Some time ago we approached the subject of our carbon footprint. The attitude at the start was that we where already 'green minded' as
everyone that works for our organisation cares about the environment and (doing what we do) has a love of the outdoors and nature.

We already did things like turn off unecessary lights and heating.

We already used as many recycled materials as was practical.

We already watched things like paper usage etc. as well as many other things like recycling our own waste where possible and all the other 'green' things that folk who naturally care about their environment do.

We investigated various agencies that have set up to supposedly help companies like ourselves to reduce our CO₂ footprint and found that all we investigated appeared to be milking the market place for finance.  Many appearing to take the attitude that this subject is the latest political cash cow.

We believe this attitude to be contradictory to the very ethos of this situation so have decided to police ourselves using advice that is freely available and common sense, adjusting our attitudes and policies accordingly.

We decided to take a close, in-depth look at what we do and if there was anything more that we should or could be doing. Having done a retrospective analysis for the year ending August 06 I found that our footprint was, what appeared to me, a staggering 47.19 tonnes! For a small company I considered this to be unacceptable so we immediately looked at ways of reducing this.

The first step was to involve everyone involved in our operational base and a meeting was held to raise everyone's awareness and encourage all to follow a green policy in our day-to-day operation.

Following that an in-depth study of our offices was carried out.

We now only print out essential paperwork electronically storing and transmitting as many documents as possible.

Malfunctioning office equipment used to be just replaced as a matter of course. Now we look at repair, re-use and/or conversion to other tasks before any disposal is considered and we are looking at companies that recycle computers and other electronic equipment before any further replacements will be considered.

Good housekeeping practices have been enforced to ensure that all unecessary electrical items are turned off after use. Heating is reduced to essential areas and, when we move to our new premisses, we will be installing systems that are more CO₂ efficient. As well as more energy efficient lighting etc.

Trips out of the office are on a reduction plan and meetings are carefully scheduled to reduce travelling overall. (this includes client meetings) Where possible we now endeavour to use telephone/conference systems and email in preference to a physical appointment.

One of our biggest problems in reducing CO₂ is the amount and types of vehicle that are essential for the welfare and good operation of our business.

In the last 12 months we have examined this in great detail and have converted, changed or plan to convert all our vehicles to reduce this figure as much as is practical and have entered into a policy to reduce this even further as time progresses.

Much of our business is carried out overseas and here their are other issues involving transport , heavy haulage and shipping that are, to a certain extent, out of our control. However, we are talking to all the people that supply us with these overseas services to encourage them to introduce a policy similar and adopt at least the same standards as we employ ourselves. Where we find a supplier that is un-sympathetic to the principle of practical reduction of their CO₂ footprint we will,  uncompromisingly, seek a replacement service.

We have now completed a second analysis of our CO₂ footprint to year end August 07 and, after taking the measures stated above, discovered that it now sits at 17.83 tonnes.

A pleasing and massive reduction.

Over the next 12 months we hope to reduce this even further and are investigating methods of capping this figure to reduce it as a percentage of our growth.