70. for peat’s sake!

Sustainability Award Shortlisted

Whether in its business operations or its business model, the winning startup will be a sustainability leader that prioritises the health of the planet as part of its company mission.

Startups 100: Sustainability Awards

Founder: George Davies
Founded: 2020
Website: forpeatssake.co.uk 

Peatlands are the world’s largest terrestrial carbon stores, making them a major contributor to global greenhouse gases. So much so that the government has announced all sales of peat in England will be banned by 2024, leaving amateur gardeners with limited composting options.

Enter, for peat’s sake! – an eco-minded company based in Gloucestershire that’s offering a green, clean alternative to peat composts.

Rather than using peat in its compost, for peat’s sake! uses coir – the husks of coconuts – to manufacture its product. Coir compost outperforms peat  due to its ability to absorb nutrients, which is vital for a plant’s growth. 

for peat's sake is an eco-minded company based in Gloucestershire that’s offering a green, clean alternative to peat composts.

To further boost the company’s environmental credentials, for peat’s sake! has ensured its coir supplier in Sri Lanka holds numerous environmental and ethical certifications, and offers excellent working conditions and benefits to employees.

Consumers can also forget about lugging around heavy plastic bags of peat compost with for peat’s sake!’s compact, lightweight packaging – making gardening a whole lot easier, without having to sacrifice on quality. 

Instead of focusing on sales numbers, the for peat’s sake! ethos is built on three key pillars: 

• Creating a product that’s great for plants
• Campaigning to make bigger changes around conservation of peatlands
• Educating people on the wellbeing benefits of gardening

Despite the company only running for a couple of years, it’s already being sold to 130 retailers across the UK including National Trust properties, Kew Gardens, The Eden Project, and heaps of independent house plant shops.

for peat’s sake!’s compact, lightweight packaging makes gardening a whole lot easier, without having to sacrifice on quality.

On top of this, Davies has been nominated for multiple awards, including Gloucestershire Entrepreneur of the Year, and is in the current top six candidates (out of 20,000 applicants) to receive the Simply Businesses Business Boost grant. 

In the next five years, for peat’s sake! aims to become a huge social media hub of green information, which will include hosting collaborations, workshops, and events for consumers. 

To combat the seasonality of the garden industry, it also plans to launch for peat’s sake! in stores across Australia.

With the government banning peat sales in a few years time, this innovative startup is poised to shake up the gardening industry. Just like its brilliant coir product, for peat’s sake has really got it in the bag.