In our farm in Portugal, the setting up of a water recycling station has led to a reduction by 99.5% of annual consumption. A performance acclaimed by the Tomorrow The Earth 2021 Environment trophy.
The second edition of the trophies took place on November 17th during the internal seminar that was held in Geneva, Switzerland. We appreciate these meetings for the friendly and fruitful exchanges between our members, all concerned by the problematics of sustainable development. This year we have had the pleasant surprise of getting this reward!
Saving water
On the whole planet, the natural resources in water get rarer, especially in the southern countries. The farm of Jardim da Lagoa located in Southern Portugal has begun to save this precious resource to limit its impact on the environment, while continuing to propose quality products.
To make your mouth water, the Picvert lamb’s lettuce and mini-vegetables go through a showering process before being distributed. This consumes between 15 and 25 cubic metres of water per hour depending on the equipment at work. In total, almost 62,400 cubic metres a year (62.5 million litres a year)!
At the end of 2018 we contacted WaterTech, a young local company, which took up the challenge to drastically reduce our consumption by setting up a water recycling system. The set objective: cut it by at least 80%.
Closed-circuit recycling installations
Results beyond expectations
The installation uses settling ponds and filtration systems that work in closed circuit. Only once a week, the whole system is emptied, cleaned, disinfected and filled with 5,000 litres of new and pure water. Rain waters coming from the roofs of the water station are reclaimed and reinjected in the system. The rest of the water comes from drilling. The result: 260 cubic metres a year only and thus a reduction by 99.5% that is to say well beyond our expectations!
Other innovative initiatives from the members of the association Tomorrow The Earth have been rewarded.
On the left, Bruno Parmentier introduces the winners
Trophies for every aspect of sustainable development
Organized for the first time in 2019 for the 15-year anniversary of the French non-profit association Demain la Terre – Tomorrow The Earth, the Trophies of Responsible Agriculture reward the outstanding actions of the members on each aspect of sustainable development: environmental, economic and social. Prizes are assigned by the members of the controlling committee of the association chaired by Bruno Parmentier. Author, lecturer and consultant specializing in agricultural and food issues, he is a mining engineer and an economist (École des Mines de Paris and École Pratique des Hautes Études). He was director of the Angers School of Agriculture from 2002 to 2011.
2021 winners are:
- In the environment category: Picvert for its water recycling action on its farm in Portugal
- In the economy category: the “Union Maraîchère de Genève” (Geneva Gardening Union) for its policy of reduction of food waste “Nothing is lost, everything is transformed”
- In the social category: LOU for its HR Drive, concierge service destined to their teams
- Special Prize: Fruits Rouges & Co. (Red Fruits&Co.) for its work with the association “Bayti” in Morocco contributing to the reinsertion through work of young people in difficulty.
Jacques Deramecourt, Picvert CEO and Stéphane Kerlidès, Jardim da Lagoa
Picvert is proud to be an active member of Tomorrow The Earth. This association was created in 2004 in the aim of federating fruit and vegetable companies of all sizes which want to think, experiment, and develop the agriculture of the future. With it, it is a third way that is taking shape along with organic farming and conventional/sustainable agriculture.