Words by Smiley Team
A new restaurant in London has committed to being "climate positive", which means it has gone beyond achieving net-zero carbon emissions to removing more CO2 from the atmosphere than it emits.
W5 Collective, the new café-restaurant in Ealing, West London, has opened with a focus on sustainability, quality produce and community. It has a clear mission: to make it easy to turn small everyday habits into positive change by showing that you can enjoy quality food and drink that’s good for the planet and tastes delicious at the same time.
The café, which opened its doors on 13 September 2021, is the new flagship outlet for the Canteen Collective hospitality group. The team has analysed its carbon footprint across all activities and introduced a series of initiatives to reduce its impact. What's left is then quantified and 150% of that number is offset through a reforestation programme in Madagascar, Brazil, Colombia and Indonesia.
[Read more: What does 'net zero' actually mean?]
“The whole company’s aspiration is to be climate positive through reduction,” managing director, Tim Grant, tells Smiley News. For example, says Tim, in areas where their suppliers send something in single-use plastic, they will then remove more single-use plastic than they’ve been sent, to a minimum of 150%.
Walking in the restaurant, Tim says there are things people will notice straight away, such as the fact much of the furniture is made from reclaimed wood, by repurposing secondhand tables and chairs. There’s also significant planting, he says, which adds to the natural environment.
The restaurant has committed to planting a tree for every kilo of coffee they sell, and they also have the “Espresso Mar’tree’ni”, where for each one sold, a further tree is planted. “There’s a board up on the wall, so customers can see how many trees we’ve planted in the last week,” explains Tim, “and then also how much plastic we’ve removed from the ocean.”
Other ways the restaurant is planet-focused, is by using Octopus Energy for its energy provision, and being entirely electric – there’s no gas in the building. “We wanted to accurately know our impact – and reduce it – before further looking at ways we can reduce our footprint,” explains Tim.
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The food is seasonal – think smashed peas, rather than smashed avocados – and especially curated to ensure they use fruit and vegetables from UK farms, so they know where everything is coming from.
Local growers and artisans are used wherever possible. Coffee is sourced from a single farmer in Brazil helping to maintain a consistently excellent product as well as support the farming community by committing to a much larger portion of their crop. Fruit and vegetables are locally sourced from Smith and Brock and the milk comes from Brades farm, where the herds of cows are fed garlic and citrus to reduce their methane output.
Every element of the restaurant focuses on the target of zero waste, with zero single-use plastic. All single-use products are compostable and made with organic materials that will not harm the environment. All waste is separated and processed to compost or recycle.
“We want to make it easy for people to make better choices in their day-to-day lives to lessen their personal impact on the environment,” says Tim.
“Eating out shouldn’t come at the expense of our one and only planet, which is why we consciously curate every bite of food, sip of coffee and product for you to enjoy.”
Find out more about the restaurant and its hospitality group here.
