Clapham shop goes green with National Lottery grant

Solar panels are now powering Clapham Village Shop, thanks to a National Lottery grant. The recently completed installation will provide around 15 per cent of the shop’s energy requirements and is part of a wider strategy to minimise the community venture’s environmental impact.

“Clapham Village Store is committed to minimising its environmental impact and works hard to ensure as little waste as possible,” said Iain Crossley who has overseen the recent renovations.

“On a larger scale, this has involved thinking about the building itself,” he said. “We knew the roof was going to be replaced so we took the initiative to apply to the National Lottery for grant funding for solar panels. The solar panels have a total capacity of 3.7kw and will generate around 15 per cent of the shop’s energy use.”

The solar panels are part of a wider environmental strategy including improved insulation, secondary glazing and careful decisions around more energy efficient models when equipment requires replacement.

“With much of the work already in place, the shop is now more energy-efficient than ever before,” he said. Further environmental initiatives include the sourcing and supply of local products where possible. The shop’s motto is, “less miles, more smiles”.

In addition, wherever possible, fresh vegetables and fruit are sold loose, thus minimising plastic packaging waste, both in store and at home. The shop also has its own “bags for life” and larger weekly orders are always packed in cardboard boxes recycled from deliveries.

In fact, the shop recycles everything possible and is excited to be working with Settle College on a crisp packet recycling project. To complete the array of environmental measures, the shop has a used battery collection point and charging points for electric bicycles have been installed in the garden area. These are free to use for shop customers.

Looking to the future, the shop’s management committee is actively campaigning for a more pragmatic use of “use by” and “best before” dates to further reduce unnecessary food waste. Every single action, be it large or small, makes a difference. Even the old aprons get recycled into new shop bags!

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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