Self-confessed eco-warrior, Sarah Elliot, has developed the perfect antidote to local lockdown blues by encouraging winter walks across her parent’s farm with a quintessentially English mobile caravan cafe and warming firepit that focuses on wellbeing and the environment.

Using only Vegware packaging products, ‘Betty Brew’, as the caravan is aptly named, offers walkers an array of coffees, hot chocolate and tempting treats from a quaint converted 1960s caravan which has been loving restored by Sarah and her dad. But the caravan is not the only element to be recycled. Brew’s ‘brews’ are served in Vegware cups which are recycled using Cawley’s exclusive Vegware collection service. And it doesn’t stop there, Cawleys also collect Brew’s coffee grounds which are taken to Bio-bean to be recycled and converted into coffee logs which are then used to fuel the firepit.

Ex-vet, and owner of Brew, Sarah, has always had a love of nature, the outdoors and the environment. Since opening her mobile caravan café on Rectory Farm, Northampton in May, her new venture has gone from strength to strength. Visitors have flocked to the venue, keen to take some well needed exercise to boost their physical and mental health during the recent lockdowns.

Cawleys were a natural recycling partner for Brew. As well as their commitment to help Sarah ensure she could recycle her cups, packaging and coffee grounds, Cawleys also collect any general waste from the catering unit which it sorts and segregates to pull out any additional items such as paper, card or plastic that are suitable for other streams of recycling. Cawleys also manage the waste collection on the wider farm which is also sorted for segregation and recycling recovery. Cawleys are a fellow local business and their ability to deal with Brew’s waste at their Northampton depot ensures Brew’s carbon footprint is also kept as low as possible.

Commenting on her venture, Sarah from Brew said: “I am extremely mindful of the importance of wellbeing and sustainability, and the impact our actions have on the environment. Getting people out into the fresh air and ensuring they can be rewarded for their long walk with a warm drink makes me feel like I’m doing my bit, especially during the recent pandemic.

I want Brew to have a low environmental impact and ensuring the packaging I use can be recycled effectively is fundamental to my business. I have clearly labelled bins to make it as easy as possible for my customers to segregate their waste, and the fact that many of them stay on-site around the firepit after their walk means that I can capture as much of it as possible. Cawleys have been instrumental in enabling me to recycle from my caravan – without them I would not have been able to do it”.

Anna Cawley, Head of Customer Services at Cawleys added: We are delighted that we can help yet another local business do the right thing for the environment. We have seen a healthy demand for our Vegware collections at a time when take-away hot dinks are the norm and this is a great step in the right direction.

Bio-bean perform a fabulous service converting coffee grounds into logs that can be used to generate heat, and we are proud to support an initiative that has such a strong sustainability focus. During the winter we’ll all be drinking far more coffee and it would be great to see more café’s like Sarah’s embrace the possibility of recycling their grounds for the greater.