Recycle chic
A chance visit to a savings website led
Claire Potter to realise her dream, creating a celebrated eco-friendly garden and starting up her own sustainable design business
Claire Potter had always been interested in ecology and sustainability – as a child she was a mini eco warrior – and she studied interior architecture at university in Brighton before working as an architect and designer. “Unsustainable design is an alien concept to me!” says Claire. “Designers have a massive responsibility to provide products and spaces which are ecologically sound. I’ve tried to make all my projects as sustainable and innovative as possible. Green design is no longer an option, but a necessity.”
Claire had dreamed of starting her own sustainable business, and when she visited the National Saving & Investments website in early 2008 to look at taking out some premium bonds, she noticed the competition to win three £5,000 sponsorship prizes from NS&I to design a garden at BBC Gardeners’ World Live Show. Claire submitted her idea of an eco-friendly garden, based on the concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle – and she won.
Planning for her eco garden began in February 2008: the brief from NS&I was that the 5m by 5m plot should be innovative, diverse, vegetable-based and sustainable. “The actual design itself only took a few days, and the show wasn’t until June; but the design was only the beginning!” laughs Claire. “The project quickly grew from a little plan to a fully fledged show garden, and this was only possible with the huge support I had from friends, family, supporters and contractors.
“To keep costs down, my partner Mark and my dad constructed the planters and water trough from recycled plastic, and altered the shed from the standard kit to the butterfly-roofed building.”
The sponsorship money was quickly spent on the garden, as Claire was keen to cram in lots of eco features to fire the public’s imagination. But the basic design is such that everything can be sourced or made by anyone, with little expense of expertise.
“The tree planter is actually an old oven casing we found at a recycling centre,” reveals Claire. “The solar panels are very readily available, both as panels and kits – ours was a kit with a panel and pump, bought from The Tank Exchange for around £190. Our materials were sourced locally as much as possible, with the chestnut poles for our boundary coming from the working Wilderness Wood in Hadlow Down; the beehive from Paynes Bee Farm; and plants from local nursery Aldingbourne Nurseries.
“The pavers and edging travelled the biggest distance, from Shetland, but are a fantastic product made from recycled glass! All the other small bits and bobs came from local skips, charity shops and boot fairs.”
After a hectic few months, the garden was ready for the show. “All our promotional material was printed on 100% recycled board using vegetable inks and even our T-shirts were Fairtrade and organic cotton on the day!” remembers Claire. She was rewarded for her efforts with a coveted RHS bronze medal for the quality of her vegetables, as well as the People’s Vote Prize. This success spurred Claire on to set up her own business.
“We’ve set up the design company in a small eco-converted flint outhouse in our back garden,” smiles Claire. “As well as the full range of eco interior and exterior design, we’re also working on developing a green range of handmade products. After the Gardeners’ World Show, we were also approached with the suggestion of staging an eco show garden at Hampton Court next year – so watch this space!”
Claire Potter Design Tel: 01273 418862 www.clairepotterdesign.com
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