Preserving the natural environment is very important to us, and we put a lot of time into evaluating the impact our business will have. We have a purpose clause written into our Articles of Association, and will regularly share our progress so you can see how we're getting on. Our first investor was Bethnal Green Ventures' Tech for Good Fund, so we're in good company! Environmental impact is a complicated topic, so we commit to continuing to research and improve in this area. Here's what we're doing so far.

Wherever possible, we deliver our plants via pedal bike or electric vans. In cases where we can't, we offer carbon neutral deliveries. This means we offset any carbon associated with our delivery by investing in projects which absorb carbon. We also receive deliveries of plants from our growers. Large electric transit vehicles are not yet available, so we offset these emissions (known as Scope 3 emissions) via Gold Standard certified carbon offsetting projects.

Wherever possible, our plants are sourced in the U.K. and are grown organically without chemical fertilisers. As we know, trees and larger plants like shrubs store carbon effectively. This effect is less significant with smaller plants, but we are proactively looking for research partners to help us measure the carbon capture capacity of different plants in our range so we can understand our impact from seedling to compost. The exception to our plants being grown in the U.K. is the small range of indoor plants we offer which are sourced in The Netherlands. We have chosen a supplier who is proactively managing emissions out of their supply chain, for instance running just 2 fully stocked lorries to the U.K. every week to reduce emissions from deliveries. All of our compost is peat-free. Peat is highly fertile organic matter which is sourced by dredging up ancient peat bogs, which are effective carbon sinks. Using peat depletes these ancient reserves and releases carbon into the atmosphere. We use alternatives which can be sourced sustainably but still give the same quality growing results. We only offer organic, naturally-derived fertiliser. Plants can grow beautifully without the need for toxic chemicals which then leach into the soil and harm microorganisms and other wildlife.