Meet eco-entrepreneur Daisy Haynes

4:00pm Wednesday 6th February 2008

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SHE has her own eco-friendly company, she has set up a carbon offsetting scheme for local companies and has even been asked to be an eco-consultant.

All this and she is only 12 years old. Welcome to the world of Eco Daisy, one of Hampshire's youngest eco-warriors.

Eco Daisy is better known as Priestlands School pupil Daisy Haynes, who is causing a stir in her home town of Lymington with her pioneering eco-friendly schemes.

She may be only 12, but she already has her own company.

"I set up my own company called Eco Daisy to introduce the idea of being environmentally-friendly to the world of superyachts," Daisy said.

"We stock eco-friendly cleaning products like organic towels and environmentally-friendly boat wash, which we sell through the website.

"We're selling them to superyachts and the companies that run them, and they are becoming very popular."

The idea for the company came after Daisy did a school project looking at how eco-friendly her parents' superyacht rigging business Tim Haynes was.

"I first got into it thanks to a teacher at school called Kit Rogers," said Daisy.

"He told us about a national competition that was being held called Climate Change Champions and suggested we should enter it.

"I love the idea of being eco-friendly so I entered the competition.

"I did a case study on my parents' business to see how eco-friendly the company was.

"I posted the study on their website and I got so many positive responses from the boat industry we decided to set up our company."

Daisy's study made such an impact that she has been asked by Yachting World magazine deputy editor David Glenn to produce an article on offsetting carbon emissions by planting trees.

Mr Glenn has also invited Daisy to visit the Superyacht Cup in Palma, Majorca, in June to report on how eco-friendly competing boats are.

So impressed were local companies that Daisy was given £1,000 to set up her own website, eco-daisy.com, to keep the community up to date with her various eco-friendly ideas.

One of those ideas is a scheme to get local businesses to offset their carbon emissions by planting trees at Priestlands School.

Daisy's outlook is simple but determined.

"I love the environment and the countryside, so I'm passionate about being eco-friendly."