Once you have devoured a delicious Honeybuns cake you may pick up the wrapper and have a read. In the bottom corner of the cardboard jacket among the ingredients listed and a calories warning is the small BeeGreen symbol. Green lettering in vegetable inks explains that the card is used in the packaging is from a sustainable source and the film wrapping is biodegradbale. If you're lucky you can read on and find out about wildlife projects under way.

The bakery at Holwell that makes gluten free handmade cakes in an old farmhouse is taking the same gentle approach to the Dorset environment as it does to its treats. On sale in most cafes, delis, and farm shops accross the country, plus Waitrose and Sainsbury's Stores, Emma Goss-Custard's cakes are made from natural ingredients and the company ethos is to do things properly, to buy locally and take it slow. So it is no surprise that Emma and her staff are trying to be as green as possible too. "It's second nature to us," she says.

While everyone is jumping on the eco bandwagon and calling out all those buzz words, the bakery has always maintained a green ethos since it moved to Dorset six years ago, thanks to production manager and Honeybuns' 'green crusader' Charlotte Drake.

The bakery has been following green principles quietly for several years, but it is only now that the idea is becoming mainstream that Emma and her team feel they can shout about it from the rooftops. They have therefore launched BeeGreen.

"If we had mentioned BeeGreen to buyers three years ago they would have thought we were too wacky," says Emma. "Now they absolutely love it."
A big meeting with Sainsbury's in London even turned to bee keeping.

When Emma and her husband Matt chose the historic Naish Farm as the headquarters for their business, which started on a bicycle in Oxford in 1998, they planned to tidy up the former dairy farm, knock down the old cow sheds and build a smart new factory units.  But new employee Charlotte, who has lived in the village all her life, piped up and told the Goss-Custards to take the countryside "make do and mend" approach which leaves a much lighter footprint on the planet.

"We were out of touch with this philosophy, having spent most of our adult lives in an urban setting," says Emma. "we were going to knock it down and build a replacement instead of taking time and seeing what we could gently breathe life back into."

So, at Charlotte's insistence, the old cow stalls were converted into the bakery, the milking parlour became the packing room, and the chicken shed beacme the Bee Shack cafe, with the main business opperating from the old pig sties. Even the old metal doors have been left, simply spruced up with the Honeybuns colour. Everything from stable doors to floorboards has been reused and recycled, and the cafe is filled with rich pickings from the local tip. On arrival it looks like any small Dorset farm.

Due to its holistic approach, wildlife thrives on Naish Farm. And it is wildlife that all 26 members of staff are talking about.

"Charlotte had a bee in her bonnet about encouraging goldfinches," says Emma. "She said they were in trouble, so we decided to do something. She wouldn't let us cut down thistles, docks or nettles because she said we were trying to urbanise the countryside."

Honeybuns now has a strong green policy in place and its central fous is on wildlife. There is a budget for BeeGreen and Charlotte has given three days a month and money to plough into projects. All proceeds made in the Bee Shack open days are also fed into the green fund.

The five acres of former dairy pasture have been turned over to set aside an orchard to make it a wildlife haven. Indigenous trees have been planted, Dorset Wildlife Trust has visited and given advice on planting for bees and butterflies, there is a willow hide for birds and nest boxes with cameras screen live footage in the Bee Shack and on the website. There are plans to put up a polytunnel so staff can grow vegetables, keep bees, and make a lake to bring in a waterfowl. Plants to encourage wildlife are everywhere and the hedges have been left to grow wild. Bank voles are also friendly neighbours and it is hoped owls will find a home too.

Charlotte has been using her time for projects to learn hedge-laying and will teach staff when she qualifies and lays the farm's hedges. The whole team is getting on board and each member of staff can compete for the Green Crusader Cup. Graham in packing makes monthly bird survey recordings and jots his findings in a log - so far he's spotted 26 different species.

Staff and customers are encouraged to walk, cycle, lift share, even horse ride to the bakery. And as much recycling is done as possible, with waste food from the bakery even sent to animal rescue shelters. Stcikers stuck to the bins say "Stop! Think, can this be composted?"

They have put a brick in the toilet cistern to save water in each flush, and 15 pounds sterling is up for grabs each month for the member who finds a way of reducing waste.

Emma has noticed that the business is improving its production figures due to the drive to reduce waste and changing small things such as baking trays. She believes any company can take responsibility and do the same. It could almost be said that to follow Honeybuns' example would be a piece of cake.