Policies

Environment Policy

At Greenscents, our aim is to offer the most ethical and environmentally sustainable household & laundry products. In this context, we intend Greenscents to grow and develop in a sustainable manner.

However, we recognise that our operations have impacts on the environment and we are committed to reducing these. We are committed to continually improving our environmental performance and we use an environmental management system (EMS) to achieve this.  Greenscents is an ISO 14001 registered company.

The Directors of Greenscents have designed the EMS in partnership with specialist consultants to incorporate as many elements as possible that affect the carbon emissions of the company.

Our environmental policy seeks to:

• Integrate environmental management into all our business operations to ensure environmental issues are addressed, whilst providing premium quality products to all our customers.
• Comply with all relevant environmental legislation, regulations and requirements.
• Reduce our use of natural resources such as energy and water where appropriate.
• Reuse resources whenever possible rather than recycling or disposal.
• Encourage the use of recycled materials and recycle where reuse is not an option.
• Prevent pollution by reducing emissions and discharges especially into our water systems.
• Ensure that all our ingredients and products are at the highest ethical standards with no cruelty to animals and no animal testing.
• Ensure that all Greenscents products are certified organic to minimise environmental damage and to ensure the highest standards of environmental welfare.
• Ensure that all products are free from GMO’s and SMO’s.
• Ensure that the entire range is certified palm oil free to guarantee that no Greenscents product will be responsible for damaging the rain forests due to palm plantations.
• Provide appropriate environmental training for all our people and involve them in our environmental initiatives.
• Promote communication with others about our environmental goals and performance.
• Ensure that Greenscents customers and potential customers can access our policy easily on our website or by contacting our workshop.

Greenscents Modern Slavery Statement

Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person’s liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain.

Greenscents has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery.  We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships.  Greenscents undertakes to implement and enforce effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our business.

Greenscents adopts the same high standards of transparency in our approach to tackling modern slavery throughout our supply chains, consistent with our disclosure obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We expect the same high standards from all of our contractors, suppliers and other business partners, and as part of our contracting processes, in the coming year we will include specific prohibitions against the use of forced, compulsory or trafficked labour, or anyone held in slavery or servitude, whether adults or children, and we expect that our suppliers will hold their own suppliers to the same high standards.

This policy applies to all persons working for us or on our behalf in any capacity, including employees at all levels, directors, officers, agency workers, seconded workers, volunteers, interns, agents, contractors, external consultants, third-party representatives and business partners.

This policy does not form part of any contract of employment and we may amend it at any time.

Greenscents Directors have overall responsibility for ensuring this policy complies with our legal and ethical obligations, and that all those under our control comply with it. Greenscents has primary and day-to-day responsibility for implementing this policy, monitoring its use and effectiveness, dealing with any queries about it, and auditing internal control systems and procedures to ensure they are effective in countering modern slavery.

Training on this policy, and on the risk our business faces from modern slavery in its supply chains, forms part of the induction process for all individuals who work for us, and updates will be provided using established methods of communication between the business and you. Our zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery must be communicated to all suppliers, contractors and business partners at the outset of our business relationship with them and reinforced as appropriate thereafter.

You are invited to comment on this policy and suggest ways in which it might be improved. Comments, suggestions and queries are encouraged and should be addressed to the Directors of Greenscents.

Suppliers Ethical Trade Statement

Greenscents recognises the responsibility that they share with their suppliers to operate ethically. Promoting decent working conditions in our supply chains is part of our strategy to act in a socially responsible manner.

In pursuit of our aims, we require that all our suppliers comply with our Code of Conduct for Ethical Trade which is based on the Fundamental Conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and national and international laws. We expect all our suppliers to have ethical processes and policies in place throughout their supply chain. We will monitor supplier compliance through our ethical trade questionnaire which is emailed regularly to companies we collaborate with and any potential new supplier.

Greenscents suppliers and couriers must show they have ethical trading policies and anti-slavery statements.  These policies and statements should make reference to the following:

• Employment is freely chosen There is no forced, bonded or involuntary prison labour. Workers are not required to lodge “deposits” or their identity papers with their employer and are free to leave their employer after reasonable notice.
• Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected Workers, without distinction, have the right to join or form trade unions of their own choosing and to bargain collectively. The employer adopts an open attitude towards the activities of trade unions and their organisational activities. Workers representatives are not discriminated against and have access to carry out their representative functions in the workplace. Where the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining is restricted under law, the employer facilitates, and does not hinder, the development of parallel means for independent and free association and bargaining.
• Working conditions are safe and hygienic A safe and hygienic working environment shall be provided, bearing in mind the prevailing knowledge of the industry and of any specific hazards. Adequate steps shall be taken to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, associated with, or occurring in the course of work, by minimising, so far as is reasonably practicable, the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment. Workers shall receive regular and recorded health and safety training, and such training shall be repeated for new or reassigned workers. Access to clean toilet facilities and to potable water, and, if appropriate, sanitary facilities for food storage shall be provided. Accommodation, where provided, shall be clean, safe, and meet the basic needs of the workers. The company observing the code shall assign responsibility for health and safety to a senior management representative.
• Child labour shall not be used There shall be no new recruitment of child labour. Companies shall develop or participate in and contribute to policies and programmes which provide for the transition of any child found to be performing child labour to enable her or him to attend and remain in quality education until no longer a child. Children and young persons under 18 shall not be employed at night or in hazardous conditions. These policies and procedures shall conform to the provisions of the relevant ILO standards.
• Living wages are paid Wages and benefits paid for a standard working week meet, at a minimum, national legal standards or industry benchmark standards, whichever is higher. In any event wages should always be enough to meet basic needs and to provide some discretionary income. All workers shall be provided with written and understandable information about their employment conditions in respect to wages before they enter employment and about the particulars of their wages for the pay period concerned each time that they are paid. Deductions from wages as a disciplinary measure shall not be permitted nor shall any deductions from wages not provided for by national law be permitted without the expressed permission of the worker concerned. All disciplinary measures should be recorded.
• Working hours are not excessive Working hours must comply with national laws and collective agreements. All overtime shall be voluntary. Overtime shall be used responsibly, taking into account all the following: the extent, frequency and hours worked by individual workers and the workforce as a whole. It shall not be used to replace regular employment. Overtime shall always be compensated at a premium rate, which is recommended to be not less than 125% of the regular rate of pay. The total hours worked in any 7 day period shall not exceed 60 hours except in exceptional circumstances. Workers shall be provided with at least one day off in every 7 day period or, where allowed by national law, 2 days off in every 14 day period.
• No discrimination is practised There is no discrimination in hiring, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on race, caste, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, union membership or political affiliation.
• Regular employment is provided To every extent possible work performed must be on the basis of recognised employment relationship established through national law and practice. Obligations to employees under labour or social security laws and regulations arising from the regular employment relationship shall not be avoided through the use of labour-only contracting, subcontracting, or home-working arrangements, or through apprenticeship schemes where there is no real intent to impart skills or provide regular employment, nor shall any such obligations be avoided through the excessive use of fixed-term contracts of employment.
• No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed Physical abuse or discipline, the threat of physical abuse, sexual or other harassment and verbal abuse or other forms of intimidation shall be prohibited.

Greenscents Carbon Management Plan

Greenscents is committed to a sustainable business model and that means we want to reduce our carbon emissions as far as we can.  This remains our principle aim but where any excess carbon generated by business activities exists it will be neutralised with carbon offset schemes.

These carbon offset schemes will be located as close as possible to the Greenscents workshops.  Although Greenscents produces a very small positive carbon balance, our aim is for the business to become as close to carbon neutral as possible.

Carbon reduction already forms an integral part of the overall company strategy and helps to improve both operational performance and a reduction in potentially harmful emissions to land, water and air.

In order to become carbon neutral Greenscents endeavours to:

• Act responsibly, respecting environmental legislation in all countries where Greenscents products are sold, seeking to meet and often bettering the legislative targets.
• Promote environmental awareness and responsibility amongst all people that work for, collaborate with, supply and are customers of Greenscents in a culture orientated towards quality and environmental protection.
• Integrate environmental issues into all aspects of decision-making, business strategies, policies and processes at Greeenscents.
• Reduce, where possible, the environmental impacts of the Greenscents workshops especially energy saving of natural resources including paper, water, electricity and fuel.
• Actively promote video conferencing for meetings as a mean to reduce travel, especially after COVID-19.
• Prioritise trains for transportation, where appropriate.
• Adopt and implement a vehicle sharing policy for commuting to the Greenscents workshops and for any business travel.
• Minimize waste, promote reuse before recycling and the use of recycled products to help minimise waste sent to landfill. Greenscents aims to become fully integrated into the circular economic system.
• Adopt and implement a sustainable-source purchasing policy.
• Ensure the correct application of technologies used for production and other processes and pursue the improvement of these technologies in terms of environmental protection.
• Choose technologies that can eliminate or reduce the use of hazardous substances to humans or the environment.
• Promote and design carbon reducing equipment, processes and products. This should include: equipment operating with low consumption of water and energy, equipment able to minimize wastage of ingredients, supplying concentrated products to reduce water use and minimise packaging requirements.
• Reduce paper printing, replacing printed documents with paperless documents to be shared on-line on the platform chosen for data management, and making them accessible through mobile devices.

Environmental Statement for 2021

Greenscents is a micro company and as such, the third-party independent verification schemes for carbon reporting and offsetting are more expensive than our small positive carbon balance warrants.

However, our carbon management includes reporting on Scope 1, 2 & 3 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Greenscents takes responsibility for all Scope 1 & 2 emissions and those Scope 3 emissions that are within Greenscent’s direct control.  The remaining Scope 3 emissions are addressed by a regular programme to identify suppliers (including couriers) that have the best carbon management plans of their own.

Greenscents has the following components to its carbon reporting:

• A contract with Ecotricity to purchase sustainably generated electricity. Using electricity supplied by Ecotricity ensures that all the energy consumed in our premises is generated entirely by the sun, wind and sea.
• Greenscents occupies premises built to the BREEAM sustainability assessment method https://www.breeam.com/. This construction method ensures that energy consumption to heat the building is lower than for a conventional building.  Water is provided from an on-site borehole which means that water is captured using far less energy than other methods.
• Greenscents makes highly concentrated products to reduce the weight of product to be transported. Greenscents products typically weigh less than half the equivalent competitor products (by use) which more than halves the CO2 emissions associated with distribution.  Concentrated products mean that the amount of packaging required is significantly reduced and this reduces carbon use too.
• Greenscents has changed all bottles from bioplastics to glass to increase reuse and improve recycling.
• Greenscent staff use one car to commute to work and car sharing is encouraged. Some staff walk to work and others cycle.  Greenscents has a company electric car in use from April 2022.
• Greenscents is based in a rural location without appropriate public transport but provides employment in an area with few opportunities.  Greenscents will install an electric charging point for the owner’s car and encourage staff to switch to electric vehicles.
• Greenscents has an ethical and sustainable policy towards inventory and distribution. Regular dialogue occurs with suppliers and couriers to identify those companies with the best carbon management plans.  
• Greenscents has a dedicated questionnaire which is distributed to all suppliers of goods and services on a regular basis.  The results of this questionnaire help us to decide which suppliers to use.

During 2021, Greenscents produced an overall positive carbon balance of 3.79 tonnes CO2.  This figure was calculated using the carbon footprint calculator from Carbon Footprint Ltd.  

Greenpeace has studied carbon offset and concluded:

“Both carbon offsetting and nature offsets, including what many describe as “nature-based solutions”, are founded on assumptions of equivalence – that it is possible to trade off harm in one location with good intentions elsewhere. But it is clearly not the case for nature, if only because each habitat is unique and not replaceable” Greenpeace, 2021.

Greenpeace continues:

“Burning fossil fuels releases geological carbon from what is essentially a permanent carbon store. But capturing carbon biologically in natural habitats and ecosystems – by tree planting, peatland restoration and so on – is very different, because carbon is retained for a much shorter duration. The carbon offsetting market is dominated by this temporary biological capture of the carbon released by burning fossil fuels” Greenpeace, 2021.

At present, the position of UK Government centres around creation of the Voluntary Carbon Market and larger companies are invited to buy carbon credits for the emissions they haven’t yet eliminated.  There is no standard price for carbon credits – these can vary between $3 and $65 and there is no guarantee that schemes will result in permanent carbon removal.  

The Directors of Greenscents have decided to make another donation to The Woodland Trust of £100 in lieu of carbon offsetting.  The Woodland Trust is a very reputable charity in the UK and we believe that trees planted by the Trust will add to the permanent stock of indigenous trees in the UK.  Every £25 donated helps The Woodland Trust protect and care for an area of woodland that has the potential to secure roughly 1 tonne of CO₂.  Therefore, £100 will support 4 tonnes of carbon (£100 paid to The Woodland Trust 20/03/22).

Environmental Statement for 2020

Carbon Management & Reporting

Greenscents is a micro company and as such, the third-party independent verification schemes for carbon reporting and offsetting are more expensive than our small positive carbon balance warrants.

However, our carbon management includes reporting on Scope 1, 2 & 3 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Greenscents takes responsibility for all Scope 1 & 2 emissions and those Scope 3 emissions that are within Greenscent’s direct control. The remaining Scope 3 emissions are addressed by a regular programme to identify suppliers (including couriers) that have the best carbon management plans of their own.

Greenscents has the following components to its carbon reporting:

• A contract with Ecotricity to purchase sustainably generated electricity. Using electricity supplied by Ecotricity ensures that all the energy consumed in our premises is generated entirely by the sun, wind and sea.
• Greenscents occupies premises built to the BREEAM sustainability assessment method https://www.breeam.com/. This construction method ensures that energy consumption to heat the building is lower than for a conventional building. Water is provided from an on-site borehole which means that water is captured using far less energy than other methods.
• Greenscents makes highly concentrated products to reduce the weight of product to be transported. Greenscents products typically weigh less than half the equivalent competitor products (by use) which more than halves the CO2 emissions associated with distribution. Concentrated products mean that the amount of packaging required is significantly reduced and this reduces carbon use too.
• Greenscents does not own company vehicles. Staff use two cars to commute and car sharing is encouraged. Vehicle emissions are the only source of CO2 produced by the company under Scope 1 & Scope 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Greenscents is based in a rural location without appropriate public transport but provides employment in an area with few opportunities. Greenscents will install an electric charging point for the owner’s car and encourage staff to switch to electric vehicles.
• Greenscents has an ethical and sustainable policy towards inventory and distribution. Regular dialogue occurs with suppliers and couriers to identify those companies with the best carbon management plans. Greenscents has a dedicated questionnaire which is distributed to all suppliers of goods and services on a regular basis. The results of this questionnaire help us to decide which suppliers to use.

During 2020, Greenscents produced an overall positive carbon balance of 1.5 tonnes CO2. This figure was calculated using the carbon footprint calculator from Carbon Footprint Ltd (https://www.carbonfootprint.com/businesscalculator.aspx). The Government has assessed the carbon price floor at £18.08 until 2021. In order to achieve net zero for 2020 emissions Greenscents gave £100 to The Woodland Trust (The Woodland Trust ask for £25 per 1 tonne of carbon for offsetting) which is equivalent to offsetting 4 tonnes of carbon (Donation reference: D194886484).

Biodegradability

Greenscents only uses ingredients that are 100% biodegradable. All ingredients are approved by The Soil Association.

Aquatic Toxicity

The nitrogen fertilisers used in conventional farming can create ‘ocean dead zones’ which deprive life below water of vital oxygen. This can kill fish and other aquatic life. Organic standards ban the use of these manufactured fertilisers, lowering the risk of pollution in rivers, seas and waterways.

Packaging

Packaging is either made from paper and cardboard or PCR/bio plastics. Greenscents has a policy of reuse and many customers send back containers for reuse up to 30 times. All Greenscents packaging can be recycled.

Terms and Conditions

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Privacy Policy

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Cookie Policy

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