Alara Wholefoods win Camden Eco Award

Alara Wholefoods have just won the Outstanding Achievement Award 2009 for Environmental Excellence in Camden.

Alex Smith MD of Alara, one of the UK’s largest muesli producers and the first organic cereal company in the world, was at the Environmental Excellence Awards ceremony at Camden Town Hall (Tuesday 21st April) to collect his award for their fantastic achievements as a sustainable and environmentally friendly company.

This award, given by the Camden Climate Change Alliance, was as a result of the pioneering work that Alara, based in King’s Cross, have undertaking in becoming named as the first food company in the country to become ‘Zero Waste’. That is to say nothing is thrown away, whether it be scraps from the canteen being put on the wormery instead of the bin, or creating a box sharing scheme with other local companies. Alara have now made a pledge to be carbon neutral by 2010 and are well on their way to achieving this.

Alex now hopes to be able to pass on the message to other companies, in Camden as well as across the UK, on how to become more environmentally friendly. Linked to this is another of Alex’s projects as a London Leader of Sustainability, which is to bring more wasteland into active food production. Alara have already set an example of how this can be done by creating a permaculture garden (another reason they won the award), for their employees and the local community to enjoy.

Community and employee participation in the garden is encouraged and organic values promoted. The garden acts as a real time illustration of the benefits of waste reduction and investment in one’s environment. With everything from pomegranates to honey produced in the garden, the values and rewards of organic hard work are taught, lessons which Alara hope will be translated into the lives of the local community.

For more information on Alara and ways you too can help the planet (their website is packed for of useful tips and a blog about their garden) visit alara.co.uk.

For more information on the Camden Climate Change Alliance visit betterclimateforcamden.org.