This week thousands of students and young people across the UK are joining forces as part of national ‘Go Green Week’ and workplace equipment supplier Slingsby is leading a campaign to encourage employers to join in and improve their green credentials.
Go Green Week runs from 11th to 17th February and is organised by the UK’s largest student network, People & Planet. Throughout the week thousands of young people will host a wide range of events to raise awareness about environmental issues and launch projects that will help to create a low-carbon future.
Lee Wright, Marketing Director at Slingsby, which supplies more than 35,000 workplace products including a wide range of recycling equipment, explains: "Go Green Week is a hugely inspiring week of special events predominantly aimed at schools, colleges and universities but there’s absolutely no reason why businesses shouldn’t make an environmental commitment and reduce their carbon footprints by joining in.
"Every day will focus on a specific activity that can make an immediate difference and we’re urging employers to participate as well. The week kicked off on Monday with a campaign to encourage people to eat locally produced food rather than imported products, Tuesday is about using low-carbon transport methods, on Wednesday everything should be recycled, Thursday focuses on reducing energy consumption and on Friday the aim is to raise money to invest in carbon-cutting projects.
"Thousands of students are expected to take part but these are things that everyone can do and it’s also an ideal opportunity for employers to think about their environmental impact and look at ways of reducing their carbon footprints. Even making very small changes can have a big impact and in most cases going green is cost effective and saves money in the long-run so it really is a no-brainer."
Slingsby has compiled the tips below which businesses can use as a starting point in order to improve their environmental credentials, become more efficient and ultimately save money:-
· Position recycling containers in convenient locations throughout the workplace, so it’s just as simple to recycle as it is to throw things away – the key is to make it as easy as possible for people to change their habits and recycle.
· Making your recycling points bright, attractive and easily identifiable helps raise the profile of the services on offer.
· And just to make it even clearer, make sure everyone knows that it’s part of staff policy to recycle – speak to the powers that be to add it to internal email bulletins and your staff handbook.
· Recycling printer ink cartridges is another way of doing your bit. There are services available that will pay for your old cartridges or refill them with ink so you can use them again.
· Collect for charity too. Old mobile phones, computer equipment and stamps are just a few things that can help to raise precious funds for charities.
· Create competition between departments to see which can recycle the most. You could also reward winning departments with treats or items that can make life easier for the team.
· Go paperless where possible and encourage colleagues to think before they print. Plus make it a policy to post employee manuals and similar materials online, rather than distributing printed copies.
· Think about how you can reduce the amount of waste you produce. For example you can cut the amount of printer paper you use in half simply by setting printers to print on both sides.
· Buy recycled products! Buying recycled products helps to stimulate markets for reclaimed materials and reduces the amount of materials going to landfill. It also helps conserve resources and demonstrates commitment to good environmental practice.