Recycling

We don't produce a great deal in the way of rubbish.  What we do, is largely paper and cardboard.  Aside from a few tea-bags, empty olive tubs and humus containers (well, this is Islington after all), more than 90% of our waste is recycled.  That's pretty good isn't it?

We also recycle - Rubber bands, Bubble wrap, Packaging, Cardboard Boxes. So don't be surprised when your web order turns up in a re-used box.

Energy Consumption

We can't afford air-conditioning, so that saves a fair bit of electricity. Did you know that air-conditioning in London is a vicious circle? They (clever people) reckon that there are now so many air-conditioners in use that they generate enough heat spewing onto the streets to raise the temperature outside by around 4 degrees centigrade, which, by a bizarre coincidence is about the same reduction that they achieve inside.

We've dumped more than 99% of our old light bulbs and replaced them with energy savers.  They're flippin expensive - about 7 quid as opposed to 60p each.  It'll be years before we get our money back in cost savings on the leccy bills, but to be honest, the main reason for doing it was because it makes the shops much cooler (not that we're not already the coolest shops around) and helps with the lack of air-conditioning.

Transport

We run a diesel VW Transporter van for the smaller of our deliveries. For everything else we use a lovely firm of furniture movers called James Deighton & Co - which means we don't need a big fleet.   Brownie points for that?

We don't have one of those meaningless travel plans that many companies have been encouraged to subscribe to, just so it seems as though they care about the environment, but none of our 20 or so staff drive to work: some walk, some are subjected to the rubbish buses that Livingstone did his best to make so unpleasant, some the Tube and others cycle.  Those of us who do cycle use Bromptons - which, if you don't already know, are the sexiest folding bike in existence.

Stock

The greenest thing about After Noah is the stuff we sell.  Vintage • It doesn't get better for the environment than buying things that have been owned by someone before you.  With antique and vintage items, not only do you nearly always get something which is of far superior quality to its contemporary equivalent,  nor do you just benefit from the fact that you aren't even paying for the cost of manufacture or labour - there simply isn't really any environmental cost at all - whatever the cost at the time, the planet's already paid for it.  How good is that?  New Stuff  •  We source as much stock as we can locally - as in UK-based - but with the state of manufacturing in this country, it's impossible to entirely stock our shops from the UK alone.  The next step is to source ethically, which to be truthful, is harder than you'd imagine - but we do our best.  Beyond that, we try not to buy stuff that's over packaged and covered in plastic and that's relatively easy for us, because most badly packaged stuff is horrid and we've got such great, simple taste - we'd never stock it in the first place.

Carrier Bags

Our newspaper bags are made by an NGO whose main objective is to provide education and shelter to street children in Delhi.  This eco-friendly product is made from recycled Indian newspaper.   The organisation was started in 2004 by street children who wanted to give something back in return for the opportunities which had allowed them to escape desperate circumstances.  Support for this wonderful project means that these children can enjoy going to school and playing, rather than pulling rickshaws, shoe polishing, rag picking and worse.

The other paper bags we use, apart from being sweet, are ethically sourced and conform to all manner of incomprehensibly named Standards and the production of which are carbon neutral. We also never ask a customer if they 'want' a bag, but rather, if they 'need' one.  In the past 2 years, we've seen our bag consumption drop by 75% as a result of that sort of general awareness.  We also sell re-useable shopping bags.