6 ways to create a more sustainable home

Helping customers to reduce their energy usage and impact on the environment.

At B&Q, we started our sustainability journey in the early 1990s – driven by a challenge that if we claimed to care about the environment, we should know where our products came from, how they were being made and what they were being made from.

Back in 1989, we opened B&Q Macclesfield staffed by a team who were all 55 or over. In 1991, we published our first timber policy – and we went on to become a founding member of FSC®, the Forest Stewardship Council.

2017

  • Garden Retail & Garden Industry Awards recognise B&Q as Britain’s Greenest Garden Centre for second consecutive year
  • B&Q announces that from February 2018, all flowering plants sold will have been grown without the use of any neonicotinoid pesticides.

Find out more about Neonicotinoid usage

  • “The Nature of Gardens” report is launched by B&Q with Bioregional, RSPB, RHS, Butterfly Conservation and the Wildlife Trusts.

Read The Nature of Gardens report

2016

  • B&Q’s Sustainability Manager, Rachel Bradley, is recognised as 'Unsung Hero' for 2016 by the Guardian Sustainable Business Awards
  • 37% of sales are now from products that meet Kingfisher’s Sustainable Home Product Guidelines
  • Edie Environment and Energy Awards recognise B&Q’s innovative green pallet scheme with its Waste and Resource Efficiency Award. Ethical Corporation also recognise the scheme, awarding B&Q and Scott Pallets “Best Business to Business Partnership”.

Find out more about our green pallet scheme

  • B&Q Cribbs Causeway is fitted with solar PV panels.

Find out more about our installation

  • Garden Retail & Garden Industry Awards recognise B&Q as Britain’s Greenest Garden Centre

Green pallets

2015

Find out more about our journey to zero peat

  • Scheme to reuse timber bearers, used for transporting large products into stores, introduced.

Find out more about our transit packaging

  • B&Q works with Community Wood Recycling to get stores’ wood waste reused

Find out more about Community Wood Recycling

  • Paint remanufacturing trial commences in Cambridgeshire and North East London

Find out more about the trial

  • 'Loft Clear and Insulate' introduced nationwide – includes clearing out your loft as well as fitting insulation.
  • Smart Home launched – enabling smart home energy management.
  • Safety issue with roller blind cords addressed.

B&Q Merthyr Tydfil

2014

  • 3 Sustainability Leaders Awards: Carbon Management, Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainable Packaging Innovation
  • TFT Responsible Stone Group: through B&Q, two quarries and three major stone factories in India joined this group, improving the labour conditions of over 600 workers.

Find out more about responsible stone

  • easyGrow™ leads to expanded polystyrene and peat being removed from B&Q’s bedding plants.

Find out more about easyGrow

  • DEHP, a phthalate, is removed from B&Q’s garden hose pipes.
  • Over 800,000 bees counted through the Great British Bee Count app, developed with Friends of the Earth
  • Chimney sheep introduced – draught proofing unused chimneys with British sheep wool.
  • Innovative Living Roof product developed for sheds.
  • Filament LED light bulbs launched.

Planting easyGrow bedding plants

2013

  • Guardian Sustainability Awards – B&Q receives Carbon Award, recognising reductions in carbon emissions achieved
  • Business in the Community (BITC) Big Tick Award: Customer Engagement on Sustainability
  • Rollout of LED lighting across the B&Q store estate begins
  • Pesticides containing imidacloprid discontinued, a neonicitinoid chemical associated with the decline of bees.
  • Textiles take back event – encouraging customers to recycle curtains and cushions
  • Flood protection products introduced.
  • RHS “Perfect for Pollinators” introduced on plant labels to help customers find the best flowers for bees and butterflies.

LED lightbulbs

2012

Find out more about our eco retrofit

  • Swindon Distribution Centre opens, making logistics more efficient.

Find out more about our logistics solutions

  • Dual fuel trucks introduced, running on biomethane from landfill sites
  • Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development
  • Clean Spirit introduced – a non-toxic, water based alternative to white spirit
  • Recycling service added to B&Q’s installation service for kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms

Swindon distribution centre

2011

  • 100% compliance with Timber Policy is achieved

Find out more about timber verification schemes

  • Listed on the Sunday Times’ Green List for 2nd year
  • Ellen MacArthur Foundation: B&Q is a founding member, shortly followed by Kingfisher, committing to building a circular economy
  • Reusable packaging developed for home delivered worktops

Find out more about our worktop packaging

  • B&Q House opens, BREEAM excellent rating with biomass heating and natural ventilation system
  • Improved route planning and speed limits for trucks improves fuel efficiency

Find out more about our logistics solutions

  • Recycled paint introduced

2010

  • Observer Ethical Awards: Winner of Ethical Business Award
  • Listed on the Sunday Times’ Green List
  • General skips removed from 196 stores
  • 6,000 B&Q colleagues took part in a sustainability engagement programme
  • Loft stilts introduced – simple method of combining insulation with storage

2009

  • 2MW turbine installed at Worksop Distribution Centre
  • Absolute reduction in CO2 from store energy use of 11% compared to 2006 baseline due to improving light and heat controls
  • Home energy retrofit for 100 homes in Sutton commences as a project with Sutton Borough Council
  • Recycled plastic loft insulation launched with an average of 26 waste plastic bottles going to make each roll

2008

  • B&Q is one of first 12 companies to achieve Carbon Trust Standard, recognising reductions made in reducing carbon footprint
  • Chain of custody is achieved by B&Q with FSC and PEFC for all B&Q stores

Find out more about Chain of Custody

  • Policy to stop selling non-native invasive plants introduced
  • Patio heaters discontinued as are 100% peat compost bales and PVC shower curtains
  • Double deck truck trailers introduced, enabling more stock to be carried per load

2007

  • One Planet Home® commences – sustainability programme developed with the sustainability charity Bioregional

Find out more about One Planet Home

  • B&Q joins Sedex, the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange

Find out more about Sedex

  • Policy introduced to sell peat free compost at the same price as peat based compost

2006

  • First energy and water efficiency campaigns launched

2004

  • All B&Q stores audited for standards including environment and start to implement improvement plans

2001

  • First nationally available, independently-approved organic gardening range launched

1999

  • Backhauling starts from B&Q stores: waste cardboard, plastic film, metal & pallets are taken to distribution centres for recycling

1998

  • Reducing solvents in paints: B&Q requires all paint to carry a VOC label (volatile organic compounds) so customers can opt for less polluting paints.

1993

  • B&Q is a founding member of FSC®, the Forest Stewardship Council.

1992

  • B&Q starts to work with brassware factories in India to improve working conditions.

1991

  • Publishes first B&Q timber policy.
  • Alan Knight appointed as B&Q’s first environmental manager.

1989

  • B&Q Macclesfield opens, staffed entirely by over 55s