Putting the environment first may not be at the forefront of a lot of people's minds but one company in the borough is trying to buck that trend.

Amida Complementary Health Clinic in Burdett Road, Croydon, was set up by husband and wife team Ann and Victor Regis a year ago and offers a range of alternative health therapies.

They were nominated for the green business of the year award one of six categories in our Green Guardian awards by a satisfied customer who wanted to praise the couple's use of organic and Fair trade products.

Ann called her nomination "brilliant" and added: "Me and my husband are very interested in alternative therapy and that's what we've always wanted to get involved in.

"We are very interested in having as many of our products organic and natural and we are trying to source new products all the time."

Ann and Victor only use organic skin care and beauty products and say that the supplements they use are as "natural as possible".

They also offer Fairtrade snacks and now have a range of organic toys. "We have just got a range of children's toys that are made out of organic cottons and we're quite excited about that. We want to go as far along that route as we can."

The Regis' do not restrict their environmental friendliness to the workplace, but apply it to their home life as well.

"We've always tried to be green even before we started the clinic in our own personal life. We're both vegetarians and we use eco-friendly cleaning products. We've always been interested in this."

Ann also heaped praise on Croydon Council for improving its recycling facilities: "They seem to be going forward and we're pleased with that. It's moving quite well.

"We recycle as much as possible and before the recycling even takes place, we like to use as little of things as possible and buy things that do not use much packaging."

In a message of inspiration to other businesses in the borough, Ann said: "I think it's really important for businesses to adopt green methods. Sometimes it's easy to think you can't make that much difference and that as small businesses and individuals you are just a drop in the ocean but we can all do a little bit."

l This month we are searching for Croydon's greenest business, so if you know a business that is as passionate about the environment as Amida is, why not nominate it for our green business of the year award? You can nominate for any of the six awards by clicking onto greenguardian.co.uk.