Environment

Manage our energy consumption and waste generation more effectively

We have focused a lot of our attention on recycling and recycled products over the past year and feel we have made considerable progress.

• We now use First Mile to recycle our waste. In the past, recycling was expensive and involved large volume collections that we could not accommodate. Moreover, the local council did not offer a recycling service to businesses. We are delighted to now be working with First Mile, who provide a dependable and cost-effective recycling service 
• The majority of our stationery is now recycled. This has not only helped us to meet our environment targets but has also reduced our stationery costs
• We decided to stop using recycled printer cartridges due to poor quality. This wasn’t an easy decision as it goes against our recycling policy. However, we expect quality in everything we do and, ultimately, we could not depend on the recycled cartridges

Raise our understanding of our own carbon footprint and establish ways to manage and offset our emissions

Cutting carbon emissions is key to our environment strategy. Over the past year, we have focused on reducing our carbon footprint by cutting down on unnecessary waste of materials and energy in and out of the office.

• Following consultation, we have decided to postpone carbon offsetting. We have reservations about the effectiveness of offsetting and feel that our first priority should be to reduce our carbon use. We will continue to examine our options in this area, including the possibility of using the money we would have spent on offsetting to support charities dedicated to preserving green spaces and woodlands
• A company-wide energy audit is underway. Among the initiatives already in place is the use of a plug-in voltage meter to measure each employee’s energy consumption. We will report on the findings of the audit and our response in our next CSR review
• Our landlord has also initiated a comprehensive energy audit. We look forward to the findings of the audit and will follow any recommendations that are made as closely as we can

Our performance at a glance

• We recycle our used printer and fax cartridges through the Tommy’s Campaign and Great Ormond Street charities empty cartridge collection schemes
• We don’t have company cars, we mostly use trains when travelling to client meetings outside London and we very rarely travel by air
• Old PCs are given to employees, donated to charity or recycled
• We donate our unwanted office furniture to charity or recycle where possible
• Our “Switch it off” campaign encourages employees to reduce energy use
• We encourage double-sided printing and photocopying
• Most of the paper we use is recycled. Where this is not the case, we use paper from well-managed forests
• Black and white printing is standard