by Rachel Thomas
| 1 Nov 2024
Cutting our energy usage
We all know that cutting down on the amount of energy we draw from the grid can help move us towards a more sustainable future. LED lighting is one of today’s most energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly lighting technologies. In an age where environmental responsibility is high on the agenda, as well as being non-toxic, LEDs are considered to be one of the ‘greenest’ sources of lighting and helped influence our decision when moving into the Manhattan Building. There are also plans to replace all our fluorescent lights with LED as part of our major HQ refurbishment in early 2025. Coupled with this, we will install a new air conditioning system and are looking at using heat source recovery to increase our building sustainability further. We ensure that we regularly review how and when we use our air conditioning within our offices, further reducing emissions and the amount of electricity we use.
Over the year, we’ve become mindful of how employees travelling to and from work impact the environment. We’ve had a cycle-to-work scheme running for several years and cash incentives for colleagues switching to public transport and dedicated shower facilities to encourage walking or cycling to work. Within the last 12 months, we have launched an electric car scheme across the business and electric vehicle charging points at both of our main buildings, providing another green option for our colleagues.
We are committed to purchasing 100% green energy across our premises, but it’s not just about electricity. Water is also a valuable commodity; globally, we need to improve its management. Our approach has been to undertake a usage review to understand how to reduce water consumption and wastage in the business. We have dual flush WCs, passive sensors on urinals and sensor taps on our hand basins to ensure that we only use what we need and conserve water.
Green Initiatives
Protecting the environment is an important cause for many people, which is why we promote “Green Champions” within our business to help identify and set up green initiatives. Creating natural habitats for pollinators is a great way of boosting biodiversity on a small scale, so one of our initiatives has been planting bee and butterfly friendly wildlife around our buildings. We also installed bug hotels made from reclaimed wood, which bring many advantages to the garden ecosystem by attracting and providing a home for various insects, increasing biodiversity and creating a healthier and more balanced ecosystem.
On a slightly larger scale, in 2024, we planted over 10,000 trees in Africa as part of our partnerships with Fruitful Office and OnHand, our colleague volunteering platform. We are also working with our mail carrier Whistl. We will be contributing to their HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) initiative, and as HVO is a renewable fuel, it helps businesses make their fleets more environmentally friendly. This cleaner fuel is a great alternative to fossil diesel and can reduce emissions by up to 90%.
We also partner with TOTM, an ethical company committed to providing plastic-free period products, which we offer free to our colleagues. We are replacing our less environmentally friendly dishwasher cleaning products with DIP, an eco-friendly, cruelty-free, 100% biodegradable dishwasher sheet with zero waste and compostable packaging.
All the paper we use for printing is Forestry Stewardship Certified, the world’s most trusted mark for sustainable forestry. This helps support deforestation, fair wages and work environment, community rights and the change from preservation to conservation.
As a responsible business, we have committed to Carbon Neutral by 2050 and will be working with specialist consultants to support us in reaching our goals.
To kick-start our journey to carbon neutrality, we have been exploring solar energy and are in the detailed planning and design stages of reviewing our rooftop Solar PV and Solar Carport options. We hope to have more news on this exciting initiative in the coming months.
Reducing landfill waste
A business of our size will inevitably generate some waste; however, what we do with that waste is important. To limit the amount of food waste, we’ve partnered with Olio, to help those in the local community benefit from good quality food that would’ve otherwise been put in the bin. We also recycle all of the food waste from our canteen at HQ into biofuel.
In addition, we have taken action to reduce the amount of plastic waste we generate. Our drinks vending machines operate on an ‘own cup’ or ‘Eco Cup’ basis, and we’ve removed plastic cups from our water machines and plastic cutlery and packing from our canteen.
For the waste created, we’ve teamed up with a local zero-to-landfill supplier who uses an energy recovery system, which converts non-recyclable waste materials into usable heat, electricity or fuel and is an excellent method of avoiding landfill. The energy they produce not only powers their huge industrial plant but is then sold back to the grid to power local homes and businesses. Nothing goes to waste at this facility as any ash by-product is recycled and made into materials for the construction industry. Steam from the incinerators is pumped straight into the paper mill next door.
What’s Next?
We are proud of what we’ve achieved and know it’s only the first step. As our understanding grows of what we can do to run our business in a way that is compatible with our environmental goals, we’ll undoubtedly make further improvements, with our upcoming focus on reducing the amount of paper and print we generate by moving to a more digital culture.
As a company, we are focused on social purpose; our ongoing commitment to reducing our impact on the environment goes hand-in-hand with doing what is right for our members and society.