Tuesday, January 24th 2012 | Short URL
Strictly speaking, this is a round up for December too but its still fab to see what you, our lovely clients, have been up to. Here's your new year news roundup....
Climate East Midlands' local authority partners win Carbon Trust awards.
Ethical Weddings shares top 12 wedding tips for 2012.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's friendly robin photograph wins National photography award.
Climate Change Gardening shows us how getting rid of our lawns can help the climate in 2012.
Photograph © Climate East Midlands
Foxglove Covert LNR volunteer video shows a day in the life of volunteering at the nature reserve
Ask Iris share their list of top iPhone Apps to support pupils with Autism.
Fifi Bijoux, add ethical opal and pearl designs to their luxury Jewellery collection.
Creative Nottingham review the Lowry exhibition at the Djanogly Art Gallery
Just So Festival offer volunteers the opportunity to attend this year's event for free!
Greenhouse PR share 6 home improvement tips to save energy and lower your bills
Rob at The Social Business tell us his plans and advice for reducing energy use at home.
Polar England launch their new online shop by Factory Design, "representing recreation as an art form"
This is news from just a handful of our clients. We know you're all doing great work out there so drop us a line and tell us your news so that we can share it here!
Tuesday, January 24th 2012 | Short URL
Happy belated New Year! 2012 threw us straight into it this year and we've been busy working on projects for our clients and ourselves without much time to come up for air.
However, last week, along with 650 other web designers, developers, project managers and creative folk we escaped from our desks and screens and gathered at the beautiful Albert Hall in Nottingham for the much anticipated New Adventures in Web Design Conference 2012, or NACONF as it has become known. We attended the very first NACONF last year and you can see our review here.
I'm not going to write in detail about the event again as there is already lots of information online - especially at the NACONF website - about the speakers, talk topics and events of the day. Mr Collison (Colly) worked very hard once again to bring some of the top designers in our industry from all over the world to our home town of Nottingham to share their ideas, experience and thoughts for the future of web design.
For any web folk who weren't able to make it on the day or for non-web folk who'd like to delve into the webby world you can buy a pdf of the New Adventures newspaper for just £1 and get a copy of last year's for free. The newspaper contains opinion articles, interviews and useful information for when the videos are released, so look out for those.
In the meantime, check out this short film (made by Relly, one of the conference volunteers and her husband Paul) which sums up the spirit of the day.
New Adventures conference 2012 from nicepaul on Vimeo.
Monday, December 12th 2011 | Short URL
Christmas is nearly here and we'll be taking a break to join in the festivities and recharge our batteries.
We will be closed from 5pm on Friday 16th December to 9am Tuesday 3rd January.
.png)
If you have an emergency hosting support request during that time, please use our online support helpdesk to send us a message. It will be useful for you to note the website address of the helpdesk just in case you need it: makehay.zendesk.com
Please don't send us an urgent e-mail to our usual addresses as we won't receive your message until we're back in January. For all non-hosting enquiries, e-mail us as usual and we will reply when we return from Christmas break.
Finally, we'd like to say thank you for your custom this year and in previous years and we look forward to continuing to work with you into 2012 and beyond.
Have a peaceful and happy holidays and a great New Year!
Vicky & Jez xx
Wednesday, November 30th 2011 | Short URL
Lots of awards and things to celebrate in this month's client news roundup...
New Green Hosting Clients:
Third Rock - Communications consultancy specialising in environment and green PR.
My nPoint Exactly - A print and online magazine created and produced by a group of friends.
Project Warren - Hand crafted home and garden projects
Parents Carers Forum - A place for parents to give their views about services in Nottingham & Nottinghamshire
More client news...
Climate East Midlands launch a survey to find out how resilient local businesses are to extreme weather
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Ecominds project which aims to improve mental health and wellbeing has won an award! Congratulations guys!
Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve mark a record in number of birds ringed. A significant part of their conservation work.
Ask Iris says congratulations to a local teenager for winning the Nottinghamshire Outstanding Achievement 4Uth Awards
My Climate Change Garden anticipates the launch of the new iPad vegetable garden planner.
Fifi Bijoux becomes UK authorised reseller for ethical diamond brand
Just So Festival announce the winners of their great photo competition 2011
Attenborough Nature Centre invites visitors to join in their Christmas crafts activities on 4th December for children aged 6 and over.
Greenhouse PR share their highlights of the 'Feeding the 5000' event to raise awareness of the problem of food waste.
Cherrygorgeous post their winter warmer wedding mood board and their range of pretty winter eco stationery.
Rob at The Social Business discusses the Occupy Movement and how he identifies himself as the 99%
Grasslands Trust launch 'Nature's Tapestry' an in-depth report into the state of England's grasslands.
Photographs above © Foxglove Covert LNR and Ted & Miki c/o Just So Festival respectively
Tuesday, November 22nd 2011 | Short URL
Switched-on businesses and organisations like our clients are well aware of their social responsibilities and that they have an important role to play in reducing their impact on the environment.
Many other businesses are also reviewing their energy consumption, the waste they produce, the activities they support and the suppliers they choose. Consider your suppliers for a moment. Have you thought about the company that creates, maintains and hosts your website and how they address the environmental issues of their industry? Using an environmentally responsible web design company means that your online presence, a significant and growing aspect of your business, has positive eco-credentials too.
Green & Ethical Web Design
Since Make Hay was founded in 2004 we have employed both ethical and environmental policies in our everyday work. It’s the only way we wanted to do business but it is also a means of supporting our clients to be greener and think about the impact of their website too. Our ethical policy demonstrates that there are some activities that we just won't support through our services, we don;t want to make money from businesses who deal in the exploitation of people, animals or the planet, simple as that.
Our websites and our office are powered renewable, wind generated electricity which we use efficiently, switching off idle equipment and lighting. Waste from our office is minimal and when we need to dispose of equipment we recycle as much as we can, including stationery, furniture and computer components. Most of our communication is digital but stationery we do use is made from recycled or FSC paper as are printed publicity materials, which also use vegetable-based ink. We seek out ethical suppliers and eco products when possible, use The Cooperative for our business banking and a motor insurance company which offsets all of our car’s carbon emissions. We are Wildlife Guardians at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, members of Gedling Fairtrade Group and sponsors of Creative Nottingham and All Ours for people experiencing mental ill health.
100% Wind Powered Website Hosting
As well as web design we supply green website hosting powered 100% by renewable electricity. Using Green Hosting means that our clients’ websites are powered by the wind, not fossil fuels which contribute to the rising carbon emissions of non-green data centres, reported to have an equivalent carbon footprint of the aviation industry!
Excellent Web Design and Hosting Service
Providing an excellent service and beautiful, standards compliant web design is equally important to us as running a green and ethical business. We genuinely care about the work we produce, using modern techniques and careful processes in our craft. We handle all of our web development projects personally and foster long-term business relationships. This is why we continue to attract clients who care about quality as well as social responsibility. Take a look at a our portfolio to see some of the great organisations we're fortunate enough to work with and please do get in touch if you would like to know more.
Tuesday, November 15th 2011 | Short URL
The Nottingham Post ran an article in their business section recently on my week (a few weeks ago) at Make Hay.
The My Week features follow local business owners and professionals from a range of industries. This was an interesting experience for me because, like most people, I'm too busy getting on with the job to stop and reflect on the past week. Maybe its something we should do more.
Thursday, October 20th 2011 | Short URL
Happy Halloween! Here are lots of treats and no tricks from our clients this October...
New Green Hosting Clients:
Angels Housekeeping - Cleaning and domestic services for older people in Leeds.
Chinese Calligraphy Society of Europe - Promoting the skills of Chinese calligraphy.
Douglas Lee Dental Practice - A caring family dental practice.
Marumi - Creations inspired by Viennese and Japanese art of cake making.
In other client news...
Climate East Midlands launch a series of workshops to support local councils to implement carbon management plans.
Ethical Weddings gives an interview to Environmental Protection magazine on how to reduce your carbon footprint at the altar.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust needs moo! They are looking for support to raise funds for a herd of grazing cattle.
Foxglove Covert Nature Reserve enjoyed a day of spooky Halloween activities.
Seal Protection Action Group reports huge reductions in Scottish seal killings
Creative Nottingham introduce their new guest blogger from Nottingham Hackspace
Hanna's Orphanage covers school volunteers, droughts in Ethiopia and fundraising in their October newsletter
Factory Design continue their winning streak. They've now won the DBA Design Effectiveness Award!
Just So Festival are delighted to share the great family reviews of this year's event.
Cherrgorgeous gives us inspiration for Autumn weddings ideas.
Orbis Marketing shares their expert advice on blogging best practice.
Greenhouse PR tells us about 5 interesting green products that run without electricity.
Grasslands Trust trustees publishes new book 'Wildflower Wonders of the World'.
Photographs above © Angels Housekeeping & Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve
Wednesday, October 5th 2011 | Short URL
Welcome to my guest blog! Let me introduce myself, I’m Dr Isobel O’Neil a lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Nottingham University Business School. You might be wondering what I’m doing hijacking Make Hay’s blog? Well, Vicky was kind enough to take part as a case study for my research and invited me to share this with you all. I happily accepted as too often PhDs just sit on shelves getting dusty! So in this, the first of two blog entries, I’ll be outlining the background to my research. In a few weeks time, I’ll be sharing some of the key findings and the implications of these findings with you.
The story begins back in late 2006, when I was in the early stages of designing my PhD research. Being a bit of a greenie, I wanted to bring this into my scholarly endeavours so I enrolled on the PhD with the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR) at Nottingham University and drew up my plan to explore environmental sustainability and start-up business.
Subsequently I found myself scanning the internet for recently established, UK-based ethical and environmentally sustainable businesses to take part in the research. Make Hay caught my attention, not least as they seemed pretty much the only such start-up in my near vicinity! Without delving into too much academic jargon, I began to interviews founders with the joint aim of (1) understanding what motivates such business founders to embark upon setting up this kind of business, and (2) determining the key sources of tension they encountered as they introduced new ethical and sustainable practices to their respective sectors.
Due to time and space restraints, I’ll focus on talking about the first aim - motivations. This seems even more relevant for these pages as it was during my first interview with Vicky from Make Hay that a concept which ended up anchoring my research – authenticity – first captured my interest. Vicky had spoken with passion about the decision to cement their own values and principles firmly in the very essence of Make Hay; she hoped it would be a route towards more authentic careers/lives. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of authenticity, it can be understood as the pursuit of one’s inner voice to live one’s life in a way true to oneself (Taylor, 1991 ). In terms of careers, authenticity is about working in a way is consistent with your inner values. However, it is not simply about satisfying yourself alone but authenticity demands consideration of our external responsibilities to other people and our surrounding natural/ social environment.
With other interviewees apparently also searching for greater authenticity, I sought insights into whether other academics had explored the role of pursuing one’s authenticity as a driver for entrepreneurship. Surprising, there was very little that explicitly linked the pursuit of authenticity with entrepreneurship. Passion, determination, self-efficacy, creativity - these all offered insights into the drive to launch one’s own business. But the role of authenticity? I found had not been adequately discussed.
Whilst not being directly applicable, existing work did turn up some interesting insights that I’d like to share with you. Firstly an inspiring piece tracing the career of the Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar, demonstrated that a sense of being authentic had characterised his career path: “Experience has taught me that the more honest and personal my work is, the more successful I am” . So authenticity has been recognised as a motivation for those with untraditional careers, such as those in the creative industries. However, even here restrictions on bringing one’s authenticity to life through one’s work exist. For example, this research showed that in the creative industries the journey to being able to truly portray oneself in one’s work has to be understood as an enduring struggle. A struggle which is gradually overcome as someone, such as Almodóvar, becomes more established and is hence freer to express their own ‘voice’ as they see fit.
Secondly, a body of research on authenticity has focused on the experiences of individuals employed in constraining workplaces such as call centres and in well-established professional roles such as management consultants. The focus of this research has been on an emerging trend for organizations to encourage displays of an authentic self in the workplace as a means to alleviate the mundane nature of the work. However, the ability to portray oneself by dressing as one likes or by a blurring of the boundaries between one’s social life and the workplace only allows for a superficial portrayal of authenticity. In this work there have been discussions on the sense of self-alienation experienced by some employees, such as junior management consultants . Where a ‘corporate culture’ penetrates all aspects of these consultants’ lives, it was found not only that some experienced an inability to ‘be themselves’ but also that they were out of touch with their inner voice almost entirely. The demands of work had led the loss of a sense of authenticity. I believe this is worrying as it sends a signal that those within certain job roles would be less able and indeed willing, to challenges the superficial nature of some corporations’ values. Such a scenario seems gloomy if we are to rely on values-driven and inspired employees to initiate and deliver progressive social and/ or environmental activities through, for example, genuine CSR programmes.
To summarise the background to my research it can be said that our understanding of authenticity as a career driver (1) had been concerned with the constraints that working life places on being able to portray a sense of your true self, and (2) had given little consideration to the activities of individuals to remove some of these constraints by leaving a prior role/ workplace. Vicky at Make Hay and my other research participants had set me on a path to try to better understand authenticity’s role in driving people’s careers transitions to self-employment and to running their own businesses. I will share some of my insights with you in part two of this blog.
References:
1) Taylor, C. (1991). The Ethics of Authenticity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
2) Pedro Almodóvar in Mata, 2003, p. 38, see Svejenova, S. (2005). ‘The path with the heart: Creating the authentic career’. Journal of Management Studies, 42, 947-974.
3) See Costas, J. and Fleming, P. (2009). ‘Beyond dis-identification: A discursive approach to self-alienation in contemporary organizations’. Human Relations , 62, 353-378.
Wednesday, September 28th 2011 | Short URL
It's that time again! Here's what our web design and Green Hosting clients have been up to in September...
New Green Hosting clients:
Planetary Collective - Filmmakers and visual media creatives working with cosmologists, ecologists, philosophers and futurists to inspire people to look deeper.
Marie Krag Therapy - Psychotherapist and counsellor with a specialised interest in working with the field of universal energy.
In other client news:
Ethical Weddings celebrate National Cupcake Week by listing their top 10 cupcake companies.
Leicestershire Support for Carers announce set up of new local carers' support groups.
Climate east Midlands ask for your help to shape support for climate change adaptation.
.gif)
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust are looking for nominations for their Green Guardian Awards 2011.
Creative Nottingham publish a special feature from their sponsors - That's us!
Grasslands Trust have published new free advice leaflets on how to create and manage wildflower meadows.
Just So Festival have put together a photo gallery of this years' event and launch their photo competition.
Cherrygorgeous create DIY wedding stationery options for crafty couples or those on a budget.
Greenhouse PR talks about Estethica, London Fashion Week's eco hub
Cycle Hire UK gets involved in our 'Meet our clients' feature
If you're one of our clients and have exciting news you'd like to share here on our blog then do get in touch.
Monday, September 12th 2011 | Short URL
Cycle Hire use our Green Hosting to provide an online service to help get more people on their bikes. Meet our client...
Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.
We launched our website in June 2011 with the aim of making it easier for people to hire bikes. As regular cyclists ourselves, often travelling around for work and fun, we recognised the need for a simple-to-use online directory bringing together all the information about cycle hire companies across the UK.
How is your business different to that of others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?
We like to think that our website is about as user-friendly and intuitive as you could hope to be, and a lot better than anything already out there.
How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?
We have an environmental policy that clearly sets out our aims for minimising the impact of our business on the environment. So as well as hosting with Green Hosting, we look at everything else we do in association with the business with the aim of making it as ethical and environmentally responsible as possible. Added to this, the whole business is about encouraging people to cycle more for recreation and as a utility transport option, so by making information on hiring bikes more accessible, we can help this happen.
What motivates you to do business this way?
As well as running this website, we both work full-time for a sustainable transport charity, so these issues are very close to us. We want more people to cycle because it's good for their health and better for the environment, both locally and globally.
How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?
Working within the cycling sector, many of our current and potential clients are aware of environmental and ethical issues. So our policy is readily available through our website and approach and beliefs are transparent. Response from clients has been positive and our environmental / ethical credentials have also helped to open doors in the way we have publicised and promoted the business.
Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?
We see our work as helping people to live a healthier lifestyle, with the added benefit of supporting businesses with environmental benefits. We therefore consider ourselves part of a network moving in the same direction.
Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.
How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?
Our aim is to have every cycle hire provider in the country listing their services with us. We're about a quarter of the way there after 3 months, so give us a year and we'll have achieved this aim!
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work?
If there are any Green Hosting clients who would like to work with us, please get in touch (contact through www.cyclehireinfo.com). We are particularly keen to hear from businesses who have a service they can offer to our clients, that we can help promote as a special discount. We already work with a couple of like-minded businesses in this way and would like to develop this aspect of our service further.
Friday, September 2nd 2011 | Short URL
We welcomed cherrygorgeous to Green Hosting earlier this year. They use our hosting to make their already green business a little greener. Meet our client...
Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.
We are cherygorgeous. We’re an eco-friendly (or eco-chic, if you’re feeling trendy) wedding stationery company. We were the first carbon neutral wedding stationery company in the UK and with our new site being powered by green hosting, we just got a little greener.
How is your business different from others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?
Well, as we said we were the first UK wedding stationery company to go carbon neutral and unlike many other wedding stationery companies, we get all our stuff printed in the UK to cut down the air miles and our impact on the environment. Our designs are a little different too: they’re not you’re average ‘horseshoes and hearts’ clichéd stuff you get on the highs treet. You can take a look at cherrygorgeous.co.uk
How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?
We’re carbon neutral, we use you guys for our web hosting, we get all our stuff printed individually in the UK (as opposed to getting loads printed in China and shipped over on a container ship) and we do all the best practice stuff around the office to keep our use of resources and our footprint as low as possible. We even cycle into the office whenever it’s not raining too hard in Leeds.
What motivates you to do business this way?
We set the business up after traveling around Asia for six months and we felt a little guilty about all the air miles we racked up. Since then we do everything we can to minimise our impact and tread as gently as we can.
How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?
We mention it wherever we can on the site. It’s a big part of what we do and many of our couples choose us because they are trying to have as green a wedding as possible.
Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?
Over the last few years, I think there has been a big swing towards ethical business practices and social responsibility, which can only be a good. However, there are a growing number of companies out there that are just jumping on the eco-bandwagon.
Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.
How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?
Our new website is pretty exciting. It’s ace, and now it’s powered by wind power, it makes us just a little bit happier. We’re also going to try to find a few more eco-friendly wedding favours and get them launched by the end of the year and increase our range of stationery.
Visit cherrygorgeous at www.cherrygorgeous.co.uk
Tuesday, August 30th 2011 | Short URL
They say that August is traditionally a quiet month but that's not the case for our busy clients. Take a look at what some of them have been up to...
Support for Carers are beginning a new project to help carers find and set up support groups in Leicestershire.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust launch the new nature reserves smart phone app
Climate East Midlands publish the new guide and online resource to help local communities get involved in planning for climate change.
Ethical Weddings share news of upcoming green wedding events this autumn
Attenborough Nature Centre - By popular demand ANC are running wildlife photography courses this September
Foxglove Covert welcomes their new Deputy Reserves Manager to the team
Transition Vert interviews Fred Bass, 'King of Energy Savings Lights'
Greenhouse is profiled in The Ecologist Green Business section, August edition.
Factory Design are nominated for a D&AD award for their superlight aircraft seating design
Second Wednesday's next web industry social event will enjoy a talk from web designer, author, speaker and creator of New Adventures in Web Design, Mr Simon Collison.
GreenTalks now have all of their videos of green talks online
Images above © Climate East Midlands and Greenhouse
Thursday, August 25th 2011 | Short URL
This morning I had a very interesting meeting in the beautiful Newton Building at Nottingham Trent University. This is the home of Future Factory, an impressive project set up to support sustainable product and process design in the East Midlands. As Debra Easter, Project Manager, explained this project aims to help SME businesses to become more environmentally and economically sustainable.
For very little or no cost Future Factory puts businesses in touch with the professional input and resources they need to plan sustainability into their design project. The type of support available covers a range of business needs such as marketing strategy, sourcing materials, supply considerations and developing sustainable packaging. The support comes in the form of access to expertise and consultancy from professionals and students, funding, graduate placements, events, use of meeting space, the library and much more, too much to list here. For a full list of services and support download the FF brochure at their website.
This is a great opportunity for all businesses to tap into specialist industries which they may not otherwise be able to afford and take steps towards a more sustainable future.
Find out more at www.ntu.ac.uk/future_factory and spread the word if you think this would be useful to a business you know in the East Midlands.
Monday, August 15th 2011 | Short URL
Here is our newly launched website for Leicestershire Support for Carers.
LSFC supports full-time and part-time carers across Leicestershire via independent online information and a telephone helpline.
.png)
This brand new website is a full content management system, allowing LSFC staff to manage and publish content to the various dynamic website sections, inlcuding the 'In Your Area' directory, News, FAQs and Resources. Service users can register online to access further support and update their profile via a secure log-in.
Find out more about the development of Support for Carers in our portfolio.
Visit the website at supportforcarers.org
Friday, August 12th 2011 | Short URL
It landed with a loud thud when it hit the floor through the letterbox this morning, the very pretty first issue of The Manual.
This brand new printed journal promises to give a fresh view of design on the web. Over several issues it will document voices of web craftsmen and women about our maturing industry as it defines itself as a 'distinct discipline'. Sounds pretty exciting to me!
Copies of the first issue are initially being sent out to everyone who supported the project via Kickstarter but it will be available to buy later.
Thursday, July 28th 2011 | Short URL
Here's the latest from a few of our web design and Green Hosting clients:
Newly launched websites using Green Hosting:
Clarendon Press - Environmentally friendly printing services in Gloucestershire.
Planetary Collective - A collective of filmmakers and visual media creatives working in partnership with cosmologists, ecologists, astronauts, philosophers and futurists to wake people up to their place in the cosmos.
Ideas that Change Lives - Ideas to help people to live independently
In other client news:
Foxglove Covert celebrate their annual open day with many activities for children and adults and a grand opening of their wheelchair accessible hide by Professor David Bellamy.
Picture above © Foxglove Cobert LNR
Gertie & Mabel get their lovely products in the glossies again. This time their beautiful 'Happy Glow' tea light holders have been featured in the August edition of Vogue.
Climate Change Gardening confirms that our urban gardens can help combat climate change.
London Insight are looking for experienced organisers to help put together an exhibition of visual art by contemporary Buddhist teachers and practitioners.
Ethical Weddings tells us about eco bride workshops taking place at the 'Vintage at Southbank' festival on 29-31st July
Campaign Whale share news from the Internataional Whaling Committee meeting.
Cherrygorgeous' Tea & Cakes poster is picked up by Laurence Llewelyn Bowen for a cup cake garden party theme and featured on ITVs This Morning
The Social Business attends the launch of a pioneering eco village in Leeds.
If you're one of our clients and would like to share your news here on our blog, do get in touch.
Monday, July 25th 2011 | Short URL
For folks in Nottingham, here's some great green news:
First of all, the fledgling Nottingham Green Network has just taken flight, newly launched a couple of months ago and looking for members and supporters to join them. I only found out about them a couple of weeks ago and have recently joined the team as the green business editor for their blog. I'll be writing an eco business related article there at least once a month.
The website, nottsgreennetwork.com, is new and there are plans in place to develop something more permanent in the near future but in the meantime you can find out about green events, local projects and 'everything you need to know about' guides.
If you live in Nottingham or Nottinghamshire and would like to get involved please contact me and I will put you in touch with the lovely chap who runs the group.
This is the first eco show to take place in Nottingham and will be held on Friday 7th & Saturday 8th October at The Edge, Curzon Street, Nottingham.
Aimed at business owners, public sector organisations and house holders the show will hold a wealth of information on how to green up your home and workplace.
If you run a business in Nottingham and are looking to take your first eco steps then go along and find out how other businesses have incorporated green practices into their work.
Book your free ticket or find out more about exhibiting at nottingham-eco-show.co.uk
Friday, July 22nd 2011 | Short URL
Show-ee "the official ExpressionEngine showcase gallery for the best designed and built ExpressionEngine sites on the internet" has included our design of the Foxglove Covert website in its showcase gallery.
We are delighted of course to have our site listed alongside other stunning designs from some great developers.
You can see our entry on the Show-ee web page. There is also an accompanying case study write-up explaining the various features of the website and the technologies used to achieve them.
Monday, July 11th 2011 | Short URL
Business isn't usually associated with kindness, in fact, it's often associated with quite the opposite. The idea that bosses are mean and companies are greedy are almost accepted as the status quo. But isn't that sad? The virtue of kindness doesn't need to be linked only to charities and non-profits, business has a great capacity for helping improve quality of life for people on a local and global scale, it just sometimes chooses not to. In choosing not to though, it may well be missing out on a fantastic opportunity.
Kindness is infectious, if someone is kind to you it opens you up to doing a good turn of your own, ultimately rewarding you with that lovely warm feeling you get when you've just made someone smile. The idea that kindness also helps you and others around you to be more productive and creative may not seem surprising. However, for commercial organisations these wellbeing and happiness 'side effects' that empathy and compassion bring can lead to added bonuses in the workplace which are definitely worth considering further. Studies have shown that employee happiness and wellbeing leads to to improved health, loyalty, performance and decision making, and in turn the business's bottom line.
InKind Notts are looking to "inspire people in schools, homes and communities as well as workplaces, to recognise that actions motivated by empathy, self awareness and kindness not only make others flourish but they are also are incredibly strong mechanisms to help us feel engaged, well and happy."
InKind Notts will be committing Random Acts of Kindness in Nottingham city centre for 12 hours on Saturday the 16th July from 9am to 9pm. Go along to chat with them, find out more or share your thoughts. Listen to an interview with co-founders Kaye Brennan & Jeff Buck about the event.
So, inspired by the InKind Notts folk, here's my 12 acts of kindness for business ideas:
Find out more at inkindnotts.org and www.randomactsofkindness.org
Interesting reading: Science News - Happy Employees Are Critical For An Organization's Success.
I'd love to hear your ideas on how a business can spread kindness so please share them in the comments below.
Friday, July 1st 2011 | Short URL
You may remember that back in January we wrote a very enthusiastic post about a most inspiring conference that took place here in Nottingham. The conference was New Adventures in Web Design. 'Colly' (Simon Collison), web designer and creator of the conference, promised that the event would have "inspiration, thinking, and intelligence at its core." It did not disappoint.
The audio and slides of the talks from the conference are now available online and we thought we'd signpost you to them because we'd like you to get a glimpse into, perhaps, an unexpected view of our world. You don't have to be a web designer or a technical person to appreciate the concepts highlighted in the talks. In fact most of the ideas discussed are useful and enlightening to non-technical website owners.
None of the talks or presentations mention complex techniques or code but cover a range of thought provoking concepts from defining the language we use when talking about website and the web to using storytelling methods in web design - and a whole raft of ideas in between.
If you own a website, work with a web designer or just want to listen to some really intelligent and inspiring thoughts then this is well worth checking out:
2011.newadventuresconf.com
Wednesday, June 29th 2011 | Short URL
Where did June go? This month has flown by but it hasn't stopped our clients from getting up to all kinds of interesting things...
Newly launched websites using Green Hosting:
Cycle Hire - Helpful online search for cycle or cycle equipment hire in the UK.
pickIT - Bespoke IT and e-learning training company with a green and ethical ethos. Read pickIT's client interview.
Client news:
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust launch City Butterfly Watch!
Attenborough Nature Centre anounce upcoming wildlife art exhibition by Paul Dyson.
Climate Change Gardening encourages us to plant trees wherever we live.
Social Enterprise Support Centre plan to open a Deaf Visitor Centre in Bradford in partnership with the Deaf Association. Help them by voting for them in the 'Small Step Competition'.
Climate East Midlands seeks contractor to facilitate better understanding of the impacts of small scale hydropower installations.
Factory Design's Lee Bazalgette talks sustainability in this month's New Design magazine.
Just So Festival interviews children's author and illustrator David Lucas.
Luxury ethical jewellers Fifi Bijoux joins the 'style mile'.
Car Free Walks members get a discount on Lakeland Walker magazine subscriptions.
Greenhouse PR interviews eco hero and friend of Make Hay, Dave Hampton.
Great & Small Physiotherapy are offering a 1 month free trial to veterinary clinics in their local area.
Carbon Tee launch Carbon Tee Couture
Friday, June 24th 2011 | Short URL
Well, strictly speaking this is a week in the life of one half of Make Hay. I should add that during this busy week and every week, the other half of Make Hay, Jez, is even more busy managing projects, designing, developing, building and providing support to our Green Hosting clients as well as a whole range of other tasks.
I thought I would write about one of my weeks at work because sometimes it’s interesting to find out what goes on behind the scenes of a business. The idea of web design might conjure up pictures of us sitting at a computer for many long hours creating lines and lines of code. Well it does involve that, a lot of it, but it involves many other things too. So, here’s a little insight into one of my weeks at Make Hay back in May...
Monday is always a ‘kick off’ day, setting things in place and making plans for the coming week and beyond. This Monday is the start of Green Office Week and to celebrate we’re offering a special prize of free Green Hosting for a year for one lucky business. I’m publicizing the offer as much as I can with the help of fellow greeny business people all over the country. I’ve been really heartened by my colleagues in the green business world who have helped us spread the word.
Over the weekend we have received a new sign-up to our Make Mail e-newsletter service. We handle each sign-up individually so I contact the client to welcome them, set up their account and send them their details and guide to get started.
One of our new web design projects is just moving into the design phase, so after I’ve dealt with e-mails I block a large amount of time out of the day to begin the design. To set design plans in place I’m referring back to our previous conversations with the client about their business objectives and their website content as well as their existing brand.
Throughout the day (as with all days), e-mails are coming in from clients with updates and questions about ongoing website projects or web hosting work. One of the non-client e-mails included an invitation to hold a stall at a green film festival so I get in touch with them discuss the details and then I’ll be thinking about what publicity materials and equipment I’ll need to take along.
Right at the end of the afternoon I receive a message from one of our clients whose new website went live last summer. A lady had called her up because she loved her website and wants to get one too. Our client contacted me to say she had recommended us highly to her. A great way to end the day!
This morning we receive confirmation from one of our long-term clients, Climate East Midlands, that they would like to go ahead with some large developments to their existing website. I check our schedule and book the work in, alongside providing the client with details of information we need from them and some timescales. Just as with new web design projects we use a careful process for ongoing development work to make sure everything stays on time and on budget.
My next job is to switch over to the focus of another project. This is a new website build and is in the content gathering phase. Because this is usually quite a long period of time when the client is working alone to write their content I like to check in to make sure everything is on track and those involved are clear about what they need to do. I have a chat with one of our client’s staff team responsible for providing content. She updates me on their progress and we arrange to get in touch again the following week, ready for moving on to the next stage.
Via our blog, newsletter and social networking pages we like to provide helpful web-related information to our clients. That may be a ‘how to’ article or marketing tips or news about directories for green businesses, for example. Because many of our Green Hosting clients use WordPress as their blogging platform, I decide to write a free guide on how to update their WordPress installation. I don’t publish it straight away though, but will wait until a new update is available so that the guide is relevant.
To keep publicising our Green Hosting competition I take a few more minutes to post it on Facebook and Twitter again and announce it on the Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce Website.
Again, a large part of the day and for the rest of the afternoon I continue to work on the new website design and layout I started yesterday. It’s really taking shape and I have the basis of the layout and styling in place.
.jpg)
We receive two new requests for website quotes this morning. Traditionally this time of year sees lots of organisations making plans setting up new projects and so May is usually a busy time for discussing new work. I respond to the quote requests straight away to confirm their receipt but will set some time aside later to go through them in more detail and discuss with Jez in preparation for providing website proposals and estimates to both potential clients
I contact a few green printers to find out about prices for banners and posters which we can use on a stall at events such as the green film festival. Once I get specifications for the poster I start designing the artwork and put the general plan in place. One of the printers I contact is Print Revolution, which I later find to be a gem of a green business right on our doorstep!
Continuing on the website design and layout which I started this week I am to a point where I’m ready to show the client, So I create previews online and send them to him with details about how the design elements address the aims and structure we previously agreed. He responds almost immediately saying he is very pleased with the designs and even uses the word “superb”!
The last piece of work for today is another previously booked update to one of our long-term client’s websites, Winkworth Farm. When this client’s website was first built she was just beginning her new business but since then it has expanded a great deal. So we have some more significant plans in place to develop the website to reflect how her business and range of services have grown.
.jpg)
This morning is all about planning. Planning for upcoming strategic meetings and quotes. We get our heads together for this stuff regularly and decide which of us will tackle what and when.
This afternoon we have a meeting with Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Attenborough Nature Centre staff about some exciting new developments to their websites. It is always a treat to visit the Attenborough Reserve, especially this time of year in the sunshine. We have worked with NWT for a little while now and they have agreed to do a photoshoot with us for an upcoming news story, so we’re taking the photos whilst we’re here. Erin, the Communications & Marketing Manager, tells me that they have been really pleased with the increase in website traffic and online memberships since we created their new website and puts this in writing for the article. You can read the finished NWT article here on our blog.
When I get back I need to respond to some e-mails that came in whilst we were out. They include a range of messages, such hosting support requests and responses to me chasing up client progress on a few projects. I give one of our clients instructions on how to upload videos to YouTube as she will be adding them to her blog for the first time soon.
.gif)
I get a call first thing from a marketing expert who is working with the lovely lady who helped us develop our T&Cs. She wants to find out about our experiences and what we gained from the process. I’m more than happy to provide feedback about this as we received an excellent service.
I spend a bit of time dealing with our own marketing by sending photos and client testimonials to Louise at Perfect 10 PR who will be writing the press release about our work with Notts Wildlife Trust.
The rest of today has been set aside as Green Hosting day! It is important that we dedicate time to our own websites’ development and online strategy as well as our clients'. We’re planning a re-design of our Green Hosting website and a few other developments for our hosting service which you will hear about soon.
In between working on our own project, we break to carry out some admin and respond to client e-mails. At the end of Friday I go into the weekend feeling pleased that this busy week has been productive.
Monday, June 20th 2011 | Short URL
We are very happy to welcome pickIT to Green Hosting at the celebration of their 1 year anniversary. Meet our client pickIT...
1. Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.
pickIT is an IT Training company providing high quality, bespoke training solutions with an environmental and ethical twist.
2. How is your business different to that of others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?
pickIT offer learning solutions to enable your company to provide training that is online, accessible and adaptable to the needs of your staff whilst reducing costs and the environmental impact of your company.
3. How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?
pickIT has committed to give upto 10% of its profits to charities each year. In 2011 our chosen charity is Save the Children.
pickIT also has an Environmental Operating Statement with some Green Operating Values, Guiding Principles and a Green Contract which we ask clients to sign and adhere to whilst working with pickIT. These were created by ecoConcierge who I can strongly recommend to help companies find their “Green” way of working.
4. What motivates you to do business this way?
Since my volunteering days with VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) in Papua New Guinea, I have realised I need to give something back as I am lucky enough to be able to do so. Having fundraised through marathons and giving time to voluntary organisations in the past, now having my own company I can build my commitment and values into the company from the offset.
5. How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?
Hopefully through our website, word of mouth and also twitter we hope to start communicating this message across and work with clients with the same principles as us, as well as encourage other clients to start thinking this way.
6. Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?
We hope so. I think people are realising we need to work for something we believe in rather than to just pay the bills and luckily I have always felt this way and now have the opportunity to fulfil this.
With regards to training people are trying to find ways to save money, and online and elearning solutions provide this as well as being carbon friendly with no travel involved!
7. Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.
8. How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?
We want to really get involved with ethical and green companies and help them deliver their services with more efficiency by training their staff. We hope to build a good core green client base from which we can continue to build on the values of the company.
I am just excited full stop! Setting up a company is a great adventure in its own right and I hope to really work with some great companies in the future!
9. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work?
We want to really help companies save the environment and save money! From creating a simple online guide on how to print duplex; to creating complete learning solutions for implementations and projects using webex and web conferencing tools saving on the training costs as well as the companies carbon footprint.
Visit our website and find out more and help us to help you work better, greener and cleaner…!
www.pickit.co.uk
Monday, June 13th 2011 | Short URL
For those of you who use WordPress as your blog or website platform you'll know that the guys over at WordPress regularly release updates for the software. It is important to make sure that your website is using the latest version of Wordpress to ensure its best security and functionality.
.gif)
Updating your WordPress installation is relatively easy. You just need to take the necessary precautions and make a few clicks.
Your WordPress website will tell you when an update is needed and when that reminder message appears at the top of your admin dashboard you should go ahead and update.
We've created a simple downloadable guide to help you update your WordPress website easily. If you're still not sure and don't want to tackle it yourself then do get in touch and we can help you out
Download the Wordpress guide here.
Thursday, May 26th 2011 | Short URL
It's that time again! Check out what some of our clients have been up to.
Newly launched websites using Green Hosting:
Barnes & Adams - artisan apple products & cider
Green Talk - Short talks, big ideas from leading thinkers and doers on climate change, energy and food security and the natural world.
Bradford Personalisation - a network of organisations that are actively involved in developing services that people who receive support from Adult Social Care could buy with an Individual Budget
Client News
My Climate Change Garden asks "How green is Chelsea Flower Show?"
The much anticipated 'Dummy Jim' film is underway. This is a great story, set in a cold place, guaranteed to warm your cockles.
Car Free Walks share their top tips for cheaper train travel
Greenhouse PR introduce their brand new blog editor
Those Gertie & Mabel ladies have done it again, with a feature of their Soda Boxes in Country Homes Magazine
Ethical brides & bridesmaids can find out where to get *that* famous 'P Middy' dress via Ethical Weddings
Just So Festival named the 'Best Family Festival' by Green Parent Magazine - well done guys!
Help Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust receive their share of a £35K grant. Also see our NWT news story about tripled website visitor numbers.
Creative Nottingham asks if being creative makes us happy
Transition Vert provide a beginner's guide to recycling
The Sustainability Centre share their inspirations from the South Downs Green Fair
Book now for the Scottish Ecological Design Association EGM and Sustainable Communities Event on 3rd & 4th June
Images above © Dummy Jim & Just So Festival respectively
Tuesday, May 24th 2011 | Short URL
We were in the news yesterday with a story about our work with Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. Here's what it said:
Visitor numbers to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's website have nearly tripled since a new online presence was unveiled. The number of people signing up online for membership has also increased as a result of the new-look website, the charity reports.
Nottingham-based ethical website developer Make Hay, who created the website in conjunction with the environmental charity, said it was delighted by the news, which comes as the website celebrates its second anniversary.
Pictured above: Victoria Stevens, from Make Hay, and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's communications and marketing manager Erin McDaid
"The web is an incredible medium, which can be used to spread a message far and wide, and it's crucial that an organisation has a website that reflects its values and its aims, and one which is also easy and convenient to manage and keep up to date," said Make Hay director Victoria Stevens.
"We're extremely pleased to hear that Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has been using the online tools created by Make Hay to market and promote the charity so successfully, and that this has been reflected in increased online membership applications and thousands of extra visitors to their website."
Make Hay, which specialises in green and ethical website design, as well as web hosting which is wind powered, had previously created a website for Attenborough Nature Reserve, which is run by the Wildlife Trust.
The charity, which is the county's leading conservation charity and is part of a national network of 47 local trusts working to protect wildlife, said its new website changed the way the organisation looked at its internet presence.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust communications and marketing manager Erin McDaid said: "We've seen a tripling of visits to our site, and a rise in the number of online memberships. The new platform makes it far easier for us to promote our work and events.
"We find working with Make Hay a real pleasure. Understanding the technological aspects of creating an attractive and functional website can be quite daunting, but their friendly, straightforward approach makes it a lot easier. Working with Make Hay means that we can concentrate on deciding what we want our website to achieve without having to worry about how to make it work."
Make Hay, run by Victoria Stevens and Jez Swinscoe, was founded in 2004. Its green web hosting arm was launched in 2006.
Clients include the Uganda Carbon Bureau, Climate East Midlands, Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve and London Insight Meditation.
Pretty nice story eh? We are continuing to work with Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, developing the website and online strategy alongside their work and campaigns.
Thursday, May 19th 2011 | Short URL
Its a lovely thing when you find a local business that reflects your ethical ethos, provides a great service and is good value to boot!
.jpg)
I was so pleased to find green printers, Print Revolution, the other day. They're just down the road from us here in Nottingham and I couldn't believe we hadn't crossed paths before. After chatting to the director, Adrian Collier, I realised that these guys aren't just about about talking the eco talk, they walk the walk too. Not only do they use recycled paper and card and employ a waterless printing method (which also means less harmful chemicals and much more efficient printing), their work is green throughout and is a big part of how they believe business should be done - just like us! They use a green electricity provider, carbon offset for paper production and distribution and use the brilliant 'We Go' carbon neutral couriers for their deliveries.
I came away from their printing offices yesterday a happy bunny, with a fab new Make Hay poster and having found a great green local printer.
Check them out at www.printrevolution.co.uk
Monday, May 16th 2011 | Short URL
We have a lucky winner of our Green Office Week competition prize - one year of free Green Hosting.
An e-mail has been sent to to tell them the happy news so if you entered our competition then check your inbox now. It could be you!
Once we've got them all set up with their new Green Hosting account we'll announce the winner here.
A huge thank you to everyone who took part and everyone who helped us spread the word about our Green Office Week celebration.
xx
Monday, May 9th 2011 | Short URL
Today is the start of Green Office Week. To celebrate we've decided to help one of you green up your business with one year of free green website hosting worth £120!
For a chance to win this prize all you need to do is sign-up to our free e-newsletter using the form below.
Sign-ups during green office week (that's Monday 9th to Friday 13th May 2011) will enter our prize draw. On Monday 9th May we will randomly select one lucky winner!*
The prize hosting account is our Zephyr hosting package, free for one year.
We will contact the winner via the e-mail address provided via the above form.
All of our usual Green Hosting terms and conditions will still apply. For more details about Green Hosting visit www.green-hosting.co.uk.
Good luck!
*This Green Hosting prize is eligible only for:
Friday, May 6th 2011 | Short URL
Did you know that next week is Green Office Week? Well, we would advocate making moves for a greener office all year round but this a good time to think about how to save energy, reduce waste and purchase greener products.
.jpg)
The organisers of GOW are encouraging businesses up and down the UK to take action in their offices, tackling a different area each day of the week.
Here at Make Hay & Green Hosting there are various things we do to try to make our office greener. We're always learning and looking to improve but here's a run down of GOWs suggestions and the things we do in those areas:
GOW say 'Act on Energy - Encourage measures to reduce energy consumption in your company'.
What we do - First of all, we use a renewable (wind powered) electricity provider to power our office, we're not using a fossil fuel source. We don't want to waste that wind power though, so we only switch on equipment that we're using. At the end of the working day computers, lights, laptops and printers are switched off and have a well-earned rest. Where we can we try to buy energy efficient IT components, such as 'green' storage hard drives and we always use low-energy light bulbs. Our websites are also powered by the wind because our hosting servers use renewable energy too. We provide this green website hosting service to our clients, as you may already know!
GOW say 'Act on Transport - Encourage measures to reduce your company's environmental impact through travel'.
What we do - We're very lucky that our business doesn't require lots of travel. Our office is home-based, so there is no daily commute, polluting the city and we can liaise with our clients most of the time via e-mail, telephone and other methods online. Sometimes we do need to meet up with clients face to face and we will use both public and private transport to do this. If we're heading to London for example then we'll use the train but for clients in more remote places we'll drive. To help counter some of the impact of our car use we use a green motor insurance company who offsets 100% of our carbon emissions through forestry projects throughout the UK.
GOW say 'Act on Waste - Encourage the 3Rs: reduce/reuse/recycle and benefit from the cost-reductions'.
What we do - Due to the nature of our work, which is carried out digitally for the most part, we do not need to buy much materials and really have minimum waste moving through the office. However, we try to re-use or recycle office resources as much as we can. Non-confidential paperwork is either re-used to make notepads or recycled. Confidential paperwork is shredded and recycled but sometimes composted. Non usable electrical items are taken to our local e-waste recycling centre and printer ink cartridges are also recycled via charities such as Age UK. Tea bags and coffee grinds from staff drinks are composted too.
GOW say 'Act on Purchasing - Encourage a review of purchasing habits and switching to eco-friendly office products'.
What we do - We use the Green Stationery Company to buy recycled office products such as pens, folders, paper etc. Publicity materials are printed on FSC certified paper with vegetable based inks. The printer we use partners with a carbon offsetting project in the UK to plant a tree for every order we make. For computer equipment we try to purchase low-energy products as much as possible and from companies with positive eco-credentials and we look to accreditation organisations like Gooshing to find out about this. We recognise though that this is probably the trickiest part of the office to green-up as no IT supplier is perfect and we need to make sure we have secure and reliable equipment to provide a good service to our clients.
Consideration of the supply chain goes both ways for us as we also have an ethical policy which outlines the types of organisations we will and won't supply our services to.
GOW say 'Act on Opportunity - Everyone that took part got that Friday feeling by sharing their successes with colleagues, the media and others involved in GOW. It was a celebration of UK officers being greener.'
What we'll do - We'll be running a special competition all week, in which one lucky business can win Green Hosting for their website for a whole year! Watch this space on Monday for more details.
Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 | Short URL
Well, with all of the recent bank holidays and festivities our April round-up has been slightly delayed. Where did April go anyway? If you have exciting news to share let us know. Here's the latest from some of our fab clients...
Vote for Climate Change Gardening in the 'One Small Step' business competition. Climate Change Gardening provides information and inspiration about gardening in a changing climate, helping to preserve gardens in an uncertain future. Winning this competition would help founder Debbie Anderson develop her business further so that gardeners may access more advice and support resources such as videos, expert knowledge, green gardening products and local climate data. Gardeners will also be able to share experiences of their gardening challenges online. Voting opens on 30th May but you can find out more and send Debbie messages of support at her Climate Change Gardening competition entry page.
.jpg)
Attenborough Nature Centre are making plans for an exciting new phase of developments at the reserve which was originally opened by Sir David Attenborough in 1966. Can you help them by giving your views on the suggested developments in their online survey?
Ask Iris is looking for footballers with cerebral palsy in support of the Notts FA's search for new squad members to represent the East Midlands in the National Cerebral Palsy Football structure for the 2011-12 season
Bradford Personalisation launches their new website, hosted by Green Hosting. A network of organisations involved in developing services that people who receive support from Adult Social Care could buy with an Individual Budget.
Climate East Midlands reflect on the success of their climate week events in March across the East Midlands.
Ethical Weddings asks 'is the Royal Wedding green?'
Creative Nottingham tells us about local art events over the coming months with an ethical theme.
Notts PPS opens a new drop-in service for parents of children with special educational needs.
SESC announce the Big Venture Challenge award. A competition for social entrepreneurs to win up to 150K
Images above © Climate Change Gardening and Climate East Midlands respectively
Wednesday, April 20th 2011 | Short URL
Our latest newsletter 'Happy Spring News Update' is out now.
As the weather is sunny and we're heading into a long weekend we thought we'd keep this newsletter light with some nice updates including:
Tuesday, April 5th 2011 | Short URL
.png)
Recently a couple of clients have asked me where they can find other types of green services, such as energy providers, banks and printers. When I'm looking for a green service or product I turn to directories that specifically register ethical and eco-friendly businesses and I've built up a little list of them over time. So, I thought I'd share them here with you.
I hope you find these directories useful and if you know of any more which are not listed here, let me know and I'll add them:
Monday, March 28th 2011 | Short URL
Last Friday I hopped on a train headed to the big smoke for a day out to the UK Aware show. Despite this being the longest running sustainability lifestyle exhibition in the UK, this was my first time attending and I was curious to learn what the two days of workshops, seminars and exhibition stands had to offer.
I arrived at London Olympia, the venue for the show, just in time for an interesting seminar entitled 'How can organisations and businesses cut costs whilst reducing carbon emissions and engaging their customers at the same time?' with a panel of representatives from Second Nature, Google, Global Action Plan, BT and People Who Share. I felt two of the most pertinent points made during this debate were about addressing self-image and selling an alternative way of living. Chris Large from Global Action Plan explained that tapping into an individual's self-image and championing alternative options to break old habits in business is the key. The example he gave was the prestige associated with flying abroad to important business meetings. These meetings could alternatively take place via video conferencing but that doesn't necessarily fit with the preferred self-image of the business person and this is what needs to be addressed. Benita Matofska from People Who Share said that there needed to be a large cultural shift across society but that shift won't necessarily take place unless the reasons for the change of lifestyle is sold effectively, such as the financial benefits of lowering carbon. Both points certainly worth pursuing and considering further I think.
The swishing (clothes swapping, if you're not familiar with the term) area filled one corner of the exhibition space and was busy with ladies rummaging and trying on new-to-them clothes. As I walked past and clocked a lovely dress I made a mental note to myself to take a few items to swap next time. At the back of the hall a green machines expo showed off some shiny new low emissions vehicles and visitors had lots of fun testing the bikes out on the indoor cycle track.
Exhibitors included a wide range of organisations from charities such as the Wildlife Trusts and animal welfare groups to businesses selling allsorts from eco baby products to green printing services. There were familiar faces like the lovely Kate from Greenfinder (the Greenfinder stall is pictured above), Inspired Times Magazine and Onya Bags as well as some new and interesting products that I hadn't come across before. New to me was Ice, a loyalty scheme with a difference. Partnering with retailers such as Vintage Roots, Frank & Faith, OrgaiPets and Green & Black's Ice provides rewards to shoppers making sustainable choices. Other products I wasn't aware of before the show were Green Oil - eco friendly bike maintenance products, eco Wizard - tough, biodegradable plant pots and KleeNap - bathroom tissues made from sugar cane and bamboo waste, not trees, and so soft they'll easily give Andrex a run for their money!
The UK Aware show really does cram a lot into the two days and into the exhibition centre and has something to please all different interests. If you pop along next time you might see us exhibiting there!
www.ukaware.com
Thursday, March 24th 2011 | Short URL
Here's the March edition of our client news round-up. If you're one of our lovely clients and you would like to share your news here, just get in touch.
My Climate Change Garden celebrates Climate Week with a post-a-day on things you can do in the garden to combat climate change.
Foxglove Covert and their volunteers prepare for the massive task of extending the nature reserve's lake.
Ethical Weddings marks Fairtrade Fortnight with Fairtrade wedding offers and ideas on the blog.
Gertie & Mabel's Esmerelda document boxes featured in the March 2011 issue of Living Etc Magazine.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Idle Valley launches its Ecominds Project to help improve the mental health and wellbeing through conservation, food growing and wildlife gardening.
London Insight says thank you to everyone who raised funds which helped buy a vehicle for Khuphuka, the HIV and AIDS project in South Africa
Cherry Gorgeous, experts in eco-chic wedding, birth & social stationery helps readers find a green wedding supplier and launch their new website!
Creative Nottingham searches for 'golden nuggets' of creative news in Nottingham.
Factory Design are proud to announce that they were winners of the Design Week Awards Industrial Product Design - Congratulations chaps!
Greenhouse PR meet their Eco Hero, Kate Andrews, founder of Loco2
Colbha Consulting considers a green business dilemma and how they tackled it.
Photographs above © Foxglove Covert LNR & Cherry Gorgeous respectively.
Friday, March 18th 2011 | Short URL
Meet another of our great Green Hosting clients...
Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.
Car Free Walks is a website for people who love walking but want to reduce their impact on the environment. We offer 100s of free, easy-to-use walking guides that show you the best places for a walk that buses and trains can take you in the UK. The project was the brainchild of Tim Woods, a freelance editor specialising in sustainability and development, who met business partner Gary Shipp through a mutual love of the outdoors. Patrik Germann brings the IT and application design & development skills to the team.
How is your business different to that of others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?
The whole project is a good old fashioned ‘labour of love’ - we all work full time as well as running the website and writing articles and publications to support our work. So we stand out because we don’t make any money!
How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?
We set up the project because we wanted to help encourage people to think about the way that they travel to get ‘outdoors’, and we wanted to show there is an alternative to reliance on private transport and all the negative impacts that reliance on cars can create. We also wanted to relate this to wider environmental issues, helping people to make the connection between their lifestyle choices and the implications for the natural environment that they enjoy.
What motivates you to do business this way?
As the project is a not for profit venture, we are free to make decisions based on our ethics rather than compromises due to economic decisions. Quite a lovely position to be in!
It’s been wonderful to see our project grow. The number of visitors to our site has increased steadily, and we’ve started to forge links with some major national organisations that are helping us to promote what we do. So the reward is more in a sense of achievement than anything else.
How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?
We like to wear our hearts on our sleeves so our beliefs and passions are a common thread throughout our website and publications. However we also are conscious not to alienate people by being preachy or self-righteous as there’s fewer better ways to turn people off.
Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?
We are pleased to have built up some great relationships with similarly minded businesses and organisations, where we try to trade skills, knowledge and support, rather than exchange money. This seems to be working really well and means we can continue to operate the project on a very small budget.
Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.
How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?
Our website re-launch, and some important new partnerships with a few large NGO’s should see the number of visitors increase sharply over the coming months. We hope this momentum will be sustained and the whole site will grow, both in size and popularity. At the same time we are hoping to start writing more articles and features for magazines and newspapers about car-free walking, with the potential to diversify into producing publications of our own.
Find out more at www.carfreewalks.org
Tuesday, March 15th 2011 | Short URL
Opulent Ethics uses our Green Hosting service for the website they created about their ethical jewellery...
Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.
We are Opulent Ethics, an up and coming ethical jewellery company. Our jewellery is produced mainly in 100% recycled UK silver, Fairtrade or recycled gemstones and some Oro Verde gold (pre-fairtrade certified gold). We blog about current ethical jewellery issues and trends. Our vision for the future is to to bring ethical jewellery more into the mainstream and to increase the ethical jewellery consumer base.
How is your business different to that of others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?
The jewellery industry is one of the worst industries for its impact on the environment and people. Opulent Ethics tries to limit this impact by carefully sourcing our materials. We use recycled metals and stones, are working towards becoming licensed to use the new Fairtrade and Fairmined gold and also spend time researching and using new materials such as vegetable ivory. Alongside this we combine traditional hand skills with new technologies in our work.
We stand out from the crowd with our innovative designs and by being fully transparent in every part of our business. We are constantly striving to improve our ethical credentials.
How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?
All the materials used in our jewellery are carefully sourced to ensure that they are recycled, from the UK (for a low carbon footprint) or adhere to Fairtrade and Fairmined principles. Printing is kept to a minimum but when done, all advertising materials are printed on FSC certified recycled papers. Our packaging is recycled and recycleable. Opulent Ethics lend our name to various campaigns which work towards improving the lives or environments of areas affected by the jewellery industry. And to top it all off we now have a wind powered website!
What motivates you to do business this way?
Whilst travelling across Africa and Asia we saw how hard life was for some people. Just being able to support and feed their families is a struggle and this life below the poverty line is totally incomprehensible to many of us. Supporting Fairtrade work means supporting not just the worker but their local community as the Fairtrade premiums are put into improving health and education infrastructure in the local community. Opulent Ethics is motivated by the idea of helping establish and promote trade which works towards improving the lives of workers. Opulent Ethics also support programmes such as the Green Gold programme as it works to re-establish the natural eco-system of an area which is mined. This is done as an on-going process so that indigenous plants and crops are established in the area providing an additional source of income.
How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?
Ethical jewellery is still relatively unknown so many people simply want to know the cost implications for our business. Once we explain that for recycled silver there is no price difference and the premium from Fairtrade materials is a reasonable amount which works towards making grass-roots improvements within communities our consumers respond positively.
The Opulent Ethics blog is becoming more established and recognised within ethical jewellery circles. We have had very positive feedback about articles that we have researched and written. We hope that the Opulent Ethics blog will also become more widely read by non-ethical jewellers.
Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?
We definately do see our work as a movement of ethical business. Ethical jewellery is still in its infancy but there are many up and coming future deveopments. With the recent release of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold came the projection that Fairtrade and Fairmined gold will account for 5% of gold sales within the next 15 years. This will amount to a massive amount of revenue over the period. It will also, hopefully, bring about changes in other parts of the industry. Ethical jewellery is an exciting industry to be in at the minute.
Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.
How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?
Opulent Ethics is excited about the future and are hoping to see ethical jewellery become more of a mainstream product with less consumers having to ask what it is. We are also hoping to see ethical jewellery become more established in high street stores. The ethical section of London Fashion week is sure to help this happen. Opulent Ethics is most excited about establishing relationships with our consumers and seeing them return to the brand over time.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work?
Opulent Ethics' jewellery ranges are very different and unique. Our classic Sakura Range is based on Japanese cherry blossom and is quite classic. We also have a range produced using laser cut vegetable ivory. This is a world first and can't be found anywhere else. We are constantly designing and producing work so please keep popping back to see what we have been up to lately. You can also keep up to date with what we're doing through the Opulent Ethics blog.
Find out more at www.opulentethics.com
Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 | Short URL
Here's our newly launched website for The Uganda Carbon Bureau.
UCB provides a range of services around carbon management and offsetting. They help organisations measure their carbon footprint and take steps to reduce its size. They also provide advice and support to projects planning to develop and sell carbon credits and carry out a range of education and training to increase awareness about climate change.
A new Content Management System has been implemented to allow UCB staff to edit website content when and wherever they need to. This is especially useful for their busy News, Events & Resources sections. The visual design brings the website in-line with their strong existing brand, already used in printed materials and displays.
Find out more about the website development of UCB in our portfolio.
Visit the website at www.ugandacarbon.org
Thursday, February 10th 2011 | Short URL
If you use our Make Mail e-newsletter system then why not try its clever new social sharing facility?
Using the Quick Links inside your newsletter editor you can add Facebook 'Like' and Twitter 'Tweet' links so that your readers can share your stories in their social networks. You don't even need to worry about creating the icons because the links come with their own nifty little images which appear as soon as you add them to your newsletter.
That's not all. You can also share your sent newsletters with your Facebook and Twitter friends from inside your Make Mail account. Just visit the 'Reports' section, choose the newsletter you want to share, click the 'Share' button and off you go!
If you have any questions about using these features in your Make Mail account, just shout up.
Thursday, February 3rd 2011 | Short URL
We love what our clients do and so we like to talk about them. Here's the latest news from a few of them:
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust launch their wildlife photography exhibition at The Museum of Nottingham life.
Gertie & Mabel get their Danish ribbon featured on the cover of Not on the High Street's latest catalogue. Well done ladies!
Social Enterprise Support Centre begin their annual search for the most dynamic and innovative social enterprises with their Social Impact Award.
Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve open their new outdoor classroom and science station.
Winkworth Farm give guided tours of their beautiful green venue and grounds at their 2011 open days.
Unscene Production Company release the trailer for their latest short movie thriller 'Peanut'.
London Insight Meditation's - Director appears on Radio 4's Woman's Hour.
Just So Festival - 2011 festival tickets are now on sale. Take your family on a journey of the imagination.
If you're one of our web design, Green Hosting or Make Mail clients and have exciting new to share, let us know!
Thursday, January 27th 2011 | Short URL
reecovid, the stylish, eco-friendly stationery company, first came to my attention when our friend Katie at Ethical Weddings wrote about them. I'd been looking for exactly this sort of thing for ages.
When I learned that their products are made entirely from post consumer waste, and being a bit of a stationery geek, I had to find out more. You can read full details of their green credentials on their website but I was impressed to hear that no virgin fibre is added to the stationery at all. That’s why they have the slogan ‘Waste, not Chaste’. Clever eh?
The reecovid line which includes refillable notepads, personal organisers and address books (coming soon) is designed especially for women. They have really pretty covers that feel tough and durable enough to withstand getting thrown into my bag and carried around everywhere. I treated myself to the 'Daryl' notepad pictured here. Usually I like to do things digitally but you can’t beat a good notebook can you?
Wednesday, January 26th 2011 | Short URL
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust have started an exciting new project to help people in Nottingham discover and explore wildlife in the city's green spaces.
We've launched the new holding page for Wildlife in the City which will be in place until the full website is ready.
Visit www.wildlifeinthecity.org to sign up to the newsletter, follow them on Facebook & Twitter and find out more.
Monday, January 24th 2011 | Short URL
On 20th January 2011 at the Albert Hall the plans of Mr Simon Collison’s New Adventures in Web Design were realised here in Nottingham.
This conference (‘naconf’) had come to our attention last summer and we pounced upon the tickets as soon as they were available. We knew from the line-up of speakers (web industry leaders we had followed for years) and topics that this was going to be a high quality event. We were certainly not disappointed.
‘Experimental’ was one of the words Simon used to describe the conference and its themes. We would add ‘exciting’ and ‘inspiring’ to that. With each of the presentations it felt as though you were being led into another level of thinking about the craft of web design and the industry as a whole. There was not one stitch of code placed up on the screens but there were plenty of ideas guaranteed to stimulate discussion and apply to our practice. We particularly enjoyed the abstract nature of some of the subjects.
Dan Rubin’s ‘New Language of Web Design’ was a brilliant choice for the first talk. He encouraged us to think about the power of language and the need for our now grown up industry to develop its own lexicon, rather than continue to borrow misleading vocabulary from elsewhere. This set the tone of intelligent, thought provoking talks for the day. Other highlights were Jon Tan’s insight into our lizard brain, looking at how we might better appeal to those instinctive judgements when making design decisions, Andy Clarke’s examples of movies and comics to invoke storytelling, pace and rhythm and how that may be used in our designs and Brendan Dawes’ amusing and captivating look at what it takes to be a better maker. I swear I could listen to that guy all day!
There were ten talks in total, about 30-40 minutes each and the time just flew by! They all provided something thought provoking and useful to take away. They left our brains fizzing with ideas and so much to talk about.
It wasn’t just the talks that made the day really special, it was the obvious care that had been taken for the whole thing. For example, the exhibitions and book stalls at the hall, the competitions and the pre & post conference social events; One of which was organised by our 2nd Wednesday chums. The conference packs included lots of goodies, the biggie being a New Adventures newspaper full of commentary and articles, written especially for this event, nowhere else. If you weren’t lucky enough to go along you can treat yourself to a pdf or hard copy of the naconf paper.
All that’s left to say is a thank you to Simon Collison, a proper gent, for working so hard in putting on this great conference and for making it affordable and accessible to folks like us.
Oh and if it’s on, we’ll definitely be there next time!
See what people are saying about #naconf on Twitter
Take a look at the New Adventures Flickr group
Wednesday, January 19th 2011 | Short URL
Happy New Year! Welcome to our brand new website. As you will see we have freshened our look up, with an updated logo and pretty new colours.
We are still the same Make Hay, an ethical web design team, creating beautiful websites for positive organisations. We still run Green Hosting too! Aside from our new brand we have lots of exciting plans in place this year, starting with the New Adventures in Web Design conference this week. More on that soon.
In the meantime, please take a look at our work portfolio and do get in touch if you would like to know more.
Monday, December 20th 2010 | Short URL
The Christmas holidays are nearly here and we would like to wish you all a very happy festive season and a prosperous New Year!
We’ll be taking a break over the holiday period and so the office will be closed from 5pm on 22nd December until 9am on 5th January.
For emergency hosting queries only please use our helpdesk at www.green-hosting.co.uk/support. For any other queries, please do feel free to contact us and we will get back to you on our return.
Thank you to all of our lovely clients for your continued support. We look forward to working with you in 2011 and beyond!
Friday, December 17th 2010 | Short URL
As you know the UK VAT rate is due to increase in January 2011 to 20%.
If you’re currently paying for your Green Hosting on a monthly basis, why not switch to an annual subscription now and pay the 17.5% VAT rate until December 2011?
If you’d like to arrange the switch, all you have to do is contact Vicky at hello@green-hosting.co.uk before 20th December and we’ll deal with the rest.
Thursday, December 16th 2010 | Short URL
Here is our latest website, Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve.
Situated in North Yorkshire, this beautiful 94 acre reserve is home to more than 2000 species. With a range of habitats from woodland and wetland to heathland and meadows it really is a special place to discover and enjoy wildlife.
Foxglove Covert commissioned Make Hay to develop their website, bringing their existing online presence up to date and adding further features. The website has a new design for improved usability and which is now in-line with their strong visual brand.
A content management system is also now in place. Additional features include the interactive habitat map, searchable species lists, educational activity sheets, picture galleries, blog and much more. Visit the website at www.foxglovecovert.org.uk.
Thursday, October 28th 2010 | Short URL
Good businesses deserve good stuff, right? That’s why we’re sharing a little round-up of new goodies for green & ethical businesses:
Business Guide to Climate Change Adaptation
Produced by Climate East Midlands, this free guide “Weathering the storm: saving and making money in a changing climate” provides practical advice for SMEs on how to prepare for climate change and protect all areas of their business, including premises, supply chain, staff, equipment and data. Check it out at www.climate-em.org.uk
Ethical Community
A brand new social network described by the folks at Ethical Community as “Facebook meets eBay, but for green people”. Buy, sell and advertise green products and services whilst networking with like-minded businesses.
www.ethicalcommunity.com
Social Investment Speed Dating
Hosted by ClearlySo. This ‘speed dating’ event gives social entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their business directly to a range of social investors. The deadline to apply is 5th November so you need to hurry to get a place!
www.clearlyso.com
Changing Climate Weeks
November brings Changing Climate Weeks in the Midlands with a wide range inspiring of events for business, groups and individuals looking for ways to lower their carbon.
http://bookwhen.com/ccweeks2010
Wednesday, October 27th 2010 | Short URL
As we mentioned in our last newsletter, we have been involved in the 10:10 Project to cut our carbon emissions by 10% in a year. Our action year is now over and the results are in and we’re very pleased to say that relative to turnover our carbon emissions were reduced by 22%!
Our actions to cut our carbon emissions this year included installing new insulation and double-glazing and as a result our electricity usage was down. Our mileage was slightly increased on last year which is due to visiting a couple of clients farther afield. However, we also began working with new local clients and continued to keep much of our communication to telephone and e-mails when possible, so as not to travel unnecessarily.
Although our action year with the 10:10 Project is over our aims to reduce our emissions and waste are not. Take a look at our environmental policy to find out more about how we work green.
Remember: If you’re a 10:10 participant too then you’re eligible for a 10% discount on our Green Hosting. See our 10:10 special offer for more details.
Monday, September 27th 2010 | Short URL
If you are involved in 10:10 – the excellent project to cut carbon emissions by 10% in a year – you’ll know that 10/10/10 is the global day of doing.
So, to celebrate the day and help others lower their carbon emissions we have a special offer!
Businesses or organisations registered to take part in the 10:10 project get 10% off their Green Hosting subscription! With Green Hosting your website is powered by the wind, not fossil fuels.
Questions? If you have any questions then just shout up!
Please note: that this 10:10 Green Hosting offer applies to annual hosting subscriptions only and must be taken up before midnight on 31/12/10. Our usual hosting terms apply too.
To find out more about Green Hosting visit www.green-hosting.co.uk
For more on the 10:10 Project www.1010global.org
Monday, September 20th 2010 | Short URL
The Iris Project is a new service in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire which provides information and advice to parents of children and young people with disabilities.
The remit of the Iris website was to deliver the vast amount of useful information on many issues such as health and social care but to also involve service users online and allow them to support each other via the website.
The Ask Iris site holds pages of information about legal issues, disability rights, statutory and voluntary services and how parents may access support. The resources section includes an extensive directory of over 900 organisations, a jargon buster tool, frequent questions and useful links. Website visitors can take part in polls and give their views about issues which affect them and their family. They can also ask Iris to help them with a problem as well as sign up for the newsletter (using our Make Mail system).
The Ask Iris website is hosted by Green Hosting.
Visit them at www.askiris.org.uk
Wednesday, September 8th 2010 | Short URL
This is important information for any of our clients whose websites use our Green Hosting service.
We have a brand new and more comprehensive support service in place should you need any help with getting started and managing your Green Hosting account.
In our new support section on the Green Hosting website we’ve provided some useful answers to common queries. If the answer you’re looking for isn’t there we have a helpdesk system where you can request support from the Green Hosting team. If you need to request support for your Green Hosting account, please use this system: http://makehay.zendesk.com/tickets/new
Check it out at www.green-hosting.co.uk/support
There is more information on our website about what type of support we provide for Green Hosting and how but if you have any questions please do contact us.
The new support system is in effect right now as well as our updated Green Hosting Terms & Conditions. Please take a little time to pop over to the website and read these terms
www.green-hosting.co.uk/terms.html because they apply to all of our clients using the Green Hosting service.
As you’ll see they have been re-written with less legalese and more clarity, which we think is important so that everyone understands the terms they are agreeing to.
We also just want to say a big thank you to all of our clients using our Web Design, Green Hosting and Make Mail services. When we look at all of the amazing, positive things you’re doing we are so pleased to be a part of it.
Wednesday, August 4th 2010 | Short URL
We are very happy to introduce to you Gertie & Mabel and their brand new online shop!
At Gertie & Mabel you will find a range of beautiful homewares and gifts for anyone who loves country chic. They are inspired by English, French and Scandinavian design and their products include kitchenalia, natural soaps and smellies, garden supplies and hand crafted sewing goodies as well as lovely refurbished and hand made furniture. They’re clever folks over at G & M you know!
This is the first website for the new business and their objective was to sell their products online as well as having a means of keeping in touch with customers via their news page and e-newsletters. Join their mailing list if you’d like to know more!
The Gertie & Mabel website is also hosted by Green Hosting. So it is powered by the wind!
Visit them at www.gertieandmabel.co.uk
Friday, June 18th 2010 | Short URL
Well those web marketing gurus HubSpot have done it again, they’ve produced another free guide to help you create and promote your business pages on Facebook.
The ‘Who’s Blogging What – Facebook Page Marketing Guide 2010‘ is useful for Facebook newcomers and existing users alike. The e-book includes:
Visit the Hubspot website to download the Facebook guide.
www.hubspot.com
On our Make Hay & Green Hosting Facebook page we share useful info, articles, offers and guides on ethical business, web design, web hosting and online marketing. Visit our Facebook page and ‘like’ us to keep up to date.
http://www.facebook.com/MakeHay
Monday, May 17th 2010 | Short URL
We had a lovely message from our client Katie at Ethical Weddings this morning to let us know that the ethicalweddings.com website has been listed in greenmarketing.tv’s top ‘30 Beautiful Green Websites‘. In fact it comes in their top 10 and they describe it as “soft, informative and stylish”
Check it out for yourself at www.ethicalweddings.com
Friday, May 7th 2010 | Short URL
Leonora of Elio Studio has worked with Make Hay for some time, being one of our longest-standing Green Hosting and web design clients. She is also a good friend of Green Girls Global. So, a warm welcome please…
Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.
Hello, my name is Leonora Oppenheim and I’m the director of Elio Studio, a design consultancy that crafts narratives to inform and inspire.
Our work can be described as design storytelling – in other words, we use word, image and form to tell local cultural, environmental and community stories to wider audiences.
We work in collaboration with architects, designers, curators and scientists on creative projects that promote engaging conversations around sustainability issues.
I also regularly put finger to key to tell epic tales of design derring and sustainability do for TreeHugger.com and other online and print publications.
How is your business different to that of others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?
From working on plans for a chocolate factory with cacao farmers in the Ecuadorian Amazon to reporting on biogas toilets from the mountains of northern Ethiopia, we tell many an adventurous tale of beautiful and inspiring encounters with creative minds around the world.
With an unusual combination of design, writing and sustainability skills Elio Studio tells cultural stories through several disciplines, including public design installations, journalism and brand consultancy.
This diversity gives us multiple platforms to communicate from and we often enjoy blurring the boundaries between them, which makes for a pretty dynamic and unique approach to storytelling.
How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?
Every project that Elio Studio is involved in has its root in ethical and environmental responsibility, we take that as a given. If the project is not making a positive contribution in some way then it’s not the right fit for us, and moreover it’s just not fun to work on.
What motivates you to do business this way?
I like a good challenge! And I really believe that forging emotional connections between individuals and their local environment is one of the greatest design challenges of our time.
At the studio we’re excited by the possibilities of creative collaboration with local communities. We take local stories at a grassroots level and promote them on global platforms, inspiring businesses & individuals to create positive change.
How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?
We try to take a light, engaging tone that shows we’re as passionate about good design as we are about environmental issues, and that the two are not mutually exclusive.
We communicate using word and image through multi-media channels of email (hello [at] eliostudio.com), website (www.eliostudio.com – thanks to Make Hay) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/ElioStudio).
Occasionally, when we really want to grab someone’s attention we like to be old school and send a beautiful hand written note. Sometimes we even turn up in person!
Each medium is useful in it’s own way. For example Twitter is an excellent tool, not only for promoting your own work, but also to curate content of others you trust and admire. It gives you the opportunity to create a dynamic ‘brand voice’ that gives potential clients an impression of what your business is about.
Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?
Yes, absolutely.
It’s difficult to say whether there is any body else doing exactly what Elio Studio is doing right now, but there is certainly a fantastic community of sustainable design thinkers locally in London, and globally in the blogosphere, working in all sorts of different disciplines – fashion, products, architecture, service and systems design.
We all bounce ideas off each other regularly and often form fantastic collaborations. I feel very lucky to be part of this community that keeps me inspired and motivated every day.
My top 5 UK ethical design business picks:
Worn Again – www.wornagain.co.uk
Imaginals – www.imaginals.net
Thomas Matthews – www.thomasmatthews.com
Exploration Architecture – www.exploration-architecture.com
New Frontiers – newfrontiers.uk.com
Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.
Cradle to Cradle – learn to embrace systems thinking and close the loop.
Act local. Think Global – get involved in your local community and tell everyone about it online.
Work for ‘More joy per person’ – always ask how your business decisions affect people, from supplier to consumer and everyone in between.
How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?
The future of my business is multidisciplinary and multi platform storytelling, finding creative ways of communicating the important issues of our time to people locally and globally.
I’m most excited about the possibilities of working with commercial brands to communicate their sustainability initiatives to their customers in fun and engaging ways. I think there is so much potential to inspire people through design storytelling.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work?
You might like to check out one of Elio Studio’s projects that’s currently in development. It’s a series of public design installations called Creative Data (www.creativedataprojects.com) that are taking place around the UK over the next few years.
We’re working in collaboration with climate scientists with the aim of the communicating local environmental issues to local people in their local environment.
You can watch the short film of our pilot project The Butterfly Effect, and watch out for the up coming Creative Data projects in Wales 2010 (coastal), Cornwall 2011 (Eden Project) and London 2012 (Olympics).
If you are interested in finding out more about Creative Data or would like Elio Studio tell your design story please do get in touch (hello [at] eliostudio.com)
Visit Leonora’s website at www.eliostudio.com
Wednesday, April 28th 2010 | Short URL
Ethical jewellery label Fifi Bijoux runs their website on Green Hosting…
Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.
Vivien Johnston, Director and founder of Fifi Bijoux. I set up the brit brand in 2006 to offer consumers jewellery made exclusively from ethically sourced materials; fairly traded gold, platinum and silver mined without mercury or cyanide. The jewellery is crafted in London by master goldsmiths. Our diamonds and gems also come from ethical sources, small scale co-operative mines where possible and carefully selected mining and cutting projects which practice exemplary social and environmental responsibility standards.
How is your business different from that of others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?
Fifi Bijoux is a design label, we show at London and Paris Fashion Weeks and have been readily accepted by the fashion press. It’s a luxury product; with the unique new luxury of known provenance of all our materials. Our customers are a mixture of hip ethical shoppers and fashion-forward trend setters.
How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?
We take great care to partner with mining programmes which demonstrate a strict code of conduct for social standards, including no child labour, fair advancement for all workers, living wages to employees or co-operative projects which invest back into the communities where possible. Environmental standards are tough and they have to be. Standard mining practices rank 2nd in the world for environmental damage and the consequences to water sources, fish, flora and fauna, as well as local communities who depend on these for their food sources can be devastating.
Fifi Bijoux was founded on the principle of maximising the positive impacts for the local communities.
What motivates you to do business this way?
I experienced the lack of transparency in the typical jewellery business model and saw that the value chain was heavily weighted after export of rough or unrefined goods, meaning a raw deal for the producers. The extreme problems in the jewellery industry have been well documented; a lack of traceability in the supply chain ultimately allows for conflict situations and for corruption to flourish. The film Blood Diamond shows the civil war which was funded by diamonds in the 1990’s; but similar atrocities occurred as recently as Nov 2009 in Zimbabwe when Mugabe’s troops murdered miners in the diamond fields. The DRC and Cote d’Ivoire remain volatile.
At worst, diamonds and precious minerals remain an easily smuggled hard currency. At best, mining companies who do actually fulfil high standards of CSR remain invisible and often lumped together with the worst offenders because of the lack of traceability. I think consumers should be able to make informed choices, especially on something as precious and sentimental as an engagement ring for example.
How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?
The press have been kind and have shown great interest in Fifi Bijoux and my business model. I meet with private clients and work on design briefs with them, I also design ready to wear collections which are sold on-line and through our stockists. Currently, we have around 30 stockists across the UK and also export to France, New York and Australia.
Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?
Yes, most certainly. I see forward thinking business and sustainability being critical to the global economy.
Above image: Little Acorns – 10% profits to Child Sponsorship Project, Entebbe, Uganda
Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.
Know your supply chain. Use your purchasing power to make ethical choices. Accept that ‘being ethical’ is about making a journey; you have to start somewhere and don’t be discouraged if certain things elude you to begin with. Companies like Make Hay didn’t exist 10 years ago; but now boast a very lively client list and provide a green choice for business.
How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?
We launched our own on-line boutique last year and it’s going from strength to strength. Export is also growing, so we hope that Fifi Bijoux will develop its international reputation in the next few years as well as the UK has received our designs.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work?
We have just launched a silver collection and a collection of 18ct gold engagement and wedding rings.
Visit the Fifi Bijoux website at www.fifibijoux.com
Monday, April 12th 2010 | Short URL
In the first of our interview features we are very happy to introduce one of our lovely Green Hosting clients, Bloom Psychology. Find out what motivates them to help people discover their ideal career and how they stand out from others in their field.
So please give them a very warm welcome…
Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.
We are Rob and Amelia, co-founders of Bloom Psychology. We’re psychologists who help people make and deal with change. We realise this may sound a bit vague, but for example we do a lot of work with people wanting to identify their best career.
Both of us made a career change ourselves (I was a management consultant and Amelia a TV Producer) so this has real meaning for us.
We also help leaders who want to improve their performance at work, Mums who want to return to work, people who want to improve their health and wellbeing, and teams that wish to work more productively together.
We think that the barriers to change are usually in the mind, so we use psychology to help people understand what’s going on and act more consciously towards what they really value.
How is your business different to that of others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?
This may sound like a cliché, but our values really do set us apart.
Psychologists are all about evidence, and having proof for what you say. So being evidence based is a key value, because otherwise it’s difficult to make an informed decision. Another key value is to be remarkable, that is, we want to do work with people in a way which is inspiring and energising. We want to ‘bring psychology to life’.
We always work in the direction of someone’s strengths – ensuring that the change we make is authentic.
Finally, we gave up our jobs to do something that makes a difference. I remember too many jobs as a consultant which simply did not need doing. The client was being sold something they didn’t need. We don’t want to be like that, it has to be about more than profit.
All this doesn’t mean that we’re perfect, but it does mean that we try to do the right thing through what we do, not just what we say.
How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?
For the ethical stance, see above. We want to look back on this adventure and know that we stood for something beyond just success in the market. For example, we do cut price work for people on low incomes, pro bono work for good causes, and we also help businesses work out how they can change employee and consumer behaviour towards environmental issues.
But for the environment – other than using Make Hay and using public transport we think we could do a lot more! Any ideas from your readers?
What motivates you to do business this way?
Because if we can’t look back on our work, knowing we really did our best to take a stand for what we believe in….then really what’s the point? We see a lack of real leadership in this country with too many people looking after only their own interests. We want to stand for something more and set an example.
Ironically, we think that doing this will bring us more meaning and fulfilment and we reckon we’ll be more successful because people can see we mean it.
How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?
We’ve just completed an e-brochure of our services for organisations and we also have a great newsletter, Bloom Vine.
We also have a Blog, where we try to give as many career change exercises and resources away for free. We also feature an inspiring series of people who’ve changed careers on our Blog. If any of your clients would like to be featured please get in touch!
Follow us on Twitter, here. And finally we have a rather nice website, hosted by Make Hay!
Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?
Yes. Organisations have the power to change the world. But it will take small businesses and their consumers to lead the way, it will take us to show them how it can be done. It’s all about being authentic to a set of values beyond mere profit. If this sounds wishy washy to anyone, there’s strong evidence that organisations that operate in this way also outperform those that don’t. Quite simply, people want to trust the people they work with.
Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.
Clearly, we all have a responsibility to think about the resources we consume. Making this the default setting in your life (think ‘Nudge’) by making good habits easier is key.
But we have only 1 proper tip. Most people make decisions automatically, almost on auto pilot. But this means we tend to make choices based on short term comparisons – how’s he or she doing, am I missing out?
Our tip is to identify the things that are really important to you in terms of values. Then to live more consciously in pursuit of these. Money is not a value, it’s the values that it buys you (think about security, freedom, status) that really matter to people.
How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?
Right now, we’re trying to bring the cost of our career services down by introducing a brilliant online career decision making tool called CareerStorm Navigator (see pic).
In terms of our work for organisations we’re looking forward to delivering more of the services which we are good at – employee engagement, change management and coaching. Our recent clients include Directgov, the School of Life, The Arts Council and working out in the desert for the Abu Dhabi Civil Service (see pic)!
In terms of our own development, we are pioneering the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in our work. This is a new, evidence-based way of helping people deal with change and stress which is incredibly effective in helping people identify and make progress towards the things they value most.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work?
We don’t love it all the time. Seriously, running your own business isn’t about becoming happier, which many people think it is. Since starting, we’ve been more stressed, more tired, more anxious and every day we face new challenges and frustrations.
But the difference is we know that we’re doing something that matters. We’ll have no regrets…and there’s no happier thought than that.
Visit Bloom Psychology at www.bloompsychology.co.uk
Wednesday, April 7th 2010 | Short URL
Our latest newsletter ‘An Interview with an Ethical You‘ is out now and we’re looking for your views on a new client interview idea.
Make Hay has always been about working to raise the profile of environmentally and ethically responsible businesses and organisations. We like to talk about the positive work that our clients do.
We really want to go above and beyond the services of a regular web design and hosting company to spread the word about all of your positive work. So we’re starting a new way of helping our clients get their message out there, through our own regular streams of communication. It won’t cost clients anything extra at all and it will mean that you tell our audience (and like-minded folk), in your own words, what you’re all about. Read our newsletter to find out more.
Wednesday, March 31st 2010 | Short URL
Leeds Parent Partnership Service provide education information and advice to parents and carers of children with individual educational needs.
We originally began working with PPS Leeds in 2007 and created their very first content management website. Since then the team have been using the site to provide useful information to service users, such as details about local support and events. In this next wave of development we added further functionality, new sections and a parent discussion forum. Updates were also made for further ease of use for site administrators. PPS Leeds have also recently undergone a service re-brand across all publicity materials and needed a website re-design to bring it in line.
The PPS Leeds website is also hosted by Green Hosting.
Visit them at www.leedsparentpartnership.co.uk
Monday, February 1st 2010 | Short URL
“Once again, thank you, it has been a genuine pleasure to work with you.”
This is what the lovely folks at Climate East Midlands said about working with us on their brand new website.
Climate East Midlands is one of nine partnerships throughout the UK working to coordinate action on the causes and consequences of climate change.
As a relatively new organisation they were starting completely from scratch in terms of an online presence. They needed to launch with a content management system allowing them to update information about their work and activities as well as useful resources for learning about climate change. Most importantly the website had to allow for further growth and development in the future – and so that’s what we did.
Climate East Midlands will also use our Make Mail e-newsletter service to keep in touch with colleagues and interested subscribers.
The website is powered by the wind, using our Green Hosting.
Visit them at www.climate-em.org.uk
Thursday, January 28th 2010 | Short URL
Here is one of our latest websites to launch in 2010, Wakefield Riding for the Disabled.
Wakefield RDA provide horse riding and carriage driving sessions to children and adults with disabilities.
We were asked to re-vamp their old, out of date site with new visuals and clear navigation. This website is simple yet effectively communicates the work of WRDA. The added photo gallery brings their activities to life too.
The Wakefield RDA website uses our wind powered Green Hosting service.
Visit their website at www.wrda.org.uk
Wednesday, January 27th 2010 | Short URL
Its always good to hear from fellow businesses and organisations interested in raising the profile of positive and ethical work. Recently we came into contact with Rob Morley from Fountain Partnership, a copywriting business, who do just that. Having similar values when it comes to doing business responsibly we invited Fountain to share the benefits of professional copywriting services here on our blog.
Over to you Rob…
In these times when ethical and green voices need to be heard more than ever, it’s important to stand out from the crowd.
When it comes to writing the text for your website or promotional material, the chances are your natural instinct is to write it yourself. After all, it’s your organisation and you know what you want to say.
The question is, do you know what people want to read?
Copywriting is the art of using proven principles from psychology and marketing to engage with the reader and persuade them to take action.
With a website, on average, you have 5-10 seconds to connect with a reader and keep them engaged. The title you use and the way you write will determine whether the reader stays or goes.
With flyers, you need to get the reader’s attention and make your message relevant to them, before persuading them to take it on board.
Whatever you’re writing, the words you use will determine whether you get your message heard or not.
So, if you’re investing in a new website or promotional material, it’s worth considering a copywriter to ensure you get a great return on your investment. And, perhaps more importantly, to ensure people are aware of your cause.
Want to know more? Here are some of the benefits of using a copywriter:
Get your message heard – talk to a professional copywriter!
www.fountainpartnership.co.uk
Monday, January 11th 2010 | Short URL
Happy New Year! We hope 2010 is proving to be productive and prosperous for you so far.
This is just a little reminder to our Green Hosting clients, who pay for their hosting service on a monthly basis, about the change in VAT rate from 1st January 2010.
You should have received an e-mail directly from me about your Green Hosting subscriptions. If you have not received my e-mail or have any questions about your Green Hosting subscription please do get in touch.
Thank you to all of our clients for your continued custom and support!
Friday, December 11th 2009 | Short URL
Our latest newsletter ‘Seasons Greetings, Happy News and Festive Break‘ is out now.
We’ll be taking a short break over the Christmas holidays so please note our office closing ours will be from 5pm Weds 23rd December to Mon 4th Jan 2010.
Wishing you all very merry holidays and a happy New Year!
Thursday, November 5th 2009 | Short URL
Our latest newsletter ‘Cutting Costs and Carbon‘ is out now.
If you are one of our monthly subscribers to Green Hosting here you will find a way to cut your hosting costs next year. We’re also planning on cutting our carbon in 2010, why don’t you join us. Read our newsletter to find out more.
Wednesday, October 28th 2009 | Short URL
Great news for the good people of central England. Newly launched this week is the directory of midlands eco businesses large and small, the ‘Midlands Green Pages‘!
At Midlands Green Pages you will find green services and products of all kinds from jewellery, gardening and woodland burials to training courses, weddings and B2B.
Of course, being a Midlands based business Make Hay is included. We are also very happy to provide our Green Hosting service, run on wind power, for this exciting new website.
If you run a green business in Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands or Worcestershire add your listing to get involved.
Midlands Green Pages is run by Kate, founder of the national eco directory GreenFinder
Thursday, October 22nd 2009 | Short URL
Here at Make Hay we’ve just signed up to the 10:10 project. The project to cut carbon emissions in the UK by 10% in a single year.
Why? Well, as the folks at 10:10 explain:
“…while politicians argue about targets for 2050 and 2020, the scientists say world emissions must peak and begin to fall within the next few years. That means we need deep cuts in the developed world as quickly as possible. The longer we leave it, the smaller our chance of avoiding disastrous warming. 10% is approximately the right amount for Britain to cut next year if we are to play our part in keeping global temperatures from soaring out of control…”
I don’t know about you but I would rather have a good go a using the car less, turning the heating down and consuming less electricity than face what may happen if global warming gets much worse. Although 10:10 is an ambitious project, the things we need to do are quite simple. I can’t see any reason not to at least try. I mean, its not asking much is it really?
The 10:10 project is for everyone, not just businesses. It’s about uniting individuals, organisations, schools, companies, everybody to get behind this idea and get things on track for the future. We can’t keep putting this off or rely on the government to do it for us, because they won’t.
If you do run a business you can find out more on the 10:10 website. Because 10:10 recognise that progressive companies have already made significant cuts the aim for us business types is to cut at least 3%. As we’ve already implemented quite a lot of everyday practices at Make Hay to reduce our carbon it will be a challenge but we’re up for it!
The 10:10 project is run collaboratively by the team behind the film Age of Stupid, The Guardian, ActionAid, Comic Relief, the Energy Saving Trust, the Carbon Trust, the Public Interest Research Centre and many more. These guys know what they’re talking about when it comes to climate change so let’s listen to them.
Why don’t you sign up to 10:10 too? You can get help and support along the way and you might even save some money! 1010uk.org
Friday, October 16th 2009 | Short URL
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Parent Partnership Service supports parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The previous PPS Notts site was out of date and using old technology. They needed a new site which they could update frequently to ensure they could share news of their activities and events, volunteering opportunities and projects. They also needed much more control over their content to reflect the their dynamic and growing service and provide resources for parents looking for support. At the same time the site needed to be clear, easy to use and clean in design whilst incorporating a large amount of information. RSS feeds are included so that visitors can keep up to date with all the latest at PPS.
The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Parent Partnership Service website is also now hosted on our wind powered Green Hosting service.
Visit the PPS Notts site at www.ppsnotts.org.uk
See our other client websites in our portfolio.
Monday, September 28th 2009 | Short URL
Please be aware of any letters or invoices you receive asking you to renew or transfer your domain name. There seems to be yet another round of false reminders from a company called ‘Domain Renewal Group‘. Their paperwork is suspiciously similar to the previous company (Domain Registry of America / Europe / Canada) we warned about in our November ’08 newsletter.
If here at Make Hay we have registered a domain name for you then we will remind you in plenty of time when it is due for renewal. The correspondence will come from us and only us.
Even though their letters look official please do not pay the ‘Domain Renewal Group’ any money as this is a scam.
I shall send the false letters we receive to Trading Standards Institute so they are aware of the scam.
Update 5th Oct 09 – Another new domain scam – look out for e-mails from ‘ISP Renewal’ with the address ‘…@onlinereminder.org’ and don’t fall for it!
Monday, September 21st 2009 | Short URL
This month Make Hay turns 5 years old. The time has flown so fast but at this milestone it makes us very happy to take a look back and a look around, to reflect on how we’ve grown and how responsible business is becoming more mainstream. There’s still a great responsibility for the business world (including us) to increase and improve our green and ethical habits but we should celebrate the achievements too!
Make Hay was officially founded in September 2004. Long before then though it had had been whirring around in our brains. Disillusioned by traditional business models and encouraged by the potential of business driven by purpose, not just profit, we decided it was time to take our combined positive experiences and skills and make our contribution to changing the world. I know that might sound a bit cliché but that was, and still is, the driving force behind our business.
Back in 2004 the world was a different place. It was quite unusual for a new business to say they would turn work away if it meant making money from a particular industry or market or seek out suppliers with positive ethical credentials even though they may be more expensive. As we excitedly told friends and family what we were planning to do we were often met with bemused looks or remarks like “that’s crazy, you’ll never make any money”. Concerned supporters suggested “why don’t you start off without an ethical policy and when you’re established then go down the ethical route?” – There was no question of that. We did have positive encouragement too and to those people we are hugely thankful. Without it the beginnings of our fledgling business would have been difficult and isolating.
It wasn’t long before we found a few other businesses that we could look to for collaborations and support. I remember very well one of the first businesses we discovered was Ethical Junction. In great anticipation of meeting more greeny business types we added our details to what was then a humble directory ran by a handful of folks. Now, I’m happy to say, Ethical Junction are a mighty force, connecting responsible business owners all over the UK and we’re very proud to still be members.
Personal highlights in our Make Hay journey include setting up Make Noise, to help promote the work of our amazing web design clients and adding the Green Hosting arm to our business, which enabled us to provide websites powered on renewable energy. We also co-founded and became host to the Green Girls Global blog and later Green Guys Global and joined the steering group of a local Fairtrade campaign as business representative. More recently we launched our Make Mail service, providing clients with e-mail marketing newsletters so that they could reach out even further and our blog, another useful voice in sharing the work of our clients and news and views on responsible and sustainable business.
More widely we’ve noted some vast changes in the business world as you will have too. Nowadays we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to green stationery, equipment and furniture. We can have our offices powered by the wind and become listed in a wealth of useful directories and networks working hard to get green to the masses. Gone are the days when shop keepers look at you aghast for bringing your own bag and even the big supermarkets are hiding their plastic carriers under the till.
Let’s not be fooled or get complacent, there is a still a long, long way to go and it won’t be easy. But we can be buoyed by the way that green business has begun to seep into the mainstream, even in Make Hay’s short lifetime, and use that to drive us forward. Let’s see what we can achieve in the next 5, 15, 50 years!
All that remains to say is a big thank you to our clients, colleagues and friends for your support over the years. As a way of showing our gratitude we have a prize for one lucky client to win. Please see the details in our latest newsletter.
Thursday, September 17th 2009 | Short URL
The Social Enterprise Support Centre provides support and consultancy to the social enterprise sector and are one of our longest-standing clients. We’ve worked alongside them as they’ve grown and developed over the years, providing web design, newsletter services, green hosting, support and training.
Now SESC have moved forward into another new era, we’re happy to show their newly launched, bigger, better website.
This new site provides more ways for social enterprises and community businesses to get useful information and advice and allows them to give their feedback too. New features include polls, the info hub, the SESC blog and a free members’ area.
SESC have also recently opened a second office in Bradford so I’m sure they have many more plans for the future and we’re looking forward to being involved!
Check out their website at www.sesc.org.uk
Tuesday, September 8th 2009 | Short URL
This is very important information for anyone using WordPress for their website or blog.
It has come to our attention that there is a new security exploit attacking WordPress sites using old versions (i.e. versions before 2.8.4).
This new exploit seems to create a ‘fake’ administrator (which you cannot see) within WordPress which may change URLs or abuse other parts of your site. Please see the following links for reference:
WordPress 2.8.4 Security Release
Mashable – WordPress Attack Underway
Lorelle on WordPress
To protect your WordPress site you should upgrade the software to the newest version (2.8.4). If you do not know how to do this we can do it for you for a small fee of £25 ex VAT (our current clients).
Please contact us to ask about your WordPress update.
Upgrading WordPress now could save a lot of problems and heartache later so please do not ignore this message.
Wednesday, August 19th 2009 | Short URL
Our latest newsletter ‘Getting Green Business‘ is out now.
In this issue you’ll find a handy way of adding your Make Mail newsletter sign-up form to your Facebook page, news of a green directory and an international site connecting sustainable businesses. There’s also a link to a handy free image editing tool and an article about how one company showed how they really did not ‘get’ green business. As always there’s news about our latest clients too.
Monday, August 17th 2009 | Short URL
Newly launched this morning is the Winkworth Farm website
For couples planning a gorgeous green countryside wedding Winkworth Farm is a lovely venue in an idyllic location on the edge of the Cotswolds. The owners of the farm, the Newman family, are in the process of renovating a group of the Cotswold stone barns to provide an all-weather function venue. The building will be powered by a renewable energy source and they implement a green policy to make sure all weddings held there are kind to the environment.
This Winkworth Farm website is a ‘first phase’ site providing information about plans for the new venue and services which will be available to book for summer 2010. They provide a useful ‘recommended suppliers’ list and rates for venue hire. Anyone interested can make initial booking enquiries and view a picture gallery of previous weddings at the farm too.
We worked with the Winkworth Farm team to implement their new logo and branding into a clear, easy to use website focusing on the beauty of the location. The site is also run by our wind-powered Green Hosting.
Visit Winkworth Farm at www.winkworthfarm.com
Wednesday, August 5th 2009 | Short URL
This week we received an e-mail which was such a perfect example of how not to ‘get’ green business I had to share it. The e-mail was from a salesperson who suggested we would be interested in buying his products because we are a company who sells “solar promotional products”. We don’t, and never have, sold solar goods.
His amazing products are novelty desktop wind turbines, made from either plastic or metal. They are fitted with a little solar panel or USB ports to plug into your computer and power the rotating blades.
Apparently these merchandise would make great gifts to our clients, they could even be personalised with ours or our clients’ logo.
After we stopped laughing at the sheer preposterousness of this I felt quite irritated. They had got it wrong on so many levels:
1. It’s Still Spam
Just because you perceive your business and our business to have a common green focus doesn’t mean we want to hear from you or buy your product. We get unsolicited e-mails from companies selling ‘green’ or ‘ethical’ products on a regular basis, it’s still spam nonetheless.
2. Show Me Something Relevant
Ok, so you’re green and we’re green but is your product even relevant to us? If you insist on sending us spam, at least take the time to understand our business. This is just good marketing sense at the very least. We don’t sell solar products and putting that in the first line of your e-mail turned us off immediately.
3. You Just Don’t Get It
Why do you think we built our business on values of working efficiently, sustainably and putting careful thought into the things we buy? Why do you think we’ve taken lots of care to implement ethical and environmental policies and seek new ways to become even more efficient, less wasteful and more conscious of our impact on the environment? Do you think we’ve done these things to spend our hard earned cash on novelty plastic wind turbines from the other side of the world? Were you thinking at all????
4. Green by Name doesn’t always mean Green by Nature
Making something look green or sound green doesn’t mean it is green. In this case the product almost certainly isn’t but I wouldn’t know because you haven’t told me about its source or manufacture. We feel that transparency is so important so that customers can make informed choices. Without transparency consumers become justifiably suspicious. What happens then is that suspicion and mistrust spreads to all businesses which call themselves green. It basically gives all green business a ‘bad name’.
Wednesday, July 22nd 2009 | Short URL
The folks at Business Link are providing a free consultation and diagnostic service on resource efficiency for small to medium businesses in the East Midlands. Following this your business may be eligible for a grant of up to £10k to help you improve your environmental performance.
Resource efficiency is about managing energy, water and materials to reduce waste and cost. There’s no excuse for businesses not to implement at least some strategies these days with help like this.
Find out more about the East Midlands Business Link Resource Efficiency Grants.
Business Link provide advice and support nationally on improving your environmental performance.
Friday, July 17th 2009 | Short URL
Make it easier for your clients to sign up to your Make Mail newsletter by adding a subscribe form to your business page in Facebook.
Take a look at Make Hay’s page to see an example (and become a fan whilst you’re there).
If you’d like to add your newsletter sign up form to your facebook page, let us know, and we’ll help you – for free of course!
If you don’t already have one, create a Facebook fan page now.
Monday, June 22nd 2009 | Short URL
We are very happy to launch today the brand new Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust website.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is part of the national Wildlife Trusts network and the leading conservation charity in the area. For a long time they had been using FrontPage to update their old website, which had grown organically and become cumbersome and difficult to maintain.
We worked with NWT staff to re-organise their website content and create a usable structure and navigation system for their new site, allowing for future growth and development. NWT have a massive amount to communicate about their work so it was important to make sure all of their information can be found easily.
We consulted with them on their branding guidelines and discussed a fresh new approach to their visual design and colour scheme. They also have a huge library of beautiful photographs of local wildlife which we incorporated into the layout and content.
NWT staff now manage their website pages without having to struggle with web design software or knowing any code. We spent a morning training them how to use the content management system – built using Expression Engine – and giving them guidance on how to write copy and prepare images for the web. We’re sure they’re going to do a brilliant job keeping the site up to date with news and information about NWTs many events and activities.
The website is also run by our wind powered Green Hosting
Visit the site at www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org.uk
Wednesday, June 3rd 2009 | Short URL
Organic t-shirt company, Albert & I, and fair trade jewellery shop, Jungle Berry, are two of our newest Make Mail clients.
They’re using the stylish newsletter system to spread the word about their beautiful clothes and accessories.
There are many good reasons for using Make Mail to handle your e-mail marketing. Here are just a few:
Check it out: www.makemail.co.uk
Monday, May 11th 2009 | Short URL
My Global Garden is one of our recently re-vamped and re-published sites, providing resources and information on gardening in a changing climate.
We originally built the My Global Garden blog back in 2007 and as founder Debbie Anderson has built up the Global Gardening movement her online requirements have developed too. The new blog includes an extensive plant list called the ‘Global Gardening Collection‘, videos on climate change gardening and lots and lots of information and resources from veggie growing to lawn care and nursery reviews.
Visit the new site at www.myglobalgarden.com
Thursday, May 7th 2009 | Short URL
One of our lovely Make Hay web design and Green Hosting clients Unscene Production Company have lots of exciting things going on for them at the moment. Not only have we just re-vamped their website, they have also just released the trailer for their very first movie!
Unscene is a growing company, building up its reputation in Scotland for supporting creative people and artists of various genres. They needed a simple website but one that they could update easily by themselves to add latest news and picture galleries of their events. Of course they have uploaded the video trailer for their short film so go and check it out! www.unsceneproductioncompany.co.uk
Tuesday, May 5th 2009 | Short URL
Here are a few little gems I’ve found to share just with you. Freebies and goodies abounds!
Free Green Blog Listing
Get your business blog listed for free in the Best Green Blogs directory. Find some fabulous green blogs to read there too.
Magazine Trials and Green Energy
Make Mail clients Blue Rocket Group told us about these two goodies this month
Video Sharing Just for Greenies
More and more businesses are using online video to tell the world about their work. Now there are online video sharing sites especially for us greenies. Check out Go Green Tube and Eco Tube.
Blog for Business
A great free presentation by new media and business blogging expert Chris Garrett on ‘How a Blog can Grow your Business‘.
Friday, May 1st 2009 | Short URL
I recently read a great study on how consumers percieve green products and their decision making behind choosing green, or not. It got me thinking about how we as ethical businesses can reach out more into the mainstream by getting to understand the reasoning behind consumer choices.
Having the support and approval of like-minded folk is fantastic but to bring about real change we have to reach more people, especially people who aren’t yet making green/ethical steps or don’t understand how it will benefit them. I feel like its time to stop preaching to the converted and encourage widespread positive steps.
Understanding how consumers (whether that’s the public or other businesses) make decisions about where they spend their money can help us put responsible business on their radar.
Read the article ‘Colorblind: How Consumers See Green‘ on the Floov Website to find out more.
Wednesday, April 8th 2009 | Short URL
We’re very happy to present two of our newly launched web design projects this month, Attenborough Nature Centre and National Parent Partnership Network.
Attenborough Nature Centre is a visitor and education facility situated within the beautiful Attenborough Nature Reserve in Nottinghamshire.
The centre was opened in 2005 by Sir David Attenborough and provides a place for children and adults alike to enjoy and learn about local wildlife.
We worked with Attenborough Nature Centre to create a brand new design for their site, capturing the tranquil environment and activities available. They told us that they wanted the centre and reserve to come alive on the screen and we think it does. We built a content management system for staff to edit the content themselves, including the picture gallery. The site was also developed with further additions in mind, so watch this space!
Visit the site at: www.attenboroughnaturecentre.co.uk
The National Parent Partnership Network support regional Parent Partnership Services who work with parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN). They help Parent Partnership Services to share learning and best practice and develop innovative practices in the area of SEN.
NPPN needed a clearer way to communicate their activities and signpost parents and carers to their regional Parent Partnership Service. We provided consultation and design services to create their new look and layout. We also liaised with their ‘in house’ development team who built the back-end content management system.
Visit the website at: www.parentpartnership.org.uk
Both websites are hosted on our Green Hosting server.
Monday, March 16th 2009 | Short URL
Our latest newsletter ‘Ethical Businesses Together‘ is out now.
In this issue find a brand new forum for ethical businesses to share views and ideas about doing business responsibly. We also talk about a great marketing kit from HubSpot, the kings and queens of online marketing.
There’s news from some of our lovely clients too so check it out and see what they’ve been up to.
Visit our website to see this and previous newsletters.
Monday, March 16th 2009 | Short URL
One of our lovely web design and Green Hosting clients, Cate from C8ter, will be on ITV at 5pm tonight representing the East Midlands in the new cookery show Taste the Nation.
C8ter are based in Nottinghamshire and produce delicious meals, buffets and artisan goods from local and organic ingredients. They are truly passionate about qood quality, healthy and ethically sourced food and I can’t think of a better team to cook for our region in this national cook-off.
Cate has also let me know that resulting from the show Team Notts have begun a Dish4Notts campaign. This came about because they realised that Nottinghamshire does not have its own recognised dish and its fantastic growers, suppliers and producers are not acknowledged for their work. So begins the search for a sweet dish that truly represents Nottinghamshire and its growers and producers. They will be working with Halam’s chef Roy Wood, Castle College and local chefs and restaurants and inviting anyone from Nottinghamshire to submit recipes which embody tradition and demonstrate an understanding of using local ingredients to create a super pudding dish.
Watch this space for more info and in the meantime if you’d like to know more please contact Cate Harvey at C8ter.
Wednesday, February 25th 2009 | Short URL
Green Hosting client Greener Museums was founded by Rachel Madan, a sustainability consultant and coach with ten years of experience supporting companies to become greener.
After working with the Tate Rachel found that most sustainability information is not tailored to the needs of the cultural sector. So, she set up Greener Museums for the museum professional, to provide the tools and resources needed to get them on the path to sustainability.
Take the Greener Museums survey. The results will be used to inform Rachel when providing information on the website: www.greenermuseums.org
Monday, February 23rd 2009 | Short URL
Make Mail e-mail marketing clients Green Rocket Group have created an ethical business guide which offers practical advice and guidance on how companies can operate more ethically and boost their bottom line.
The business guide is free to download from their website at: www.greenrocketgroup.com
Friday, February 20th 2009 | Short URL
Yes, they’re finally here. Beautiful and stylish organic Green Girls Global and Green Guys Global tees designed by our very own Green Girl Lee Tracy.
Each of the 7 designs show a message for living a more sustainable life.
They come in various unisex styles, sizes and colours. Every order gets a cotton applique patch and orders of two tees or more come in a re-usable cotton tote!
Visit the GGG Etsy Shop to get yours now!
Friday, February 20th 2009 | Short URL
What better way to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight than with a fabulous Fairtrade fashion show?
Vicky here at Make Hay is a member of the Gedling Fairtrade Group who are hosting the fashion show on Wednesday 4th March at Redhill Comprehensive School. Doors open at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8pm.
Enjoy live music whilst you browse the Fairtrade stalls and have a chance to buy gorgeous Fairtrade clothes, accessories and gifts after the show.
Tickets cost just £2 for adults and £1 for concessions. That’s a great price for a fun night out!
For more information and details on where to buy tickets visit the Gedling Fairtrade Group website.
Wednesday, February 18th 2009 | Short URL
We’re very happy to announce the launch of one of our latest web design client projects, Greenmetrics.
Greenmetrics works with businesses to incorporate environmental, social and economic performance into their business communications. Their services include environmental performance measurement, research and benchmarking, community engagement and environmental management systems.
Founder, Susie Howells, has over 15 years experience in environmental management, corporate responsibility and stakeholder relationships and she is an active member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA).
Visit the Greenmetrics website at: www.greenmetrics.co.uk
Friday, February 13th 2009 | Short URL
Our latest newsletter “Give a little link love” is out now.
Valentine’s Day isn’t just for romantics, let’s all benefit from sharing a little link love. Read our newsletter to find a few easy and best of all free ways to do this.
Get link love from us – Make Hay, Green Hosting and Make Mail clients can share their news right here. Get in touch and let us know what you’ve been up to.
Green Girls Global and Green Guys Global have new contributor opportunities too. Can you afford not to get some free publicity to a worldwide green audience? Visit the GGG contribute page to find out more.
Friday, January 16th 2009 | Short URL
One of our recent web design projects, finished ready to bring in the New Year, was Elio Studio from the lovely Leonora Oppenheim.
Elio Studio is a sustainable design and consultancy practice, providing services in bespoke design, consultancy and writing. They specialise in communicating environmental issues and bringing it into the mainstream via a multi-disciplinary approach, including research, concept development, text, image & sculptural installation.
The Elio Studio website tells us all about the practice and latest news but look out for further developments soon. Visit them at www.eliostudio.com
Friday, January 16th 2009 | Short URL
Make Hay web design client Ethical Weddings has joined forces with Greenfinder and Just The Thing to host the UK’s first Eco Chic Wedding and Home Show.
The event takes place on Sunday 8th March at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens from 11am to 4pm.
Going green shouldn’t just be for your big day, so as well as exhibitors and suppliers from the ethical wedding industry visitors will find beautiful items for their homes too.
Visit the Ethical Weddings website to find out more.
Friday, January 9th 2009 | Short URL
Happy New Year!
This time of year is always buzzing with the excitement of new things, positive change and plans for the future and its no different here at Make Hay HQ.
The first part of this year will see us re-launching our own websites and making the most of online opportunities to promote ourselves and our clients more than ever.
We keep being told that 2009 will be a challenging year and I don’t doubt that for a moment but let’s make our own challenges and take hold of our own economic and environmental futures as far as we can.
Friday, December 19th 2008 | Short URL
Here at Make Hay we’ll be taking a short break to celebrate the festive season.
Our office will be closed from 5pm tonight (Friday 19th December) until Monday 5th January.
Wishing you all happy holidays and we’ll be in touch again the New Year, ready for a great 2009!
xx
Friday, December 19th 2008 | Short URL
Well, this year is nearly over and its flown by in a flash. I thought it would be good to finish up this year with a ‘Client News Round-up’ and tell you about some of the clients we’ve been working with this month.
Lovely new web design clients
Professional caterers C8TER needed a brand new website and a way to communicate how they feel about good quality, locally sourced and organic food. So that’s what we did. C8TER is also hosted on our wind powered Green Hosting
Check them out at www.c8ter.co.uk
‘SPAG’ work to protect seals and their environment across the UK and overseas. They needed a fresh new look and a content management system to keep visitors up to date with their news and campaigns. SPAG also uses our Green Hosting
Visit them at www.sealaction.org
Green Hosting clients…
A daily glossy online magazine for vintage lovers everywhere
www.queensofvintage.com
A production company based in Uganda specialising in wildlife documentaries and conservation films
www.earthmedia.co.uk
Make Mail clients…
PR agency Green Rocket helps companies with an authentic green focus communicate their message. Our Make Mail newsletter system helps them to communicate with their clients.
www.greenrocketgroup.com
ScotsCare, the charity for Scots in London, uses our Make Mail newsletter system to keep visitors up to date with year-round news and events
www.scotscare.com
Wednesday, November 26th 2008 | Short URL
As you’ve probably heard, the government has announced changes to the UK VAT rate which will be coming into force on Monday 1st December. The new rate will be 15% rather than 17.5%
Here’s how it affects you as Make Hay and Green Hosting clients
1. Any outstanding invoices sent to you before 1st December will need to be paid with the current 17.5% VAT rate. So, no changes will be needed.
2. Any new invoices issued after 1st December will state the new 15% rate
3. Any monthly subscriptions will be charged at the new rate from 1st December onwards
For our Green Hosting clients, who pay on a monthly basis, we will contact you all individually to give more details and re-start your subscriptions at the new rate. The good news is that you will be paying slightly less each month! Please look out for that e-mail from us as you will need to re-activate your subscription.
For further information about the VAT rate changes please visit the HM Revenue and Customs website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2008/measure1.htm
For our Make Mail newsletter clients we have some great news.
The newsletter system is being upgraded to provide some new reporting features. The interface will look slightly different too but will be just as easy to use.
Whilst this upgrade is taking place you will not be able to log in to your Make Mail account on November 29th and November 30th.
However, subscribers will still be able to sign-up to your newsletter and the reporting features will continue to work in the background. You just won’t be able to log into your account over the weekend.
Next week you can begin to enjoy Make Mail’s new features!
Friday, November 14th 2008 | Short URL
The social networking site LinkedIn is often considered to be the more professional, sober alternative to Facebook.
Personally I use both Facebook and LinkedIn but always preferred the extra interaction that Facebook allows.
Well, LinkedIn has caught up. So as well as offering lots of scope to share your professional credentials LinkedIn Applications provides these goodies too (as well as many more):
Visit LinkedIn Applications to find out more.
If you’re not already a LinkedIn user you can sign up now at www.linkedin.com.
When you’ve joined add us to your connections:
Vicky – www.linkedin.com/in/vickymakehay
Jez – www.linkedin.com/in/makehay
©2011 Make Hay Ethical E-Media Ltd. Company Number: 5223822
