Tag Archive for: eco-friendly

Agrovista Amenity Supports Eco-Friendly Roadside Restoration

Agrovista Amenity Supports Eco-Friendly Roadside Restoration: Agrovista Amenity has played a pivotal role in one of the UK’s most sustainable highway planting projects, by supplying biodegradable alternatives for a large-scale landscaping effort led by Leicester City Council. The project, commissioned by Leicestershire County Council Highways, involved planting over 8,000 trees along a newly widened road, with a strong emphasis on environmental sustainability and plastic-free solutions.

The project, led by Tony Mason, Trees and Woodlands Officer at Leicester City Council, ran from January to March this year. It focused on restoring and stabilising the roadside with native plants while reducing the environmental impact of such large-scale work.

Sustainable Solutions with Agrovista Amenity’s Expertise

Agrovista Amenity provided a comprehensive package of sustainable products, including Tree Hugger guards, jute mulch mats, bamboo pegs, and locally sourced whips. These materials were carefully chosen to align with the project’s environmental goals, particularly the commitment to avoiding plastic.

Ed Smith, Landscape and IVM Manager at Agrovista Amenity, explained the motivation behind using biodegradable alternatives: “When Tony approached me about the project and we discussed using biodegradable options, it just made sense. It’s counterproductive to make a positive environmental impact by planting trees and shrubs, only to spoil it with plastic shelters that eventually become unsightly and a disposal burden. Tree Hugger guards, for instance, offer a long-term, cost-effective solution without the need for removal, and they blend seamlessly into the natural landscape.”

The Tree Hugger guards, made from organic cotton substrate coated in FSC-certified pine rosin, are fully biodegradable and designed to last a minimum of five years. Manufactured in Accrington by BMP Tree Hugger, a company with over a century of experience in cotton processing, these guards not only protect young trees from browsing animals but also promote healthy growth. “The cotton material is breathable, reducing the ‘greenhouse effect’ associated with plastic, which can stress the plant,” Ed added.

In addition to the guards, biodegradable jute mulch mats were used for weed suppression, anchored with bamboo pegs. This approach eliminated the need for chemical weed control, further reducing the environmental impact. “We talk about environmental sustainability, and this project is a perfect example of what that looks like in practice. By preventing future problems, such as the costly removal of plastic guards, we’re ensuring that this is likely the most sustainable highway planting job conducted in the UK,” Ed said.

A Significant Environmental Impact

The decision to go plastic-free has had a considerable positive effect on the environment. By opting for biodegradable materials, the project has prevented approximately 700kg of plastic from being introduced into the environment—the equivalent of around 35,000 plastic bottles (330ml). This achievement underlines the importance of sustainable practices in large-scale landscaping projects.

Challenges and Successes

Tony Mason, reflecting on the project, said, “The roadwork alterations were completed two years ago, but the landscape scheme wasn’t finished. When we took on the project, we needed a reliable supplier who could provide everything we required, and Agrovista Amenity was able to meet all our needs. Their products arrived on time and in excellent condition, allowing us to start the planting work in mid-January. Given the scale of the project, working on 60-70 mph roads was a new challenge for our team, but with the right training, we completed the work by early March, and the client was really pleased with the results.”

Despite the scale and complexity of the project, the Leicester City Council team managed to keep the environmental impact low by minimising travel and conducting all planting work manually using wheelbarrows.

This project sets a benchmark for sustainable practices in highway landscaping, demonstrating that with the right approach and materials, significant environmental benefits can be achieved without compromising on quality or effectiveness.

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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Strong eco-friendly sprayer line-up for Techneat

Strong eco-friendly sprayer line-up for Techneat: Cambridgeshire based manufacturer Techneat Engineering will be displaying their full range of pedestrian sprayers on stand G040, including 3 new high performance, eco-friendly models; the Pro-Espray electric drive sprayer, the Weed Wizard and the Prodrift shrouded sprayer.

The Pro-Espray electric drive sprayer offers operators the flexibility of an 80L or 120L tank, 3m or 4m horizontal folding booms and low decibel / low vibration operation. Key features include a high-capacity Li-on battery and a diaphragm pump specifically designed to offer excellent flow and pressure outputs. The Pro-Esprays’ control systems are based on the companies well established engine driven SPPS model, offering ground care professionals individual three-way boom section controls. Advanced safety features include a built-in auto brake, emergency stop and a resettable fuse to protect the operator.

Strong eco-friendly sprayer line-up for Techneat

Strong eco-friendly sprayer line-up for Techneat

Alongside their range of world class pedestrian sprayers will be the Weed Wizard, a high-performance utility sprayer that also offers significant environmental and economic benefits to users via highly targeted weed control and minimal use of chemicals.

This ATV-mounted spraying system identifies weeds through digital imagery and makes a direct application onto weeds via multiple pencil jet nozzles. Each individually-controlled nozzle treats a specific area of 100mm across the machine’s width. The Weed Wizard targets weeds with a high degree of accuracy using ultra-low-drift nozzles combined with computer-aided spot spray technology to minimise overspray and reduce environmental impact. The intelligent application system is automatic, allowing the operator to focus on driving the vehicle.

Strong eco-friendly sprayer line-up for Techneat

Strong eco-friendly sprayer line-up for Techneat

Completing the line-up is the new Prodrift shrouded sprayer. With outstanding eco-credentials it offers users low-decibel operation combined with superior build quality including a tough rotomoulded boom cover and flexible integrated skirt for maximum accuracy around boundaries. The Prodrift keeps spray drift to an absolute minimum, allowing it to perform in less favourable weather whilst maintaining maximum accuracy and delivering unparalleled manoeuvrability due to its unique 3-wheel set up.

Using a high-power Li-on battery to power a 12v pump supplying 4 spray nozzles mounted into a spray hood, the Prodrift has 2 fixed rear wheels and a front mounted, single pivot wheel enabling it to spray up against boundary edges. Pressure control is easy to adjust using a highly visible pressure gauge.

All new models come with the Techneat guarantees of superior build quality, precision accuracy and drift reduction technology.

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Carbon Gold wins eco-friendly product award

Carbon Gold wins eco-friendly product award: Carbon Gold, the leading supplier of biochar products to professional growers, tree care specialists and gardeners around the world, has been announced as the winner of the Eco-Friendly Products Award in the 2021 Great British Growing Awards.

The award-winning range, which includes environmentally friendly compost, seed compost, fertiliser, soil improver, tree soil improver and lawn improver, is made using biochar, a high-carbon form of charcoal that is proven to boost plant health and vitality when used in soil.

Carbon Gold wins eco-friendly product award

Carbon Gold wins eco-friendly product award

As well as benefiting plant development, Carbon Gold’s biochar-based products also have a direct impact on the user’s carbon footprint. For every kilo of biochar put in the ground, three kilos of harmful CO2 are permanently sequestered from the atmosphere, helping professional and home growers to directly counter the effects of climate change.

The Great British Growing Award winners were announced during an official award ceremony at Glee, the UK’s leading garden and outdoor living show. The prestigious awards were presented by presenter and author, Ellen Mary, and recognise the very best of the gardening industry, from sustainability stars, through to seed suppliers and gardening writers.

Mike Hartshorn, Managing Director of Carbon Gold, comments: “We are delighted to have been selected as the winner of the best Eco-Friendly Products Award. The Great British Growing Awards are renowned within the industry as the ultimate symbol of quality within the gardening sector, so to be recognised as part of the awards as a leader in eco-friendly gardening is fantastic.

“At Carbon Gold, we understand the impact that that gardeners and horticulture professionals can have on the environment and are passionate about ensuring that it is a positive one. If every gardener in the UK ditched the peat-based products and converted to biochar, we’d be making significant steps toward offsetting our carbon emissions. Our mission is to help more and more people to discover the benefits of sustainable gardening, and this award marks an incredibly positive step in this process.”

For more information about Carbon Gold, visit https://www.carbongold.com/

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GGM offer NEW eco-friendly Mower from Ariens

GGM offer NEW eco-friendly Mower from Ariens: GGM Groundscare is delighted to announce the addition of the industry’s first removable lithium-ion battery powered zero-turn mower (ZTR) from leading US manufacturer Ariens to its range.

Ariens commercial zero-turn mowers have an excellent reputation for thriving in the toughest environments and the Zenith E is no exception. Fusing next generation battery technology with the rugged frame of a commercial grade Ariens mower, the Zenith E offers Groundscare professionals a powerful new way to lower costs and increase profitability.

GGM offer NEW eco-friendly Mower from Ariens

GGM offer NEW eco-friendly Mower from Ariens

The Zenith E ZTR mower is packed with commercial features and a large 152cm (60”) cutter deck has been designed from the ground up to ensure it delivers industry leading performance and durability without compromising operator comfort and safety.

Available with either a 60” side-discharge or rear-discharge mower deck, the new Zenith E battery model is the first Ariens machine to feature FusionCore lithium-ion battery technology. It has a number of key benefits including zero emissions and quiet operation, making the Zenith E an ideal mowing solution for commercial users in public areas without disturbance such as Hospitals and Care Homes, Schools, Universities, Organic gardens, Hotels, Holiday Parks, Public Parks and Urban Areas.

The addition of the battery powered mower demonstrates further that GGM Groundscare is continuing to deliver on its promise to become an eco-friendly organisation and its determination to offer its commercial customers environmentally sustainable mowing solutions. GGM has been selected as one of only a handful of dealers to supply the Ariens Zenith E and have invested in service training and diagnostic test equipment to enhance customer support.

The organisation, which covers the North West and Yorkshire and has depots in Colne and Haydock, already boasts an impressive record for environmental awareness. Over the lockdown period the business has taken stock and investigated ways to enhance this. This includes undertaking several new measures including investing in renewable energy, reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions and helping improve air quality locally and is continuing to expand its fleet of electric vehicles.

Managing Director Chris Gibson said:

“Following a successful demonstration to our sales team we are really excited to bring the new, battery operated mower into our range. Not only is it environmentally friendly and in keeping with our business values, but it also offers the excellent performance that is synonymous with all our commercial products. It provides our customers with another environmentally friendly Groundscare solution; low noise and emission free mowing while still retaining its high efficiency. We’re confident this will prove hugely popular with our customers across the North West and Yorkshire”.

GGM Groundscare are now booking demonstrations of the Zenith E zero-turn mower in line with government restrictions.  To register your interest and find out how the Zenith E zero-turn mower can benefit your operations, please register your interest at https://promo.ggmgroundscare.com/ZenithE or contact Tel 01282 860444 or Email: sales@ggmgroundscare.co.uk

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