Celebrate Earth Day with our favourite eco-friendly products

Earth Day this year is Saturday 22nd April and marks the World’s largest environmental movement.

This year, the theme is “Invest In Our Planet”, which highlights the importance of dedicating our time, resources, and energy to solving climate change and other environmental issues. Investing in our planet is necessary to protect it and the best way to pave a path towards a prosperous future.

We are continuously trying to help our customers make more sustainable choices when they shop with us by choosing more eco friendly products.

Below we have shared some of our favourites which you can find in your local Otter Garden Centre…

Nassau Garden Furniture

by Lifestyle Garden

Inspired by colourful houses in the Caribbean city of Nassau, this collection delivers innovation both in its look, feel and environmental impact.

The garden furniture is made from recycled products to help fight plastic pollution and inequality around the world.

These recycled materials are sourced differently in order to approve the plastic pollution from as many different angles as possible and can be recycled with zero-waste or damage to the environment.

This collection is the perfect combination of pastel colours mixed with FSC certified teak or eucalyptus hardwood to create a stylish look in your home or garden.

Social Plastic range – Plastic waste is collected by the local population along the rivers and coasts of South East Asia. These people are trained and paid for this work ethically. Their work stops this plastic waste from entering landfills or oceans and instead is made into this beautiful garden furniutre.

DuraOcean range – is made from 100& recycle ocean plastic. Post-use maritime ropes are recovered from harbours, marine environments and the marine industry to make this beautiful garden furniture. Sustainable for the environment – this furniture can be disassembled and reintroduced to the production cycle through recycling. This mean zero-waste or damage to the environment and cleaning up our oceans sustainably.

Hug Rug was designed to be sustainable and environmentally friendly from the outset, they have been made using recycled cotton and plastic bottles for over 13 years!

From the sourcing of materials, the development of entirely new manufacturing processes, using cleaner/greener sources of electricity made by hydro pumps, windmill farms and solar, through to the Hug Rug’s disposal and recycling, they try to consider everything to ensure the products they make have as light an environmental footprint as possible.

Designed and manufactured at our mills in Yorkshire, Hug Rug is the most environmentally friendly barrier mat and runner available. They are brilliant at trapping dirt, dust and mud – then wash like new at 30°C. Suitable all around the home; from the hallway to the kitchen and even outdoors. They’ll keep your floors and conscience clean whilst still looking great. Go on give yourself a Hug you’ll love it.

Ocean Collection Pots

by Elho

Enrich your home with maritime waste, shaped into in a beautiful flower pot with marble effect and contribute to cleaner oceans. Doesn’t that sounds great?

The Ocean Collection Designer pots are made with maritime plastic which helps keep the oceans clean.

Everyone recognizes the images of polluted oceans, and the urge to fix this is high. A big part of ocean plastic waste consists of fishing nets and ropes, which are abandoned at sea.

Good news! Elho have found a way to re-use this maritime plastic in the production process to create their unique Ocean flower pots.

For the Ocean Collection they use gathered maritime waste, that consists of collected ropes and fishing nets. That makes each flower pot unique and creates different colour tones and a stunning marble effect, reflecting the colour of the oceans. So help to prevent ocean pollution and enrich your home with the beauty of marine waste.

Petface Planet

by Leisure Grow

Our environmentally friendly products don’t have to end with ourselves, you can choose them for your pets too!

Petface’s planet range are a range of pet products made with carefully sourced natural and recyclable materials.

Many bottles end up buried in landfill, or polluting our rivers and seas, contributing to the death of 1,000,000 sea creatures every year, or dumped in the British countryside that kills thousands of animals.

We are all becoming more aware of our environmental impact and our responsibilities to our carbon footprint, which is why Petface has been looking to the future by developing a new range of pet toys using recycled plastic bottles.

The bottles are separated by plastic type, then shredded, washed, and reformed into pellets, which can then be used to create a variety of fun toys that are safe for your pets.

The range includes bright and colourful characters, toys, and bedding for Dogs and Cats, including a Chameleon, Piranha, Tree Frog, Crocodile, and Toucan – all made from recycled plastic.  

Botella Throws

by Walton & Co

The Botella throws have a soft wool-like texture so it is a surprise to know they are made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.

They are handwoven by expert craftsmen using recycled PET yarn making these throws suitable for indoor and outdoor use.

Each throw is made from 30 recycled bottles which are UV treated for fade resistance and are easily machine washable.

They come in beautifully designed pastel colours which will complement every style.

Eco cushions for garden furniture

by Bramblecrest

Cushions are an important feature of garden furniture designs. On a warm dry day, our gardens or balconies are a place to spend time lounging, dining or just hanging out and we know you want to do this in comfort.

Cushions also need to withstand seasonal showers as well as a few spills here and there, so how do you also make these sustainable to protect our planet?

The outer fabric of these cushions is made with yarn spun from recycled plastic bottles. Incorporating season-proof technology, Eco cushions are not only helpful for improving the environment, they are also soft, durable and water-resistant.

Made in a variety of colourways – Charcoal, Oat, Pebble, Cobble and Fawn Linen – they are included in Bramblecrest woven and aluminium collections.

Sustainable gardening products

If you would like to garden greener there are ways to make growing flowers, fruit and vegetables even more sustainable.

  • Saving water – With climate change leading to frequent droughts, harvesting rainwater to use during prolonged dry spells reduces the demand for mains water supplies. Connect large water butts to downpipes on houses or space-saving, slimline water butts for the side of sheds and greenhouses. Linking multiple water butts together using simple overflow kits will create a fantastic rainwater reserve to keep plants alive.
  • Home made compost – This is the most environmentally friendly way of dealing with garden waste. Suitable for all garden sizes, home composting can  be done all year, as and when suitable materials are generated in the garden or home. Late summer to early winter is the peak time for making compost.
  • Peat-free compost – According to the Royal Horticultural Society, the planet’s 10 billion acres of peat bogs store more carbon than the world’s forests combined, helping in the fight against climate change. Switching to peat-free compost alternatives is easy if you know how.
    There are more quality compost blends available with additional feeds to provide optimum growing conditions. Modern peat-free composts contain more sustainable ingredients such as wood fibre, coir and composted bark. Look out for bags that are clearly labelled peat-free.
  • Grow Your Own – Growing your own food is fun, and rewarding. It cuts down food miles which is so much better for the environment. Whatever size garden or however you want to get started you can yield a bumper harvest. Tomatoes, runner beans, potatoes, carrots and lettuce are easy-to-grow for beginners; they can be cultivated without the use of pesticides; their taste is normally superior to shop-bought produce; and unlike most supermarket veg, don’t come wrapped in single-use plastic.
  • Plants for Wildlife – Our gardens make great habitats for insects, birds and mammals. Wildlife friendly plants will bring your garden to life and create a haven for nature and give pollinators and other species a helping hand.
  • Choiceful Chemicals – Cutting down on chemicals is another part of eco-friendly gardening and is key to building up a healthy ecosystem. When you do need to use chemicals for feed, weed control or pest control choose from our EcoFriendly range, clearly signposted in store.

Peckish Natural Balance Bird Food

by Westland

Peckish Natural Balance is a nutritious range of feeds and treats that are made from locally sourced natural ingredients. Each ingredient is sustainably sourced from UK and Irish Farms. Our selective ingredients are rich in nutrients to help birds thrive all year round.

When it comes to looking after nature, Peckish is committed to a sustainable future. Peckish Natural Balance is packed in 100% recylable plastic-free packaging and our tubs of fat balls are packed in reusable plastic packaging.

Oliveart products are made from high-quality sustainably sourced olive wood and are hand-crafted using traditional methods that have been practiced for generations.

This makes each product unique with no two pieces being the same!

Oliveart Factory has been established since 1997 under the supervision of experienced craftsmen. To keep the handmade touch, they only use the finest olive wood and the traditional methods that have been practiced for generations.

Famous for its richness, virgin oil and wood, the Olive Tree has been highly regarded since ancient times. The Olive Wood Trees are kept for 150 years before becoming unproductive and their branches can be used for wood carving because of their beautiful natural grain each.

Eco Chic creates fun, practical, and long-lasting products from recycled or sustainable materials. Designed to go against a waste culture they are committed to driving change that benefits people and the planet.

No one business can do everything. So, they decided to make our stand against the overuse of plastic products. Yes, it costs more to recycle in the short term. But reusing old materials and finding sustainable alternatives makes sense when it comes to preserving our beautiful planet.

Created way back in 2004, it is their mission to see how we can do more for the planet – and make what we’re already doing, better.

From adopting new manufacturing technologies to ensuring that we’re using the most environmentally friendly transport techniques, we continually audit the business to ensure that they’re coming good on our promises.

So far Eco Chic has helped recycle over 1 million plastic bottles and by 2050 they want to have saved 10 million plastic bottles from landfill and the ocean.

Shop all these products and more at your local Otter Garden Centre

*Products will vary between stores

Find your local Otter Garden Centre

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