HOW CAN PROPERTY FACTORS AND BLOCK MANAGERS MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE?
Scotland and the UK Government have declared a climate emergency. Scotland’s First Minister said that this declaration was a ‘public promise‘ to act on climate change. “Scotland will lead by example” and we’ve already witnessed actions including the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme. Since then the UK Government has followed suit.
As we wait for further announcements on policy and what steps Scotland and the UK will take to drastically reduce carbon emissions and pollution, what could you be doing in your Property Factoring or Block Management offices to contribute to the solution?
We’ve come up with ten ways your office can reduce it’s carbon footprint through small changes that can make a big difference.
Here’s our Top Ten Tips to Reduce Your Office Carbon Footprint
1. Reduce paper
Think before you print and make the switch to a paperless office. Storing files electronically on your own server or on the cloud and remember to backing up all of your information and data.
2. Switch your browsers to Ecosia
It’s as easy as typing Ecosia into Google and choosing to add as your browser.
3. Web hosting by Ecohosting
Do you know who currently hosts your website? And could you switch to a green, carbon neutral host like ecohosting?
4. Reduce single use plastic in your office
Most of us enjoy a coffee or tea in the morning. If you drink one takeaway cup of coffee or tea everyday, using and throwing out that cup will see you contributing 253 cups to landfill in 2019 – when one reusable cup would do. If you buy takeaway food everyday, what packaging does it come in? Could you substitute one take away meal each week for something brought in from home in a reusable tub? Or maybe you could take a tub to the takeaway and ask them to put the food into that instead of a disposable container.
Look at the single use items that are used or brought into the office and take steps to replace with reusable items. You’ll also make less trips to the bin!
5. Electric cars
Perhaps you could change your fleet of business vehicles to electric or possibly even hybrid. Or switch to low CO2 emissions cars. Check out Fleet Prices
6. Switch off lights at night
Does your office leave lights on at night? You could save a lot of energy (and money!) by switching off.
7. Switch electricity bills to a renewable energy supplier.
Have you heard of Bulb? Good Energy? Ecotricity? They are energy suppliers who use renewable energy with strong ethics. Check them out and make the switch to greener energy in your office.
Bulb Energy ” We provide all our members with 100% renewable electricity. For every unit you use, we make sure a unit is produced and put on the grid by a renewable source including solar, wind and hydro. Plus, our gas is 100% carbon neutral. 10% is green gas produced from renewable sources like food or farm waste. And we offset the rest of the gas we supply by supporting carbon reduction projects around the world.”
Good Energy “We buy our 100% renewable electricity from over 1,400 independent generators. From local farms to sustainable businesses that generate their own power and sell us the excess. We invest in certified carbon reduction schemes so that we can provide carbon neutral gas to our customers. 6% of this is biogas, which is produced by breaking down organic matter such as farm waste.”
Ecotricity “When we talk about green energy, we mean electricity and gas made from renewable sources. No fossil fuels, and no animal by-products. Just green electricity made from the wind, the sun and the sea, and green gas made from organic material and, soon, grass. Our green gas is 14% now – we’re going to grow that percentage by building our own green gasmills, the first of which already has planning permission.”
8. Recycle well
The first rule of climate change is to reduce consumption. What we can’t refuse and need to buy we must recycle. And we must recycle better. Even if we don’t fully believe that this is what will happen to the stuff we dispose of. Choose someone in your office to be a recycling champion and set up a system that suits your Council collection. Make it as easy for everyone to reduce the landfill bin and improve your recycling rate.
9. Set up a food waste/compost
Does your local council offer a compost collection? If so, implementing a food waste bin into your offices will help lower emissions of methane in landfill. Food waste a huge topic and we can all take better steps to reducing food waste and managing unwanted or uneaten food better.
10. Install a Smart Meter in your office
Monitor your energy usage and your spending with a Smart Meter – contact your energy supplier for more details (or change first to renewable and do it at the same time!)
So that’s just ten small steps you can take as a business and a team to contribute positively to climate change. If you’d like to find out more, there are many resources available offering advice and services in Scotland and England for SME’s.
Scotland
England
*CPL Software do not endorse any companies or links mentioned in this blog and details are provided for information only.
