sustainability practices across the F&B industry worldwide.

While the Standard has been in existence since 2010, we’ve just launched a new, updated version that is globally accessible and applicable, and more user-friendly.

EDIT Hackney

Why is it important?

If we stand any chance of meeting our climate targets, then immediate, radical and sustained change is needed across all sectors, within this decade. Many people are unaware of the enormous environmental impact of the hospitality industry. Here are just some of the problems posed by the industry as things currently stand:

• The food and beverage industries are directly responsible for 30 percent of climate change. 
• According to UNEP’s 2021 Food Waste Index, a huge 26 percent of the estimated 931 million tonnes of food wasted every year comes from hospitality businesses.
• The F&B sector needs to cut emissions by 66 percent by 2030, and 90 percent by 2050 (compared to 2010 levels) to ensure that the growth forecast for the industry does not mean a growth in carbon emissions. The industry will need to do even more to limit warming to 1.5oC.
• The restaurant industry generates over 11 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, primarily in the form of single-use items.
• Food production demands an enormous volume of water, with the worst culprits being animal-based products.
• Consumer food choices are swayed by ‘what is available, affordable and accessible, and how it is marketed,’ placing a considerable responsibility on the industry: our menus need a serious rethink. We will not meet our climate targets without changing how we eat, and this will not happen without a real commitment on the part of the hospitality industry.

It is not enough for businesses to signal that sustainability matters; they must demonstrate that they are taking action across all areas of their business. Diners care more than ever about sustainability and are increasingly wary of – and clued into – greenwashing. The Food Made Good Standard is a third-party certification that signals to your staff, suppliers and customers that yours is a progressive business that understands the fundamental importance of doing the right thing for both people and planet, and puts sustainability at the core of operations.

How are restaurants measured? What sort of factors are considered?

The Food Made Good Standard examines a business’s policies and practices across three pillars – Sourcing, Society and the Environment – to give a 360° evaluation of a restaurant’s operations. We look at a wide range of issues. ‘Sourcing’ covers supplier relationships, traceability, human rights, biodiversity, animal welfare and sustainable seafood. ‘Society’ includes workplace practices, community outreach, nutrition and responsible drinking. Under ‘Environment’, we look at carbon emissions, water and energy use and waste management (both food and non-food).

We ask for different pieces of evidence to support clients’ answers, including:  

• Written policies, such as a procurement policy, staff handbook, environmental management policy, a supplier code of conduct 
• Supplier invoices 
• Third party certifications   
• Copies of menus  
• Training supports 
• A copy of a piece of communication about the impact area in question (for example, a social media post) 

We have a team of in-house auditors who evaluate each assessment. The assigned auditor will read through the assessment, cross reference the answers given with the evidence provided and check to see that the evidence contains the relevant information. 

Any feedback – including flagging inconsistencies, requesting a further explanation, or asking for additional evidence – is reviewed by a second auditor, before it is sent to the client. The client then responds and provides further evidence as needed. After a final review, the auditor puts together a final report for the client. This includes a summary of the client’s overall performance, and identifying actions the client can put in place to improve their impact in the future. The accreditation is valid for two years.  

Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir

There are lots of accreditations around – how does this one differ?

It stands out in a few ways. 

• The Food Made Good Standard is specifically designed for the hospitality industry, which makes a big difference. This industry has its own inherent challenges that need to be overcome on any restaurant’s sustainability journey – including a huge food waste problem, a long history of treating staff poorly and the fact that an enormous majority of its carbon emissions are generated throughout the supply chain, rather than within the businesses themselves. 
• The Food Made Good Standard takes a big-picture, holistic view of what sustainability should mean for the industry. Undertaking this work means a restaurant is not only minimising food waste, carbon emissions or water use, but also implementing sustainable sourcing policies, designing menus that are good for both people and planet, treating staff with compassion and dignity, and getting involved in the local community. The Standard changes what it means to be a sustainable restaurant in the 21st century.
• It’s important to note that, while there are lots of accreditations out there, many of them are not as focused on practical, tangible actions. For example, a business can be a B Corp and still serve eggs from caged hens, or fish that is endangered; a B Corp can still be sending waste to landfill. This is no disrespect to B Corp as an accreditation; it does a lot of fantastic work in building a better corporate world. However, the Food Made Good Standard really shines when it comes to honing in on the specific actions that food-serving businesses need to take – across all facets of their operations – to transform the wider food system. 
• Finally, the Standard is now also globally applicable and accessible, meaning that restaurants anywhere in the world can sign up and know that the work involved will be relevant for their business.

Pensons

Any notable trends you’ve observed within the sector? Cutting-edge techniques restaurants are using?

There’s definitely more happening in terms of transparency on menus, driven by legislation but also by consumer demand. Things like calorie labelling and allergen labelling are paving the way for other types of information to be provided on menus: carbon footprints, water use, food miles – and there’s a big consumer appetite for this sort of transparency. There are also some really exciting initiatives out there that are finding creative ways to repurpose food waste into new revenue streams. 

It’s important to remember that sometimes the most impactful sustainability work comes in ‘unsexy’ forms. We recently judged the Sustainability Award for the Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards, and Pensons Restaurant in Worcestershire won. They have a wide range of relevant, sustainability-focused business practices, but they scooped it in the end because they’ve implemented their own on-site laundry. That might not sound exciting, but this initiative saves 8,300 miles and 15,000kg of CO2 every year compared to the round-trips they used to take to do laundry; generates power entirely from on-site solar panels, saving 1,485kg of CO2 annually; and uses collected rainwater for 75 percent of its water needs. In addition to these significant, quantifiable environmental benefits, the project highlights the growing issue of water scarcity and has even created a new full-time job. Ideas like this – stemming from a practice of continuous self-examination and being open to experimentation – are so impressive.

Find out more at thesra.org

Featured image: Silo London

The post What Is The New Food Made Good Standard? appeared first on Country and Town House.

The Country & Town House Responsible Buyers’ Guide

The Best Sustainable Swimwear Brands

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Featured image: Swim Society

The post 25 Stylish Sustainable Swimwear Brands To Discover Now appeared first on Country and Town House.

Outcrop: The New London Food Pop-Up Connecting Us With Nature

Set within a courtyard at 180 The Strand, a Brutalist building which serves as a cultural hub, Outcrop has been designed as a ‘green social club’ which strives to have a positive impact on the planet. Opening for an initial three-month run this summer, it’s the brainchild of Luca founders Daniel Willis and Johnny Smith, as well as Secret Cinema alumni Tom Allott, Sabrina Goreeba and Andrea Moccia.

It will feature a restaurant spearheaded by John Chantarasak of AngloThai, who will be bringing his signature style of Thai cooking to British ingredients. He’ll be focusing on seasonal vegetables alongside native breed animals and line-caught fish, all cooked over charcoal.

John and Desiree Chantarasak, by Ben Broomfield Photography

A low waste ethos will be seen throughout, with preservation techniques and whole ingredient cooking at the heart of the menu. Diners will be able to enjoy the likes of root vegetable som tam; salt-baked beetroot with scallop roe chilli jam and wild garlic; Wye Valley asparagus with sunflower seed satay; and skate wing jungle curry. 

Ben Broomfield Photography

The drinks list will be similarly seasonal, created in collaboration with renowned bar manager Rob Simpson, who has worked at esteemed restaurants like Gymkhana and The Clove Club. Cocktails will be made using exclusively British ingredients, like the British Margarita, a blend of barley eau de vie, London honey and gooseberry; and the Outcrop Martini, a blend of London dry gin and homemade herb garden vermouth. 

Alongside this, there will be drinks from a curated selection of UK-based, impact-driven distilleries, who are demonstrating green initiatives such as growing heritage grains, and helping build soil health. And on the wine front, Outcrop will work with low-intervention names such as Uncharted, who will be supplying its wine in recycled and refillable kegs.

The pop-up will also have an arts angle, with a programme continuing the natural world theme. South African DJ Esa Williams, for instance, will be joining forces with artist Chisara Agor on a performance piece looking into the migration of swallows from South Africa to the UK and the African diaspora. Music artist Sam Willis, meanwhile, will be creating a soundtrack which explores music’s relationship with nature.

At the heart of the pop-up will be a large-scale installation from art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast, Sanctuary of the Unseen Forest, designed to invite guests to contemplate their place within nature.

Though the pop-up is initially primed for a three-month run, Outcrop has long-term plans beyond that, such as linking buildings in cities with large-scale regeneration efforts in the countryside. Watch this space.

Outcrop launches on 7 July, bookings available now. outcrop.social

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