Bioregional

Bioregional is an entrepreneurial charity, which aims to invent and deliver practical solutions for sustainability. It was founded in 1992 on the belief that overconsumption of resources was the driving force behind environmental degradation, and set out to find new ways to meet more of their needs from local resources.

Bioregional
Founded1992 as 'Bioregional Development Group'
FounderSue Riddlestone, Pooran Desai
TypeLimited company and Charitable trust
FocusSustainability, Sustainable development, Environmentalism
Location
Area served
World
MethodSocial enterprise, training
Revenue
£1,380,000 Pound Sterling (2006-7)
Websitebioregional.com bioregional.us
Not to be confused with Bioregionalism based on naturally defined areas called bioregions.

History

Bioregional was founded in 1992 by Sue Riddlestone OBE and Pooran Desai OBE, and began life in the Sutton Ecology Centre. They first worked on local environmental projects, including the promotion of closed loop recycling in London and Surrey,[1] reviving lavender production in Mitcham and Carshalton,[2] setting up Croydon's TreeStation to turn waste municipal wood into biomass,[3] and establishing the Bioregional Charcoal Company Ltd who help a network of local charcoal producers sell to major retail stores.[4] These projects reflected Bioregional's aim of setting up social enterprises that could make the use of local and waste resources mainstream.

Bioregional began to expand in the late 1990s, and with the completion of BedZED they moved into their present offices in Hackbridge, London Borough of Sutton. From BedZED they developed with One Planet Living programme with WWF, which is the framework for all sustainable communities projects and has an equal influence over their vision as the original bioregionalism focus. Currently a One Planet Living communities is being built in Brighton.[5]

Bioregional currently have around 40 staff in London, as well as regional offices in China, Canada, South Africa, Kenya, Greece, Mexico, and Australia.

Founded in 2005, Bioregional North America is an affiliated Canadian non-profit organisation that specializes in fostering sustainable behavior change and collaborative consumption amongst occupants in new and existing buildings across the United States and Canada.[6]

Major current projects
  • One Planet Living communities, planned to be built in every continent by 2012 to demonstrate Bioregional's vision.[7]
  • B&Q One Planet Home, developing a Sustainability Action Plan for the retailer and a customer-focused campaign and product range
  • The Laundry, a closed loop recycling social enterprise for small businesses in central London
  • One Planet Products, a sustainable construction materials buying club
  • HomeGrown Charcoal, produced through a decentralised network of charcoal burners to reduce transport CO2 by 90%
  • Bioregional MiniMills, developing technology to make paper pulp from straw and recover energy from the effluents
  • The EcoConcierge Program by BioRegional North America makes healthier, low-carbon lifestyles convenient for building occupants through hands-on services, building social capital, sustainable design, collaborative consumption, and community-based social marketing

Past projects
BedZED
  • BedZED, the UK's largest eco-village
  • The sustainability strategy for the 2012 Olympics in London[8]
  • Reviving local lavender production in Carshalton and Mitcham
  • Croydon TreeStation, a solution for sustainable management of urban forestry to produce biomass fuel
  • Local Paper for London, Local Paper for Surrey, promoting closed loop recycling to businesses in these regions

Awards
  • See also awards won for the BedZED project
  • 2011 - Bioregional's founders Sue Riddlestone OBE and Pooran Desai OBE were named Social Entrepreneurs of the Year at the Davos World Economic Forum by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship[9]
  • 2009 - Bioregional's founders Sue Riddlestone OBE and Pooran Desai OBE won the Skoll Social Entrepreneur Award.[10]
  • June 2007 - Observer ethical awards for Bioregional MiniMills, Invention of the year.[11]
  • May 2006 - Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy for Croydon TreeStation[12]

References
  1. TreeHugger, December 27, 2007, Local Paper for London: Get your Own (Recycled) Paper Back Archived 30 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Carshalton Lavender, SM6". A Picture of Change. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
  3. "London Borough of Croydon and BioRegional Development Group". Carbon Trust. 19 February 2007. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  4. Fry, Carolyn (13 June 2008). "Tread lightly: Buy British barbecue charcoal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  5. Barr, Damian (15 February 2008). "Green apartments in Brighton". The Times. Archived from the original on 30 May 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  6. "BioReigonal: Experct consultants on behaviour change and sustainable lifestyles, green communities and ecodistricts". BioRegional North America. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  7. "Welcome to One Planet Communities". One Planet Communities. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  8. Schopen, Fay (17 May 2006). "Games' clean agenda puts green before gold". The Times. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  9. "BioRegional UK foudners win Social Entrepreneur of the Year". BioRegional North America. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  10. "Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship". BioRegional. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  11. "The Observer Ethical Awards in association with Ecover - winners revealed". The Observer. 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  12. "Ashden Awards case study on BioRegional's TreeStation project". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
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