We care about the planet, which is why we are conscious of how we craft our kitchens. With tomorrow being Earth Day, I thought this week's blog should be about what we do as a business to help the environment and provide everyone with a greener future!
We have recently launched a new Sustainability page on our website, which contains information on everything we do to run as eco-friendly as possible. This blog post is going to dive a bit deeper into our sustainability and help you all understand the environmentally friendly changes we have made and discover everything we do Behind The Scenes!
FSC
FSC stands for 'Forest Stewardship Council'; they are an international, non-governmental organisation that promotes responsible management of the world's forests. Our local wood merchant in Pontrialis is FSC-approved, which confirms that their forest is being managed to preserve biological diversity and benefit the lives of local people and workers while ensuring economic viability.
With an FSC-approved merchant providing our materials, we know our kitchens are crafted with ethically sourced materials, and we are supporting an environmentally conscious business. Also, because our wood is locally sourced, we can reduce transportation emissions by travelling a short distance to retrieve our materials. We also buy our wood in bulk to reduce the number of journeys required.
Materials
Here at Minerva, we use local and ethically sourced products to craft our bespoke kitchens. We have a range of natural hardwoods for you to choose from when designing your dream kitchen.
We have Ash, Oak and Walnut hardwood, all of which are FSC approved. Ash is our lighter-coloured hardwood option with a smooth, straight grain; then we have our Oak hardwood, a lovely, honey-coloured wood that is our most popular choice. Finally, our Black American Walnut hardwood is a rich, sumptuous chocolate-coloured hardwood that oozes luxury.
Alongside our ethically sourced hardwoods, we use Finsa Hidrofugo MDF. Finsa Hidrofugo uses a Low-Formaldehyde resin to bond its fibres, and it is FCC-approved!
Finsa Hidrofugo is a high-density, high-performance, moisture-resistant MDF ideally suited to all types of furniture, joinery and carpentry. Due to the product's high moisture resistance, this material is confidently used in high-humidity areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.
Finsa's unique manufacturing process ensures a stronger, consistent bond in the core, providing a much cleaner cut and finish. Because Hidrofugo is denser than your standard MDF, it requires less preparation time and paints to achieve an exceptional finish, especially with our water-based finishes!
Water Based Paints
In the last 20 years, government regulators have recognised the need to reduce the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted into the atmosphere. These substances are present in high levels of solvent-based coatings and are toxic to human health and the environment.
We made the greener choice by ensuring all our paints and finishes are water-based. Water-based paints emit fewer VOCs, meaning they are safer for the environment and your health; they are also more durable and longer-lasting, which is ideal for us because it allows us to fulfil our promise of a '15 year guarantee on your kitchen.
Because our paints and finishes are water-based, they are much easier to touch up if scratches or scuffs appear. Our customers are provided with a "Care and Maintenance" guide when their kitchen is finished, and they receive a small pot of 'touch-up paint' that matches their cabinetry colour, so when a touch-up is required, you have everything necessary. And if ten years later, our customers decide to re-paint their kitchen; the original water-based paint makes this process simple and easy.
Being able to touch up or re-paint so easily makes our kitchens a long-term sustainable choice because we are reducing the need to get a whole new kitchen when wanting to change colours, and in turn, this reduces waste.
Handmade To Last
Our cabinetry is handmade and created in our workshops with great care and pride; we use various techniques and materials to ensure our kitchens are crafted to the highest quality and built to last.
A traditional technique we always use with our cabinetry is Dovetailing. This process has been used for hundreds of years! No nails are required for this method; we interlock the two pieces of wood with glue and pressure. This technique ensures longevity and strength in every piece of cabinetry we craft, so we are always confident in our 15-year guarantee.
Yes, you read that correctly, a 15-year guarantee on all of our kitchens! Because of this guarantee and our high-quality techniques and materials, we can create amazing, sustainable kitchens for every home. With no need to replace your kitchen for at least 15 years, we have reduced the number of materials, waste, emissions and money that would have been used for your replacement kitchens.
LED Lighting
Lighting significantly impacts our environment more than people realise, so we offer LED lighting as a finishing touch to all our clients to help promote environmentally friendly lighting.
LED bulbs have many advantages and are a much greener choice than traditional halogen or fluorescent lights. LED lights have a much smaller carbon footprint, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with LED lights are considerably lower than conventional lighting; They are also more energy-efficient, conserving up to 80% more energy than traditional lighting, such as fluorescent and incandescent. 95% of the energy in LEDs is converted into light, and only 5% is wasted as heat.
There are many other advantages, such as reduced light pollution, no harmful chemicals and a longer life span. They are a much greener lighting choice that we are proud to offer with our bespoke kitchens.
Locals Stick Together
Everyone at Minerva is very passionate about supporting local businesses, especially since we are a local business ourselves! It has taken the team a few years to build up, but we can proudly say that every company we work with is local to Herefordshire!
We know that every bit of material we use to craft your bespoke kitchen has been provided to us by a local company; All of our wood comes from our local wood merchants based in Pontrialis, our paint and lacquer are all made in Birmingham, and your kitchen accessories, such as taps and handles, are also found in Birmingham and Tewkesbury!
By supporting local businesses, we know that we have reduced the distance and time it takes for deliveries meaning fewer emissions are put out into the atmosphere, but there are many other sustainable benefits to supporting local businesses; for example, by supporting the local communities, we create more job opportunities and encourage local prosperity!
Workshops
Our workshops are the hub of our business. Everything happens there, from cutting, sizing and sanding our wood to priming, painting and composing our bespoke kitchens. A lot of hard work and pride goes into our craftsmanship, but all this work requires electricity.
50% of our workshop electricity is powered by the sun, with a field of solar panels alongside the business park. Solar panels are a renewable energy source and don't produce greenhouse gases, making them the best choice of green energy for our workshops.
After powering through this blog post, I hope you have a better understanding of how we run sustainably! You can discover our business further by seeing How We Work, exploring our Projects and scrolling through Our Journal.
Thanks for reading!
Laura.