They say charity begins at home, but have you heard the term ‘sustainability begins in the workplace’? Here at Thomson Environmental Consultants, the environment is not just something we consult on outside the office walls. Here are six sustainable things we do in the workplace.
From the first day in a new job, each employee is advised on the steps to help reduce our carbon footprint and how vitally important this is in a time where climate change and global warming are at the forefront of political and social agendas.
Think before you print
Each new employee is advised on how to reduce their paper consumption by using a dual screen computer, they are requested to limit their paper print outs unless really required. When printing, each employee is informed about the environmental impact of printing in colour as to printing in grey-scale and they are requested to limit colour prints to only when it is truly necessary.
Recycling
We have a comprehensive recycling scheme which is collected by our local waste company Chambers Recycling – therefore, reducing the amount of fuel used to make the collection. Our recycle bins include paper and card combined with plastics that have been washed and are freed of food waste, and with our recent additions which include glass and plastic bags, our recycling now outweighs our general waste disposal week to week.
Accreditations
Thomson hold the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Service accreditation which shows we truly believe in making an informed and planned difference to the way in which business is conducted environmentally.
Search to give
We encourage our employees to use a search engine called Ecosia. Through conducting their web searches via this platform, the site uses sponsored advertising to contribute money to planting millions of trees across the globe.
Community Efforts
As we’ve already mentioned, they say charity begins at home…and in our case also at work. We work with local conservation groups and charities to help their causes, sometimes with a sustainability element.
Every year we do a beach clean to support Surfers Against Sewage. In this year’s plans, we’re embarking on a river clean up local to our head office in Surrey. We’ve also supported other charities such as the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, and this year we’re supporting WaterAid.
We’ve donated old survey equipment to local conservation groups instead of just retiring them, and we’ve also gone into local schools to do talks on species, habitats and the marine work we do.
Thomson are also known for taking part in and organising local litter picks and always on the lookout for new ways to contribute to the reduction of waste across our site work.
The eco-friendly office party
This year Thomson are set on having a sustainable Christmas party and are looking at a couple of ideas to achieve this.
The first idea is encouraging employees to wear clothes that they already own. No new dresses, suits and accessories for your yule attire. Simply go to your wardrobe and pick out your clothes from what you have. It could be a party dress or suit that you haven’t worn for a while (and still fits of course). It’s a chance to dust it off and get it out again.
The second idea is setting up a ‘swap shop’ for all employees to bring along old clothes that they no longer wear or require and allowing other employees to take them away for use at the Christmas party. This might sound odd, but it’s a great way to continue the life of a frock or tuxedo that you no longer fit into or like wearing.
Using either of these ideas means a reduction in footprint, saving more items ending up in landfill.
How we can help you
Sustainability should be on everyone’s mind. Quite simply, with an ever-increasing number of developments and a growing population, the environment around us needs to be looked after to protect it for future generations.
At Thomson, we specialise in environmental consultancy, with a view to providing our clients with sustainable and pragmatic advice across all ecosystems. Talk to us today about how we can help you comply with environmental legislation and ensure the sustainability of your proposed project.
