Environmental Quality Mark: Purchasing to Protect the Peak District

An Environmental Quality Mark for Small and Micro Businesses

Although the focus is often on large energy hungry businesses, if we’re to make an impact on our CO2 emissions, action from small and micro businesses is essential. In the Peak District National Park an innovative scheme is delivering reductions in business energy use, as well as bringing conservation benefits to the National Park.

The Peak District Environmental Quality Mark is a pioneering award for businesses that contribute to the conservation of the Peak District National Park and demonstrate environmental good practice. This involves:

An Energy Audit

Businesses that receive the EQM award are required to undertake an energy audit – identifying areas of energy use and seeking ways to reduce their demand for oil, gas and electricity. Information from meter readings and energy bills then inform energy targets which are set annually. Stock’s Café, a growing business in Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, undertook a number of simple energy saving initiatives and saw their electricity use drop by 24% and gas use drop by 37%.

Taking Environmental Actions

Another key element of the EQM award is the requirement for businesses to source products from land managed for conservation within the Peak District National Park – this helps conserve the important characteristics of the Peak District as well as reducing food miles with their associated carbon emissions.

EQM businesses also promote public transport options to their customers, some offering a discount to those who arrive by train or bus. Other environmental actions deliver less direct but equally important carbon savings – using goods with minimal packaging saves energy in reduced manufacturing requirements, whilst reusing and recycling delivers further energy, and therefore carbon, savings.

A Marketing Edge for EQM Products and Services

The EQM logo communicates to a customer that a particular product or service is ‘local’ and is contributing to the conservation of the Peak District National Park.  This story, if clearly communicated, should deliver a marketing edge for EQM products and services, and hopefully afford a price premium to help compensate for the extra work or costs involved with managing land for conservation rather than pure economic outputs. Actually quantifying this is another matter.

The consumer is increasingly aware that ‘local is good’, due to reduced food miles and support for the local economy. However, in conservation terms there is often a different story to tell - local land management can be very intensive and detrimental to wildlife, biodiversity or the preservation of important historic landscape features. It is a huge challenge for farmers to deliver an economic return from the land and the conservation benefits that National Parks aim to achieve. The challenge is to try to communicate to customers the additional conservation benefits and value that EQM businesses deliver to the Peak District National Park – this will take time and money.

A Growing EQM network – Benefits to Businesses and Customers

As the network of EQM businesses grows so do examples of synergy between EQM award holders – this delivers additional economic benefit to the businesses and also strengthens the EQM message to the consumer. Sharon Rowlands from Greengate (an EQM business) has run wool spinning workshops for children at Ilam Hall YHA (another EQM business). Accommodation providers are increasingly interested in promoting links with other EQM businesses who can offer activities to their guests whilst they stay in the National Park. Slowly the options for the environmentally conscious visitor to support and enjoy ‘green’ businesses in the Peak District are growing – visiting a Farm Shop, staying in a B&B, taking part in an arts and crafts workshop, walking a nature trail, visiting a café, eating at a restaurant - EQM businesses can now provide all these experiences and more.