Sustainability can be a vague term with a range of definitions, making it difficult to know what is actually meant. At our company, we take sustainability seriously and strive to ensure that our products do not harm the forest or nearby communities while also helping bees. We source our wood from the UK, where it is responsibly grown and harvested. We understand that our customers share our commitment to the environment and want to do their part to help. We believe that other suppliers should also prioritize sustainability by producing environmentally responsible products.

British grown

Low carbon

Sustainable

Handmade

Choosing our wood wisely

Here at Green Earth Habitats, we use three types of wood to make our habitats: pine, English oak, and UK-grown western red cedar. These woods are harvested right here in the UK, mainly in Oxfordshire, which allows us to minimize our carbon footprint. Pine trees are very large and for that reason, John Muir coined the "King of the Conifers". Pine trees grow very straight, are dimensionally stable (meaning they resist warping and shrinking), and process beautifully through our machines with minimal tearing or cracking, making them the ideal pine species for nesting boxes. English oak also known as the 'Pedunculate oak' because its acorns grow on stalks or 'peduncles', the English oak is a common tree. It displays a broad, spreading crown above thick branches and a trunk that becomes fissured with age. Its autumnal acorns are highly prized by both people and wildlife - the former use them for fodder for pigs and the latter often store them for the long winter ahead. Its wood was traditionally used for building ships and houses and making furniture. Western red cedar is a premier beehive material. Native to the Pacific Northwest but also grown in the UK, western red cedar is rot-resistant, stable, lightweight, has a tight straight grain, and insulates better than pine. It is revered for its beautiful grain and coloration, and due to its decay resistance, doesn't require paint in the elements. If left natural, it will age and patina to gray.

We use every scrap

We work extremely hard to use every scrap and shaving left over as we create hives. We use these pieces to produce one-off birdhouses, mason bee houses, wooden feeders, and extra cedar shavings for quilt boxes. We are always working to develop products and accessories our customers ask for, in a way that utilizes every bit of the wood we’ve brought in, and in keeping with the design aesthetics, we are known for. We also use all of our wood shavings as bedding for our animals.