diff --git a/services/flatnotes/.env b/services/flatnotes/.env
index cd8867a0..8393b2a1 100644
--- a/services/flatnotes/.env
+++ b/services/flatnotes/.env
@@ -15,3 +15,12 @@ TS_AUTHKEY=
 
 # Optional Service variables
 # PUID=1000
+
+#Time Zone for container
+TZ=Europe/Amsterdam
+
+# Flatnotes environment
+FLATNOTES_AUTH_TYPE=password
+FLATNOTES_USERNAME=user
+FLATNOTES_PASSWORD=changeMe!
+FLATNOTES_SECRET_KEY=aLongRandomSeriesOfCharacters
diff --git a/services/flatnotes/compose.yaml b/services/flatnotes/compose.yaml
index 82c7eab6..21a8c068 100644
--- a/services/flatnotes/compose.yaml
+++ b/services/flatnotes/compose.yaml
@@ -53,13 +53,13 @@ services:
     network_mode: service:tailscale # Sidecar configuration to route ${SERVICE} through Tailscale
     container_name: app-${SERVICE} # Name for local container management
     environment:
-      PUID: 1000
-      PGID: 1000
-      TZ: Europe/Amsterdam
-      FLATNOTES_AUTH_TYPE: "password"
-      FLATNOTES_USERNAME: "user"
-      FLATNOTES_PASSWORD: "changeMe!"
-      FLATNOTES_SECRET_KEY: "aLongRandomSeriesOfCharacters"
+      - PUID=1000
+      - PGID=1000
+      - TZ=${TZ}
+      - FLATNOTES_AUTH_TYPE=${FLATNOTES_AUTH_TYPE}
+      - FLATNOTES_USERNAME=${FLATNOTES_USERNAME}
+      - FLATNOTES_PASSWORD=${FLATNOTES_PASSWORD}
+      - FLATNOTES_SECRET_KEY=${FLATNOTES_SECRET_KEY}
     volumes:
       - ./${SERVICE}-data:/data
     depends_on:
@@ -71,4 +71,4 @@ services:
     #   timeout: 10s # Time to wait for the check to succeed
     #   retries: 3 # Number of retries before marking as unhealthy
     #   start_period: 30s # Time to wait before starting health checks
-    restart: always
\ No newline at end of file
+    restart: always