We all like to feel that we’re making a contribution towards protecting the environment, and at Everest we’re no exception. In fact we pride ourselves on the energy-efficient qualities of our products and services. Our double glazed windows, entrance doors and flat roofs can help to reduce your energy consumption considerably by minimising heat loss, our timber products are responsibly sourced and our solar PV systems allow you to harness green, natural energy to power your home.
In 2009 we decided to take a pro-active look at ways in which we could become a greener company internally, in addition to promoting our energy-efficient products to customers. Since then we’ve launched numerous campaigns and initiatives aimed at reducing our consumption of fuel, paper and electricity. As we head towards a new year, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the things we’ve done and what we’ve achieved.
One of our first major projects was a ‘switch it off!’ campaign, in which we asked our employees to make sure that all electrical equipment – such as computers, heaters, air conditioning units and lights – were switched off at the end of each working day. A relatively simple practice, and yet so many companies unnecessarily waste electricity by leaving their equipment running overnight. We also installed motion-sensor light switches in various parts of our head-office and Operations department. Since we launched this campaign, we’ve reduced our electricity consumption by a massive 540,000 KW per year! According to the Energy Savings Trust, this is enough to power 130 homes for 12 months!
In August 2010 we sent our employees on a Climate Seminar run by the Earthwatch Institute. The purpose of this weekend was to provide our staff with a wider understanding of climate change issues and to explore how the company could address them. This was a fun and informative day that involved plenty of opportunities to get back to nature, thanks to outdoor seminars and a field visit to a climate change research project. A good time was had by all, and we came away with a lot of ideas for how we could continue to improve our Company’s green credentials.
Our next project was aimed at reducing fuel consumption across the company by encouraging our office-based employees to use conference calls as an alternative to driving to meetings and setting up a car-sharing program. Our initial goal was to reduce our fuel consumption by 10%, which we have more than exceeded. In fact, since 2009 we’ve reduced our fuel usage by a massive 18% across the company!
The third major area we looked at was our paper consumption as a company. In 2009 our employees used over seven million sheets of paper. Thanks to simple but effective measures such as double-sided printing as standard, converting our weekly newsletter into a PDF file and using printed waste paper as note pads, we now use just under 4.3 million sheets per year – a reduction of almost 40%!
Needless to say, we’re extremely proud of our environmental achievements, which reflect the hard work and dedication of all of our office staff. We’re continually looking at ways in which we can become an even more environmentally friendly company. To find out about the environmentally friendly qualities of our products and services, you can call us on 0800 240 4946 or book a free, no-obligation appointment with one of our consultants.
