Sustainability
Tops Day Nurseries believe in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible world for all. We aim to achieve this through educating the children of today, so that they, in turn, can influence the way future generations live.
Our Sustainability Commitment Statement:
We have a commitment to remain Carbon Neutral to Scope 1 & 2, with the aspiration to achieve Scope 3. Every decision we make has a sustainability consideration.
Sustainability in Practice
DIY Wet Wipes
We are delighted to announce that we are now providing our own baby wipes for nappy changing and face/hand wiping, instead of using commercially bought ones, which often contain single-use plastic that’s harmful to the environment and should be banned.
We’ve also found that many of these wipes contain irritants and chemicals that can aggravate delicate skin, whereas more natural, organic alternatives can do the job just as well without the harsh ingredients and at a lower cost!
Want to find out how to make your own at home?
Reusable Nappies
We encourage the use of reusable nappies in all of our settings as an alternative to disposable ones. On average, each child at nursery uses around 1,000 nappies per year (full-time equivalent).
Not only does this add up to significant costs for parents, but it also has a major environmental impact. In fact, it costs three times more to dispose of a disposable nappy than it does to buy one! By switching to reusable nappies, we aim to reduce both the financial and environmental burden, making a positive difference for families and the planet.
Click here to find out more about the transition to reusable nappies.
Real Resources
We are firm believers in natural resources. Not only are they environmentally friendly and less toxic for children, but they are often much more interesting to toddlers than plastic toys.
Natural resources encourage creativity and imagination in young children. Most of the time, plastic toys can only be used for their purpose which can restrict children’s thinking skills.
Natural and real items can help children to develop fine motor skills and express their thoughts and ideas as they manipulate and explore them more.
Plastic Free Champions
We are passionate about reducing our environmental impact in order to protect the future of the thousands of very small children that attend all our day nurseries. This means taking every opportunity to avoid buying any one use plastic, to work with suppliers and colleagues to reduce the need for it by finding alternatives or just stopping. We are also actively communicating with politicians, manufacturers, retailers and waste handling organisations to make our concerns heard, on behalf of the children.
Scandanavian drying cupboard
We’ve developed a safe and efficient process for using washable nappies across our nurseries. This process has been carefully designed in collaboration with Health & Safety and Environmental Health experts to ensure that there is no risk of cross-contamination.
We wash the nappies in standard washing machines and use a Scandinavian drying cupboard instead of energy-consuming tumble dryers. This method preserves nappy quality, reduces energy use, and minimises environmental impact while maintaining hygiene standards. It also helps extend the lifespan of the nappies, making it a more sustainable choice in the long run!
Our Own Grown Goodness!
Our nurseries grow their own herbs and vegetables with the children, using water from the water butt to nourish the plants. This not only allows the children to sample their home-grown produce during snack and meal times, but it also provides them with a hands-on learning experience.
They gain valuable knowledge about biology, including the growth cycles of plants, the importance of sustainability, and how food is cultivated.
It’s a fun and educational way for children to connect with nature and understand where their food comes from.
Wet bags
To reduce the use of plastic carrier bags, Tops Day Nurseries offer Wet Bags .
A ‘wet bag’ is a waterproof bag that can be used to store wet and soiled clothes and/or wet and soiled reusable nappies.
Once there are wet or soiled clothes in the bag all you need to do is tip the contents into your washing machine by turning the bag inside out and then leaving the wet bag in the machine ready to be washed.
Parents receive a wet bag when they initially visit their chosen Tops Day Nurseries settings and also have the option to buy additional bags.
SNOAP
We are always looking for ways to make our nurseries safer, healthier, and more sustainable. That is why we are proud to be the first nursery chain in the UK to introduce SNOAP across every nursery and our head office. This innovative soap system brings a cleaner, more eco-friendly handwashing solution to children, staff, and families.
Structural Sustainability
Tops Day Nurseries is committed to sustainability by generating renewable energy with solar panels, improving energy efficiency, and encouraging eco-friendly travel through bike storage and electric vehicle charging points. Read on to learn more…
Solar Power
We’ve implemented solar panels that allow us to generate our own electricity and contribute to the national grid. By reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, we’re doing our part to combat the global warming crisis. Our goal is to ensure that the children in our care inherit a planet free from the damaging effects of climate change, where they can still experience a world with polar bears! Please click here to find out more about our solar panels.
Solar Window Films
Solar window films improve insulation by reflecting radiant heat, reducing the load on heating and cooling systems, which lowers energy consumption, costs, and carbon emissions.
In warmer months, the films reflect much of the sun’s rays, while in winter, they can reflect over 90% of radiant heat back into the room, reducing heating costs.
Biophilic Buildings
‘Biophilic’ refers to our connection with nature through light, open spaces, and natural elements. Exposure to nature boosts serotonin, improving well-being.
In these environments, our children thrive, and our teams help them grow into confident, responsible individuals. Opening classroom walls unlocks endless possibilities! Tops Portsmouth, Lakeside and Newport have had eco-cabins so far, click here to find out more.
Bike Store
Cycling to work offers numerous benefits: it’s cost-effective, often quicker than driving, and incredibly healthy—though it does require braving British weather! But as the saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes.
We actively encourage colleagues to cycle to work. When we reviewed our Cycle to Work scheme last year, we identified areas for improvement, including the need for additional bike parking, more secure options, lockers, and even showers.
We’re excited about making these upgrades to support and motivate more colleagues to embrace cycling as a commuting option.
EV Charging Points
Tops Day Nurseries have invested in electric vehicles to produce zero emissions when needing to travel for work.
The cars are used by Quality Managers for visits to nurseries, our catering hub, maintenance team, nursery trips, and school pick-ups for our Hi 5’s club.
To ensure these vehicles run efficiently, we have installed electric vehicle chargers at many of our nurseries and Head Office.
This investment reflects our commitment to sustainability, helping reduce our carbon footprint while supporting our operational needs.
Sustainability for Colleagues
Tops Day Nurseries supports sustainability for colleagues through a range of practical and wellbeing-focused initiatives. Read on to find out more…
Cycle to Work Scheme
The cycle to work scheme is an employee benefit that saves colleagues 25-39% on a bike and accessories. Colleagues pay nothing upfront and the payments are taken tax efficiently from their salary by our payroll team.
Colleagues can choose a bike and/or cycling accessories up to the value of £1000. Our accounts team will purchase the item and organise a deduction from the colleague’s salary over the course of a year.
For example, if your salary is around £15,000 and the bike package you have chosen is £500, you could save £125.
This is a no-interest loan, paid before tax so anyone who pays tax and/or national insurance saves the tax on the cost.
Sustainable Travel Plans
Travelling to work can be expensive on your pocket and costly for the planet too. We are delighted to have implemented new, sustainable travel plans for colleagues to establish the most sustainable way to get to work.
Click here to view all action plans.
Hadland Colleague Trust
The Tops & Shoots Employee Trust has been established in order for colleagues to support each other, and the community, through time of financial or emotional hardship. The Trust is a really simple idea.
Colleagues opt to donate to the Trust fund on a monthly basis. A staff member suffering hardship, whether financial or emotional, fills in an application to benefit from the fund and the subcommittee votes on applications. The application with the most votes gets given funds from the Trust! To further support this trust, Tops and Shoots makes an annual contribution to match these donations made, ensuring that the Trust’s resources are always replenished and ready to assist those in need. Click here to find out more.
Bamboo Toothbrushes
All our settigns have introduced bamboo toothbrushes for children to continue with our sustainable ethos and remove plastic where possible. Whilst these smaller bamboo toothbrushes are provided for the children, bamboo toothbrushes for adults can be expensive.
We care about our colleagues’ dental health too, so every team member can request a free adult bamboo toothbrush. It’s our way of saying thank you for supporting the children’s toothbrushing routines and helping build healthy habits for life.
Free DIY Wet Wipes
We understand that many of our colleagues are busy working parents and getting everything ready for their child’s day at Nursery can be time consuming. We would therefore like to make colleagues lives just that little bit easier by providing all colleague children’s wipes at nursery free of charge.
The wipes that we provide will be our own home made variety which everyone will be used to making / using whilst at the nursery. As well as saving you money, for those who didn’t already bring in homemade wipes, this is also helping to protect our environment.
Plants
We ensure our colleagues and partners have a budget to buy new plants for their setting and their office.
Toxic air is an increasingly serious problem for us and for our children. Toxic air can get into our homes and nurseries from the roads, but is added to by aerosols, cleaning chemicals, formaldehyde in some furniture, chemicals in paint and carpets, and it isn’t flushed out well due to our insulated, closed window homes. Fortunately, there is a way to help ourselves, and that is to introduce or increase the numbers of air cleaning, growing plants in our environments, which is why we have introduced this new budget.
Professional Development
There’s plenty of opportunity to grow within the Tops Day Nurseries family.
All colleagues have access to over 100 free training courses, covering areas such as safeguarding, equality and diversity, food hygiene, and mental health awareness.
Through our sister company, Shoots Training, we also offer recognised qualifications in childcare, business, and leadership—ranging from Level 1 to Level 5.
Community Impact
We take our responsibility to the planet and society seriously. That means thinking beyond the nursery walls and considering the impact of every decision we make on the environment, local communities, our colleagues, and the children in our care.
Sustainable Education for Children
Sustainability is something that can and I think must be embedded into the daily routines and activities in an Early Childhood Education and Care setting, no matter what the size of facility, or location.
Net Zero and Tree Planting
We have partnered up with Ecologi, to plant trees and offset our carbon footprint to help stop rising temperatures and end climate change. Read on to find out more…
Our Sustainable suppliers
The Stitchery Dorset
Fluid Branding
Loving Nature
Eco Ezee
Paint 360
Green Wing UK
Zero Emission
