These are just a few of our tips on how to start making your business and events easier on the environment – and on your bottom line.
We’d love to hear yours. Please contact us if you would like to contribute.
Practical tips to green your business and events
The 3 R’s: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
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You and your business
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Your events
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Become more energy efficient:
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1.
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Use solar re-chargers for mobile equipment
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2.
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Use low energy light bulbs (replacing just one saves you around £10 a year)
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3.
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Contact your utility company for a free energy audit
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4.
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Turn off lights/equipment when not in use
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5.
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Look for the energy saving label on new electrical appliances, A=most efficient
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6.
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Drive your vehicle more efficiently and turn engine off when stationary
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7.
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The UK uses a forest the size of Wales each year to produce paper: Set printers to double sided, use paper with a recycled content, reuse paper for drafts and recycle all paper
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8.
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Get staff on board by creating a Green Team and holding an educational and fun ‘Environment Day’
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9.
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What can be donated or recycled? Mobile phones, computers, furniture, printer cartridges, and much more
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10.
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Share car journeys – public transport uses ½ the amount of fuel per passenger than an average car
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11.
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Instead of a water machine – install a water filter to the mains tap
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12.
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Choose a coffee machine with minimal packaging
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13.
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Clearly label recycling bins and boxes with the type of waste to be deposited
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14.
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Increase staff awareness by placing stickers around the office/on equipment eg. 'switch it off', 'close it down'
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1.
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Measure, store and understand your carbon emissions
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2.
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Set some green targets for your event and get everyone on board to support
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3.
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Avoid plastics
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4.
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Buy organic, GM free and Fair Trade
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5.
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Buy energy efficient
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6.
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Buy recycled
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7.
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Choose venues with good ‘green’ credentials and work together to achieve your targets
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8.
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Cut waste and recycle: seek sponsors to provide recycling bins
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9.
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Source ethically produced promotional merchandise
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10.
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Plan catering carefully to avoid waste, cut down on disposables and items with packaging, e.g. instead of milk jiggers use jugs
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11.
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Consider whether people have to attend the event in person of if there is an on-line / live broadcast solution?
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12.
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Use special paper embedded with wildflowers for invites, thank-yous and wrapping paper
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13.
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Replace fresh flower decorations with potted plants or use edible table centre pieces
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14.
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Maximise the use of electronic invites and registrations
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Questions to ask yourself
- Am I doing my best/enough/anything on reducing my environmental impact?
- What have my policies achieved in the last 12 months?
- Have I set targets for carbon reduction?
- Is our current approach based more on aspiration than achievement?
Questions to ask a supplier
- What is your greatest achievement in sustainable service delivery in the last 12 months?
- How can you evidence your ‘green’ claims?
- What is your emissions reduction policy?
- Do you measure waste output?
- Do you use recycled materials?
- What is your recycling policy?
- Do you have a procurement policy based upon environmental criteria?
- Do you use local producers for catering – to reduce food miles?
- Do you have a fair trade, ethical and organic policy?
