What a waste!

We’re fast running out of landfill space and the costs of waste disposal are on the up. When you throw something away, you’re throwing away the energy used to make it and transport it aswell as the materials used. Your company could well be paying for stuff it doesn’t need – excess packaging from suppliers, over-ordered stock and so on- and then paying for it to be disposed of! One company’s waste is another company’s treasure- there may well be charities or other organisations that could make good use of what you don’t need.

One Planet Worcester Action Points are:

To check out the Envirowise website for advice on reducing waste in your sector. Carry out a survey of what your company is throwing away and come up with a plan to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible.

Improve your bottom line

Worcester’s industrial and commercial sector releases a whopping 248,000 tonnes of C02 a year through electricity and gas use. That’s 37% of the total emissions in the city. A recent One Planet Worcester survey showed many High Street stores were overheated, had their doors wide open in cold weather and were lighting up the street…at 11pm! Energy isn’t a fixed overhead – using it more efficiently is one of the simplest ways to reduce costs. Switching off equipment after use, turning the heating down a few degrees, closing shop doors in colder weather and wiser use of lighting will all help cut energy use. Plus, reducing it by 20% could add the same amount to your profits as a 5% increase in sales.

One Planet Worcester Action Points

Visit the Carbon Trust website to find out how your workplace can use energy more responsibly. The get switching off, turning down and closing it- and get your colleagues to do the same.

Clean up your act with greener travel

Traffic congestion costs businesses money and makes our cities less attractive to visitors. We all know that those fumes being pumped out are bad for the health of our planet aswell as our selves.

How do you get to work? Do you walk, cycle, use public transport or do you jump in the car…alone? What about travelling to that meeting those journeys for meetings – do you really need to go? Could you use the phone or video conferencing facilities instead? Is your company’s vehicle fleet as green as it could be and used efficiently?

The One Planet Worcester Action Points are

To check out the Worcester Choose How You Move website and find a way to clean up your travel act.

Spread the word

Worcester citizens live as if we have the resources of 2.9 planets. Even if every citizen does their best to live a greener lifestyle, we still end up as 2 planet citizens because of our share of the city’s communal footprint. So, all of our workplaces need to rise to the challenge too.

Now that you’re clued up on how to create a One Planet Worcester, please help spread the word. Your workplace is a great place to start- colleagues, bosses, suppliers and customers- everyone needs to get on board. There are plenty of opportunities too- make use of newsletters, websites, display spaces, staff meetings and so on.

One Planet Worcester Action Point

Check out the Worcestershire Green Directory for practical suggestions and local contacts and get spreading the word of One Planet Worcester.