Farm sustainability
Environmental sustainability
We are members of Origin Green, which is very important to us, it allows us to show that we care about sustainability! Here are some ways we try and have a positive impact on our environment.

Water
Water is a precious natural resource, hence why we are so careful on how we use it! We have our state-of-the-art glasshouses set up to harvest rainwater, which is stored in harvest tanks on site, and we are in the process of using this for some of our on-site washing (after filtration and cleaning of course).
This allows us to minimise the impact we have on the local water sources. Our internal systems are fine-tuned so we can control every litre of water in the system, which is used, recycled and re-used. It’s like one big cycle!
Energy
Being an herb grower in Ireland brings challenges in terms of heating and light, especially in those dark dreary winter months! We thought to ourselves, how can we make this as sustainable as possible? Originally our glasshouses were designed with an oil-based heating system, but a few years ago we thought we can make a big change and reduce our impact, so we installed a woodchip burner to replace it!
This reduced our need for oil by 100%, while supporting local woodchip producers and reducing our environmental impact. Win-win!
Plastic packaging
During 2018 we decided to try and start making the change towards compostable packaging.
After what felt like an eternity, we launched our compostable range at Bloom in the Park 2019! We stripped the product right back, removing the pot, and replacing the packaging with TUV Austria approved 100% compostable packaging.
We have made great progress since our compostable range has was launched, our pots are now 100% recyclable, we made a wholesale change at the beginning of 2020! On top of this, 75% of the pots that leave us are in either recyclable or compostable sleeves, this figure was 0% prior to Bloom 2019! We are very proud of our progress and are constantly aiming to improve all aspects of sustainability!

Biodiversity
We have wildflower areas on site here in Glenealy which look unbelievable in season, and allow pollinators such as honeybees, solitary bees, bumblebees, hoverflies, beetles and many more to thrive in our marginal areas.
We have plans to increase the area of these soon which will add a lot to the biodiversity on site!
Certificates
Origin Green
O’Hanlon Herbs is proud to be a verified member of Origin Green, an sustainability programme, which operates on a national scale & enables farmers to achieve sustainability targets, reducing environmental impact, serving communities & protecting the natural resources in Ireland.
Bord Bia
The Bord Bia Horticulture Quality Assurance Scheme sets the requirements for Best Practice in fruit and vegetable production, packing and processing. O’Hanlon Herbs are annually audited and accredited under this scheme.
Love Irish Food
The Love Irish Food logo is aimed to let shoppers know that a brand is truly an Irish brand which adheres to strict criteria, by guaranteeing that the product is manufactured in the REPUBLIC OF IRELAND & that the brand uses ingredients from Ireland where these are available.
Repak
Repak is a compliance scheme licensed by the Irish government to collectively fund recovery & recycling of packaging on behalf of Irish producers. O’Hanlon Herbs subscribe annually to REPAK, and is more and more reducing packaging waste using their best practices.
BRC Food
BRC Issue 7 has been developed to specify the food safety, quality and operational criteria required to be in place within a food manufacturing organization to fulfill obligations with regard to legal compliance and protection of the consumer.
Ballynagran Energy Plus
O’Hanlon Herbs is proud to have received assistance from the Ballynagran Energy Plus project, which has embarked on a journey to become an Energy Plus Community within the next 15 years by reducing energy consumption in buildings, transportation and food production.