BAAG Policies

Environmental Sustainability Practices at Bulleen Art & Garden

Bulleen Art and Garden aims to deliver a service to its customers that recognizes the importance of environmental issues, both local and global. In this respect, concentrating on long-term custom, we are prepared to sacrifice individual sales to offer customers a range of environmental gardening options and outcomes.

Bulleen Art & Garden is prepared to sacrifice sales, but not customers on environmental issues. For example, if a customer asks for a more toxic spray than needed, we expect staff to suggest an alternative, even if it means not selling a product at all. However, we do insist that staff do not get into arguments over the environment with the customer, which may lead them to shop elsewhere. Our policy is strong customer education.

Bulleen Art and Garden aims to take the lead in respect of retail nursery practice, to encourage customer interest in an environmentally friendly approach to gardening that encompasses the following issues:

– To foster the concept that our land and gardens, however large or small, are not ours to ‘do with as we wish’, but rather, something we have the responsibility to care for and enjoy, leaving it in good health for those who follow us.
– Fewer adherences to strictly formal garden design.
– Increased interest in produce gardening.
– Increased awareness of the environmental benefits of using native and indigenous plant species within the garden.
– A style of garden design and practice that encourages the use of water and soil conservation principles.

In light of these aims, staff at Bulleen Art and Garden are encouraged to consider the environmental implications of any advice they give to customers. It is hoped that staff will avail themselves of environmental information and literature available at the nursery, so they are able to give informed advice to customers. Staff are also encouraged, where possible, to draw to the customers’ notice environmental initiatives, information handouts and signage throughout the nursery.

Strategies that will enable Bulleen Art and Garden to achieve the policy guidelines include:

– To undertake a yearly audit of the environmental policy, concentrating on outcomes achieved or otherwise, and possible updates to the document.
– Building environmental policy objectives into ongoing business systems and procedure; (for example, stock ordering systems, both plant, chemical, irrigation and yard; staff job descriptions; consultancy specifications and nursery signage). In this way environmental policy goals are included in the normal running and operation of the nursery.
– To nominate the role of environmental officer to a staff member, and to allocate sufficient time so that person may oversee the promotion and implementation of environmental practices and procedures throughout the nursery and to educate staff and customers.
– To have the environmental officer or delegate report at each monthly staff meeting on a relevant environmental issue or information of importance to customers.
-To work with the local authorities to enhance the flora and fauna of the surrounding precincts (including the adjoining Yarra river reserve), with works such as weed control and revegetation programs, educational and interpretive signage.
– To actively pursue a policy of recycling nursery and office materials such as paper, cans and containers.
-To provide an environmental consultancy service, whereby customers can access a range of environmental options specifically tailored to their garden requirements. In the long term this service would aim to offer customers a broader ‘whole-lifestyle’ environmental audit that identified both strengths and weaknesses and offered a range of alternative lifestyle practices that imposed a lessened impact on their immediate and larger environment.
-Included consideration of the environment as a condition of employment in our certified agreement.

To maintain a consistent commitment to environmentally friendly product options throughout the nursery, the managers of the following areas aim to provide the following:

Nursery
1. A range of indigenous plant species that are ideally suited to the climatic and soil conditions of the local area thus conferring both aesthetic and environmental benefits to the home garden are actively promoted. This also creates a habitat for local birds and other animals. We also supply nest boxes for birds, possums, etc.

2. Build a display garden of local plants with interpretation in the adjoining parklands with the assistance and direction of Parks Victoria.

3. A wide range of produce plants and produce display gardens, for those wishing to grow home produce, thereby lessening customers need to rely on massed produced foodstuffs.

4. A wide range of plant species, both native and exotic, within the nursery, thereby offering the customer the capacity to create more biodiversity within their garden, which generally means a healthier garden less prone to severe pest and disease problems and one that is conducive to an increase in animal, insect and avian presence.

5. A range of measures to combat pest and disease problems in the gardens, which ideally encompass a selection of environmentally options as well as traditional chemical treatments.

6. Concrete environmental information, both verbal via staff and through written handouts giving customers instructional and technical advice regarding environmentally sustainable gardening practices (including topics such as; mulching, composting, water conservation, soil conservation, safer pest and disease control, holistic garden design/biodiversity within the home garden).

7. To source only non-threatened plant species, or if threatened, that sourced from those commercially propagated material, and not obtained from the wild populations.

8. To provide on-ground composting and worm-farm displays, with additional information and technical advice.

9. To provide a used pot recycling service.

10. To reduce the use of herbicide within the nursery via the use of hot water treatments.

11. Encourage people to plant trees in some parts of their gardens and use them to reduce heating/ cooling consumption.

Click here to read our policy on Environmental Weeds.

To maintain a consistent commitment to environmentally friendly product options throughout the nursery, the managers of the following areas aim to provide the following:

Landscape Supplies Yard

1. To provide a commitment to environmental products where possible, including the stocking of recycled materials (such as recycled railway sleepers, recycled plastic edging, recycled compost materials) or products obtained from plantation areas rather than those cut from native forest (eg, pine bark mulch range).

2. To encourage and offer incentives for those customers using their own containers to take away product.

3. To encourage the use of products that have soil and water conservation benefits, such as mulches, composts and manures.

4. To offer a refund on bags taken from the yard to encourage the recycling of plastic products.

Shop

1. To provide among the range of irrigation, gardening, and sundry products stocked, where available, those that offer environmental benefits to customers.

2. To encourage and offer incentives for those customers using their own containers to take away product and provide alternatives to the use of plastic bags such as newspaper and cardboard trays and boxes.

3. To provide a centralized point in a high customer traffic area for the posting of environmental information additional to general handout material, as sourced by the staff environmental officer, providing customers with a range of information both at a local and international level.

4. Actively promote composting, with a wide range of composting bins and other products.

5. Introducing products made from recycled material into our product range, eg. Basket liners from recycled tyres, garden edging from recycled plastics.