Ecofriendly Workspace Edinburgh | Low Carbon Office | Green Events, Workshops, Conference Rooms

Our Low-Carbon Space

Reducing our footprint

The Melting Pot believes in keeping our carbon footprint as low as possible, as well as helping our members and events customers minimise their impact on the environment. The earth’s resources are finite and we owe it to future generations to take responsibility and do what we can now. At The Melting Pot, we do this in several ways:

Accessible, sustainable location

We deliberately chose a city centre location to make it easy to get here by public transport. We occupy the top floor of Thorn House, which is a building owned by the Ethical Property Company. Our neighbours include charities, not-for-profit organisations and other social enterprises.

The entire four-story building has been retrofitted to exacting environmental standards, including motion sensors for lighting, recycled wooden flooring, modern gas central heating, double-flush toilets, and insulated and double glazed windows that actually open (i.e. no energy-sapping air-conditioning). The building’s service and utility providers are green and ethical operations. When it comes to catering, we use local, fair trade, organic produce and ethical, local suppliers wherever possible.

We have also designed The Melting Pot to be as accessible as possible for everyone, including lift access, a disabled toilet and baby-changing facilities.

Eco-friendly space

A team of 120 volunteers fitted out The Melting Pot in just 10 days, using eco-friendly, mostly recycled and re-used materials and furniture. This includes everything from our bespoke leaf shaped desks made from recycled cardboard and hardboard to the smart, café style seats covered with cast-off "Letts Diary" material. We cleaned, repaired and refitted recycled, sponsored and donated tables, chairs, filing cabinets and other office equipment to give The Melting Pot its distinctive "eco-funky" look.

Although we retrofitted the space using 90% recycled and used materials, the quality of these items is as good as new and ensures our venue is practical and professional, as well as kind to the planet.

We used locally sourced recycled and used furniture from a range of auctions, donors and other social enterprises. For example, the "Letts Diary" covering on the banquette seating, and the cork strips for the notice boards, came from Bits and Bobs in Edinburgh and all of the wood in the shelves and other fixings came frp, The Wood Works – a wood recycling social enterprise. We also made good use of old wood – the seating is made from an old Edinburgh Festival stage and the fence off a building site, while the entire floor is recycled gym floor from Fife. Nothing went to waste!

Before we placed a single table or chair, we held participatory design sessions to find out what people in our target community wanted and needed. The result is an efficient and flexible workspace, including informal breakout and meeting areas, places to make private phone calls, and the all-important tea, coffee and kitchen facilities. We even have a fish tank!

Put simply, our space works. It allows our members to work on their own and to connect in a sociable yet productive environment. It may well be the best work or event space you’ve ever experienced. As one member, Hannah Smith of Better World Books, said, "… even visiting the bathroom is a thought-provoking experience!"

Recycling and reducing waste

We encourage everyone in The Melting Pot to recycle card, compost, glass, tins and paper in the bins provided, and we provide bottle or jugs of water to avoid using plastic bottles of water or juice.

The future

We’re not finished yet. Our new tables for the workshop space are going to be made out of recycled plastic car headlights and old Bank of England banknotes!

As the years go by, who knows what other ideas will be able to emerge: roof gardens, rainwater harvesting, seasonal menus...?

Why not learn how you can reduce your own, or your organisation’s, carbon footprint by browsing the selection of links posted posted further down this page?