Eco-Sustainability
At Little Peanuts we consider the environmental impact of all our actions and ensure we are an eco-sustainable and socially responsible setting. We are always respectful of the environment and it is part of our culture to reduce, reuse and recycle our resources.
It is essential that children grow up aware of the natural world around them and how to support the environment that they live in. We recognise the importance of educating the children of today in order to influence the way future generations live.
Recycling collection point
We have offer a collection point for various additional recycling options, beyond what is offered by kerbside collections.
Currently, we collect foil, crisp packets, pens, cheese packets and biscuit wrappers. These recycling initiatives are funded by certain manufacturers, so they are very specific about what they will or will not pay to be recycled. Therefore, even if you think it’s made from the same material, if it’s not listed then it cannot be included and will affect the whole bundle being recycled.
These items are delivered to StNicks, further information can be found here : St Nicks - Tricky Materials
We also collect for The Hygiene Bank - The Hygiene Bank – The Hygiene Bank
Please pop in if you would like to drop off anything.
Energy and water
Our gas and electricity come from suppliers who use renewable energy. Our garden is watered using harvested rainwater, we are very fond of our water butts!
Food and drink
We use British seasonal produce in planning our meals, as well as ensure that what we do buy comes in a little packaging as possible. We only buy fish from sustainable stocks and our eggs are always free-range. As most tea bags contain propylene, we only offer you tea made with loose leaves in a teapot. In our kitchen you won’t find any clingfilm, only re-useable wraps and containers to store our food. We also make sure that we put as much kitchen waste as we can into the composters for our garden. You’ll never find any plastic straws or disposable cups in our setting either.
Recycling objects for every day play
Baby wipes and keeping children clean
We use washable baby wipes throughout our setting — not only is this kinder to children’s skin, but it’s also creating a lot less landfill. For happy faces full of dinner, we have a very large stack of washable facecloths too. Everything is carefully washed on-site using environmentally friendly detergents from refillable containers.
“In setting up our nursery we placed the concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle at the heart of everything from the very start.”
Resources
In setting up our nursery we placed the concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle at the heart of everything from the very start. We wanted to create rooms that felt like home so we looked for second-hand furniture that we could give a fresh start. Where possible, we have used jumble sales and charity shops for our equipment (sometimes, they are just better!) and I’m sure you’ll agree it gives our nursery a beautiful and enticing quality.
The toys and resources we use are of the highest quality but this does not mean bright plastic toys with flashing lights that use lots of disposable batteries. We also use as much of nature as we can, both inside and out. Instead of a plastic mountain of toys, we’ve found that it’s much more fun building your own adventure playground using logs, pipes, tyres and whatever else we have found to repurpose. We avoid using paper copies when it’s not necessary so most of what we send to you is online, although we are happy to print if you need it.
We also don’t print out colouring sheets for the children, we would much rather they had their own ideas and created something that is their own individual style. You’ll find plenty of things for them to indulge their creativity with; be that painting, junk modelling or whatever else takes their fancy. But you won’t find any plastic glitter, googly eyes or sticky tape.
Our outdoor play area features reclaimed tyres and wooden pallets
“One person’s rubbish is another person’s space rocket, so anything that is safe to reuse gets lovingly recrafted by our Little Peanuts engineers.”
Outside
We are so lucky to have such a wonderful outside space and we really treasure it. Our forest schools area is designed as a haven for wildlife; full of native plants and everything that we can find to support the local wildlife. We love our fruit trees, not just for what we can eat, but also for the food and homes that they provide for insects. It’s not just children that we care for at Little Peanuts, we also welcome creatures of a feathery, crawly, slimy or furry nature, plus whatever else chooses to make our site their home.
We aim to make our forest schools area as wild as possible, encouraging wildflowers to grow amongst our trees – there’s no such thing as weeds here! In our garden we always help children to appreciate where the food on their plate comes from, our children can have a go at growing as much as we can fit into our raised beds. Naturally, any compost that we don’t make ourselves is always peat-free.
Our well-stocked play kitchen using recycled packaging
Recycling
In addition to being scrupulous in our curbside box recycling, we also offer additional recycling. Although our first option is to avoid unnecessary packaging in the first place, we recycle as much as we can. We are always on the lookout for what else we can recycle but often one person’s rubbish is another person’s space rocket so anything that is safe to reuse gets lovingly recrafted by our Little Peanuts engineers.
Switch It Off Policy
We have a simple yet effective policy for saving energy where we can. Out team and encouraged to; - Ensure all lights are switched off when not in a room. - Ensure all equipment is either off or in sleep mode if not in use during the day, including monitors, printers, copiers, computers. - Ensure all non-essential equipment is switched off in the evenings and at night.
Lightbulbs
Where possible, we use LED light bulbs instead of incandescent lighting as it’s proven to last longer and uses less energy.
Composting
We compost all of our kitchen scraps where possible using a formation method that creates a rich nutrient ingredient we add to the soil in our garden to grow even more lovely food.