bt green business practices: using echosign electronic signature
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green business practices
Understanding...
Bringing it all togetherIT communications support
Whats good for the environment can also
be good for your business
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Understanding
green business practices
To nd out more about how BT can help your company,visit our website at www.bt.com/business
Welcome to Understanding green business practices, one in our series
of guides designed to help smaller businesses get more from their IT and
communications systems. We aim to demystify key topics by:
Contents
04 PART 1
Tackling Climate Change: Whose responsibility is it?
06 PART 2
The business impact of turning green
08 PART 3
What it means to be a sustainable business
10 PART 4
What actions can my business take to become green?
10 Flexible working
14 Business tools
20 Marketing your business
22 The role of IT systems
24 Staff development
26 The ofce environment
27 Working with suppliers
28 PART 5
Making it a reality
30 PART 6
Some useful websites
This guide will look at how modern IT and communications can help
your business to act in a more environmentally-friendly way. The
exciting news about adopting green business practices is that whats
good for the environment can also be good for your business. Making a
difference is easier than you think.
For further advice about technology and what it can do for your
business, access to case studies and articles or to download copies
of the other Understanding guides, go to BT Business Insight,a unique online resource for small businesses, at www.bt.com/insight
Explaining the basics of concepts so you can see how they
apply to your business
Outlining key opportunities and benets so you can see
what is possible
Advising on the best approach to move forward, helping
you to make the right decisions for your business and avoid
common pitfalls
Helping you to save time and money, simplifying the way
you approach communications.
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Learning about your own carbon footprint
BTs carbon calculator uses data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs to help determine your individual carbon footprint. It is available at
www.btplc.com/ClimateChange/CarbonCalculator
Tackling Climate Change: whose responsibility is it?
Myth: Its the responsibility of big business
Climate change is a critical threat to the continued existence of our civilisation.
The climate change that we are now seeing, also known as g lobal warming,
is being caused predominantly by human activities.
As owner-managers of smaller businesses, it is easy to ignore green issues
and place the onus on big business to take action to tackle the issue. The truth,
however, is that small and medium-sized organisations account for almost
60 per cent of the UKs workforce. That, in turn, means that SMEs are contributing
to climate change in much the same way as even the largest multi-nationals.
Step one in your journey to acting responsibly is the calculation of your carbon
footprint. In other words, gaining an understanding of how much CO your
business activities create.
Opposite youll nd a simple tool to help you do this. Youll need your fuel and
electricity bills, details of any ights during the past year, plus your yearly road
and rail mileage. Enter your vital statistics, hit calculate and away you go.
PART 1
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Green business practices can:
Help save money
The experience of businesses that have already adopted environmentallysustainable working practices is that energy efciency can lead to signicant
cost savings. The tried and trusted routes to this are things such as turning lights
and ofce equipment off when not in use, and remembering to keep windows
closed during the winter months when the heating is on. In addition to this,
conferencing, exible working, virtual workspaces can result in reduced travel
costs, shrinking energy bills, and lower property rental expenditure. All of which
means your business can become leaner and more efcient.
Help win business
Increasingly, companies need to prove their green credentials. There is growing
pressure from society, government and customers for businesses to act in an
environmentally responsible way. A Henley Centre Headlight Vision study into
sustainable buying behaviours conducted in 00 found that per cent of
respondents would boycott rms that damage the environment up from only
nine per cent in 2001.
The attitudes and expectations of consumers are changing rapidly and
businesses need to be able to adapt quickly.More and more, the requirement to demonstrate environmentally responsible
business practices is being enshrined in the tendering process. Companies
whose green behaviour falls short are being excluded at the outset.
Can your company afford to be locked out of new business opportunities?
Myth: Whats good for the environment isnt good for my business
Modern IT and communications has now well and truly turned this assertion on its
head. Becoming a more environmentally-friendly business isnt just an ethical choice.
It can also help your business to get ahead.
The business impact of turning green
PART 2
Enhance reputation
Customers and the public increasingly demand that businesses behave in an
environmentally ethical way. Those that fail to meet these expectations risk
causing damage to their brand. In turn this can harm a companys ability to wincustomers and attract and retain the best employees. Research among 54,000
graduates published by Forum for the Future in 00 uncovered that nearly
half of all graduates would refuse to work for organisations they believed to
be unethical.
Far from being a nice to have, green behaviour is now a critical business issue.
Make you more efcient
The same technologies that help reduce your carbon footprint can at the same
time result in signicant efciency gains. A good example is home working.
Allowing employees the exibility to work from home not only reduces the
amount of travel they do, thereby cutting carbon emissions, but research shows
it also makes employees around 0 per cent more productive.
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What it means to be a sustainable business
There are four main areas where a business can take action to become more green:
Improve energy efciency
The emission of CO from the use of fossil fuels is the single greatest
contributing factor to climate change. From lighting, to the power needed
to run ofce equipment, to the fuel consumed in travelling to and from work,
business is responsible for vast amounts of energy consumption. Later in
the guide well go on to provide some tips on simple ways to improve your
companys energy efciency.
Work smarter and reduce travel
Business travel is not only one of the biggest causes of carbon emissions; it is
also something which can be drastically reduced through modern technology.
Changes in work practices can reduce travel and energy use.
Recycle and reduce consumption of materials
From using recycled paper to encouraging employees to recycle or re-use
packaging, cutting down on consumption of materials is a realistic goal.
Sustainable sourcing
Businesses of all sizes can take simple steps to encourage their suppliers to act
in a more sustainable way. Remember, if your individual actions are mirrored
by companies across the board, the overall impact could be enormous.
PART 3
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10 11
What actions can my business take to become green?
Flexible working
Flexible working is growing in popularity among the UKs small and medium-sized businesses.
More and more organisations are seeing the double win of improved productivity and
environmental benets.
Working from home
Increasingly people are now taking the opportunity to spend at least some of their week working
from home. The availability and affordability of business broadband packages means that
companies can quickly and easily link employees PCs to the companys IT network. Similarly,
online communities are springing up, which bring small businesses and individual sellers
together with potential customers. More than ever before, the internet and modern IT and
communications is making it possible for employees to be as effective when away from the
ofce as they are in it.
Case study: Flexible working a triple win for ESFAC, its peopleand the environment.
ESFAC is a private company providing medical training services and emergency
medical cover, particularly for corporate and public events. This means that the
people working for, and running, the company need to be able to work easily and
efciently when not in the ofce. Company co-founder and Managing Director,
Kim Coe, says: As a small company my co-director and I are both heavily involved
in service delivery, yet we also need to run the company. With an ever greater
reliance on email communication, staying on top of things when we are away
from base was becoming more and more of a challenge.
As well as needing email and internet facilities when on the move, its two directors
also wanted to have remote access to the Microsoft Outlook application that stores
its events calendar and business commitments.
BT Ofce Anywhere, developed in partnership with Microsoft, brings advanced
phone and data services together on a single device, enabling users to work
as effectively away from the ofce as at their desks. The BT Ofce Anywhere
subscription package can be tailored to suit user requirements.
BT Ofce Anywhere is an absolute marvel. It really does enable us to have the
facilities of our ofce wherever we are. On several occasions, having access on the
move to vital business details has saved me the hassle of driving back to the ofce
in between meetings a win for me and the environment!
Managing Director, Kim Coe.
Recent research makes this point even more powerfully:
Enterprises offering exible working enjoy an average 20 per cent productivity gain
Flexible working is gaining an increasing foothold among the UKs smaller businesses.
65 per cent cite increased motivation and 50 per cent improved productivity as benets
Meanwhile, 59 per cent of directors in small businesses believe they can adopt exible
working just as successfully as big businesses.
The environmental argument is no less satisfying. Home working can help to cut the amount
of ofce space required by companies. A study by the British Council of Ofces found that
the growth of IP-enabled exible working has reduced the requirement for ofce space
by 25 per cent in most industries. This means lower energy consumption and lower carbon
emissions. Home working also cuts out emissions created by travelling to work:
Within ten years, teleworking and technology is predicted to achieve an 18 per cent
reduction in heavy goods vehicle journeys
By 2010, the benets to the UK economy in reduced congestion costs could be as much
as 1.9 billion
BT employees save on average 12 million litres of car fuel a year by working exibly
Increased home working has the potential to cut the worst peak trafc by up to 10 per cent
within ve years; a reduction that would save 14.5 billion miles a year. This equates to 17
million cars foregoing a trip from Lands End to John OGroats.
PART 4
The attitude of employers to exible working is shifting
A recent survey by the British Chambers of Commerce found that:
Nearly three quarters of employers offer part-time working
69.9 per cent offer variable working hours
Over one third offer employees the opportunity to work from home
16.9 per cent offer job sharing opportunities.
(Research from the British Chambers of Commerce April 2007)
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Mobile working
Technologies such as high-speed wireless broadband or Wi-Fi as its more
commonly known have ensured that out of the ofce doesnt have to mean
out of touch. The UKs wireless broadband network has grown considerably
over the past ve years. In fact, there are now almost 18,000 UK Wi-Fi hotspots
in key locations, such as hotels, airport lounges, service stations, cafs and railway
stations, where mobile workers can log on and experience the benets
of broadband while on the road.
An even more exciting development is the emergence of Wireless Cities
city centres from Liverpool, to London, to Birmingham, to Cardiff are being
transformed into wireless broadband zones. So wherever your staff are within
these zones at home, visiting a client, or parked in their car they can get
online and stay productive.
Meanwhile, a new breed of smart phone is now available that allows users to send
emails, edit documents and even automatically synchronise calendar and contact
details with their ofce PC while on the move. Such devices mean people can do
business anywhere, effectively taking their ofce with them, and reduce travelling
time on unnecessary trips back to a central base. Once again, this means less travel
and less carbon emissions, as well as more responsive, effective employees.
Case study: MED-EL UK Ltd reduces unnecessary travel withmobile working
Cassandra Brown is Managing Director of MED-EL UK Ltd, a company which makes
cochlear and middle ear implants special hearing devices for hearing impaired
children and adults. As with many MDs, Cassandras diary is fraught and whilst
travel plays a central part of her day-to-day routine, smarter working through
Wireless Broadband (Wi-Fi) is helping to reduce unnecessary travel time.
Cassandra said: The ability to work anytime, anyplace through WiFi has positive
benets for the environment. From an individual perspective it means less traveltime as you can easily work wherever you are, whether thats in a hotel, local caf
or Wi-Fi-enabled city centre, as well as access to information without the need
to return to the ofce.
From an employers perspective we are now able to have our team meetings
offsite, instead of dragging all our eld staff up to the ofce, which is an
overnight trip for some staff. We can meet in a central location by train,
all getting work done on the way, and being able to have Wi-Fi access
during our meeting allows us to immediately action items as well as access
vital information.
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Business tools
Conferencing audio, web, video
Using audio, video and web conferencing technology saves money and cuts out large
amounts of travel time.
Case study: Civica Group reduces its carbon footprint
The Civica group provides consulting, software and managed services to
the public sector. Among its 1500 customers are 89 per cent of the UKs
local authorities and many more in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
As a large international business, Civica typically holds hundreds of client
and internal meetings every week. As many of these involve multiple parties,
the normal way of doing things had always been to hold them face to face.
This, in turn, meant a large amount of national and international travel for
Civicas employees.
We began to realise that the amount of travel to and from meetings was
responsible for generating high levels of carbon emissions, said Renna
Benson, Civica UK Internal Services Manager. We wanted to reduce our
carbon footprint without harming the productivity and customer service
standards that our business is built on.
Civica decided to use the BT MeetMe conferencing service. Users simply
arrange the time theyd like to hold their audio meeting, then dial in on the
BT MeetMe number they have been provided with. The service can be used
by up to 40 people, so no matter how many parties need to join the call, there
will always be room for them to do so. No long-term contracts are needed
either customers only get charged when they dial in and use the service.
We found that conferencing actually helps productivity levels among our
staff. The massive reduction in travelling times means our people can get
on with their jobs, added Renna Benson. But it also means Civica has been
able to slash its carbon footprint. Travel constitutes a large amount of any
businesses carbon emissions. Conferencing has played an important rolein helping us to become a more environmentally sound organisation.
Independent research for BT found the average journey time associatedwith a meeting is an hour and a half. Over a year this adds up to an
average of four working weeks a year per employee lost to travel time
In addition, the average cost associated with three people carrying outthis travel is 305 per meeting. Compare that with a cost of around
17 for holding a conference call instead and you get a saving of around
30,000 over the course of an average year.
Of course, the big environmental benet is air travel substitution.
Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
show that a 322 mile round trip ight from London to Manchester
would generate 89kg of CO
However, it is generally recognised that CO released at high altitudescontributes between two and four times more to global warming than
the same volume released at ground level
So an equivalent CO emission gure for this ight could be anywherefrom 178kg to 356kg.
And while other forms of travel, such as rail or road, emit less carbon, the
point remains a powerful one: holding a conference call rather than travelling
to a meeting is an environmentally responsible way of doing business.
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The virtual ling cabinet
Recent years have seen the emergence of new and exciting forms of online software that
enable better collaboration and reduce paper usage. Known as workspaces, the simple
idea is to improve team-working by storing all the documents and information relating
to any given project in one place.
Its practically a virtual meeting room, ling cabinet and notice board rolled into one.
Team members can pin notices on the message board and can speedily locate any
reference materials or plans pertaining to their project role.
And, perhaps most importantly from an environmental perspective, is the document
control feature. Most of us have experienced the headache of reading and editing a
document that we believe to be the latest version, only to discover we are looking atan old one. This not only wastes time but also ends up wasting a huge amount of paper.
The virtual workspace concept removes this problem by holding the master copy of
each document. So you always know the version youre working on is the most current.
Electronic signatures
Contracts are a major source of paper usage in business. Firstly
there is the need to print contracts and sign them, then the need
to fax them to the recipient, which uses the same amount of paper
again. However technology is now becoming available that enables
electronic signatures to be used. The services to look for are those that
comply with the UK Electronic Signatures Act, which gives electronic
contracts the same weight as those executed on paper.
Electronic signatures mean documents never need to be printed.This creates a major saving in paper usage
In addition to this, there is the potential to cut down on theofce space needed to store hard copies of all such documents
With the possibility for smaller premises comes the potential forlower energy bills from the reduced heating and lighting costs.
Case study: Henmore Marketing moves business to a virtualwork space
Henmore Marketing specialises in delivering marketing communications and consultancy
services to IT and technology companies. MD Catherine Doels knowledge of the
technology market meant she had been quick to see an opportunity to move her
business to a virtual footing.
Henmore Marketing shifted to home-working. Enabled by broadband, all employees
could now be happy home-workers with the same access to the company network
as they used to enjoy from the ofce.
But after a stolen laptop scare, a few days of seriously delayed email, and the new
challenge of managing email through a rewall at a clients site, Catherine knew she
had a problem ensuring communications and access to key documents was kept at
the required levels. This led Henmore Marketing to embrace BT Workspace software.
It helps them ensure that team members always work on the correct version of
important documents, while client communication now takes place via discussion
forums in the workspace.
As well as the cost savings of no longer needing to pay rent for ofce space, there was
a clear environmental benet in the form of reduced employee travel and power usage.
The combination of broadband and workspace software helped to transform the way
Henmore do business.
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Case study: Rawnet cuts paper usage with eSignatures
Rawnet is a design agency located in Berkshire, England. The company has
developed websites, web applications and award winning presentations for
some of Britains most successful organisations such as Shell, Honda, Williams F1,
Savills and M.
Typically, Rawnets design projects span from a few days to a few months and there
are multiple milestones that require customer sign-off. Rawnet manages about
100 project documents per month sending out various documents for signature
anywhere from two to four times per day. The documents used to be emailed
or faxed to the customer and the next phase of the project would begin upon
receiving the returned form. On average, this caused a two or three day delay
at each phase of the project, and required a large amount of paper.
Our traditional method of getting approvals and signatures was simply taking
too long. It also wasnt very environmentally friendly because it meant we got
through high volumes of paper, said Adam Smith, Creative Director.
Rawnet decided to purchase BTs eSignature solution. The difference has been
dramatic. Rawnet now sees customer approvals in just a couple of hours, while
some documents have been signed in as little as 0 minutes. Production is more
efcient and there is minimal delay in getting projects completed.
The other real bonus is environmental, said Smith. We believe in doing
outstanding work and providing excellent client service, but we also believe in
doing our bit for the environment. By allowing us to reduce paper consumption,
BTs eSignature product is helping us to achieve this goal.
Saving paper
Paper costs your business money, as well as costing the environment. Double-sided
printing and copying is easy to set up on most systems. It could halve the amount
of paper you use.
Packaging
Consumers are becoming less and less comfortable with the amount of packaging
they buy. Consider how necessary it really is, and reduce as much as possible.
There may also be ways you can re-use packaging.
Recycling
As well as promoting recycling in your ofce, try to buy products that are made from
recycled materials. Its useful to learn the subtle difference between the labels seen
on packaging.
A circle of arrows with a percentage in the middle means that the item is made with
recycled material. The arrows on their own just mean that the item can be recycled
a big difference.
Every tonne of recycled paper saves 32,000 litres of water. Every year, BioRegional
Development Group, an independent environmental organisation, recycle 4,300
tonnes of paper thats the weight of 600 double decker buses that would otherwise
go into landll.
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Marketing your business
In the last ten years, IT and communications has been instrumental in making it simpler
and faster for businesses to promote themselves and win new business.
Networking
Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have been front-page news
for over 12 months now. However, less well-known are the emerging number of sites
designed for business networking such as BT Tradespace. Such sites can be used to
exchange views and experiences with peers, to nd new business partners, or just to
gain a better understanding of unfamiliar markets, new business practices, or to source
potential employees.
Once again, the positive side effect is reduced carbon emissions. The old days of jumping
in the car to go to a networking event in a nearby town are long gone. Face to face get-
togethers will remain a vital part of the overall networking mix, but the ease of doing it
online is helping to cut travel and help the environment.
Online marketing
Online advertising is another topic that frequently nds its way onto the pages
of the broadsheet press. In the early days of the internet, few businesses had a full
understanding of how best to use this emerging medium. Now however, no advertising
strategy is complete without an online component.
Whether a company is promoting itself via email marketing campaigns or one of the
various forms of online advertising, the impact on the environment has been positive.
The mass distribution of paper-based marketing materials is being replaced by online
equivalents.
Case study: Using online communities to help the environmentand win business
Andy Vaughan is a freelance journalist from Wigan. He runs his own company
publishing independent writing. Keen to raise the prole of his business, but
unwilling to rely on traditional paper-based marketing materials, he began to
explore digital alternatives. He wanted to nd a way to make contacts and build
his business without harming the environment.
He decided to use BT Tradespace the online community specically designed
for small businesses. Vaughan and his business partner, Martin Tarbuck, useBT Tradespace to publish an e-zine, sell merchandise online and listen to readers
feedback. As well as allowing them to reduce paper usage, and so help the
environment, it has also proved a success in business terms:
Ive used social networking sites before so I know how they work I use MySpace
to review CDs and gigs, Andy explained. But we wanted something a bit different
to represent our business. BT Tradespace looks really professional in layout, so we
were condent it would help us get our voices heard by as many people as possible.
The extra bonus is that it means we can also do our bit for the environment by
doing our marketing in the virtual world.
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The role of IT systems
IT is a signicant generator of carbon emissions. Research by Gartner found that
information and communications technologies (ICT) account for approximately two per
cent of all global carbon emissions. Amazingly, thats the same amount as the aviation
industry. However, just as its important for business to reduce unnecessary ICT-related
energy usage, it is also crucial to understand that the right kind of investments in
technology can play a major role in dealing with this challenge.
IT networks, and in particular something called IP networks, are a good example
of this. IP networks replace the old set-up of a company having one network for voice
(or phone calls) and another for data (or IT). Instead, they combine the two, so that
every kind of information whether phone calls, emails, documents, video clips
or audio les travels along one set of cabling on the same network.
By uniting all these kinds of data onto one system, business can take advantage of
a whole host of exciting services that save them time and money. One example is the
ability to make telephone calls over the IP network. One colleague can call another
colleague based in a different ofce and, just like sending an email to that person,
it is effectively free of charge. This is a radical development and one that is set to
become widespread in businesses in the years ahead. The term often used to refer
to this kind of merging of previously separate types of data and systems is called
convergence. And the good news is that the benets extend beyond the functionality.
The environment not to mention your companys bank balance benet as well.
Relying on a single, unied network means only one set of network connections,
cables and hardware are needed; it also means you only need to provide power
for one system
A single network also means you only need to hire one IT and communicationsservice provider, which cuts the carbon emissions associated with nding and
using multiple suppliers
A simple example here would be a reduction in the travel emissions relatedto potential suppliers travelling to and from meetings at your ofces
Similarly, in many cases, IP networks allow for upgrades and repairs to be carriedout remotely, something that helps to minimise engineer travel.
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Staff development
The training and development of your staff is an essential part of helping any
business to succeed. But historically it has also had an impact on the environment.
The carbon emissions associated with gathering course delegates at a central
location especially if ying in from overseas can be signicant. Similarly,
the energy usage needed to heat and light the training room, as well as the
heating and lighting used in the trainees hotel rooms, all add up.
The internet is helping to change this situation for the better. E-Learning systems
are now becoming so advanced that your staff can learn as effectively from a PC
as they used to in a physical classroom. Todays computing power means that
the best e-learning courses include a high level of interactivity and sophisticated
tools for monitoring and assessing progress. From a cost point of view, the ability
to train staff without having to pay for paper-based training manuals, ights,
hotels and training rooms is incredibly attractive to business. Meanwhile, the
environmental advantages of cutting out travel, paper and power usage are
extremely exciting.
Case study: Mosaic Fashions e-Learning success story
Mosaic Fashions, which owns Whistles, Karen Millen, Oasis and Coast, recently
deployed BT Expedites retail e-learning solution to support the implementation
of its new point of sale system. Previously, staff had been trained using paper
manuals through trainers that travelled from store to store.
All of the four brands are very different with different target markets. Their estates
consist of standalone stores, and concessions in the UK and internationally.
Therefore a number of paper manuals were produced at Head Ofce to suit the
target audience and shipped to stores ready for trainers to train staff members.The retail e-learning solution has drastically reduced paper costs by per cent.
Staff can now access content online to obtain help when they have queries around
the new POS system which runs 10 versions over one system across 249 stores,
and 387 concessions in the UK and 50 stores, 112 franchises and 64 concessions
internationally.
The overall green impact has been positive. The savings in paper, travel and
energy usage from using this retail e-learning solution have been signicant.
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The ofce environment
Buildings account for almost half of the UKs carbon emissions. According to the
Building Design Partnership, almost 70 million square metres of ofce space
in the UK are unnecessarily lit. Thats the equivalent of 8,750 football pitches,
representing a cost of 00-00 million a year.
A Forum for the Future research report for BT found that energy used to power
heating, lighting and IT accounts for a greater proportion of each workers total
energy use than transport.
The UK Government wants new building projects to use a minimum of 10 per cent
of recycled building materials. The aim of this is to reduce unnecessary waste andharmful emissions in construction processes, and encourage more creative re-use
of traditional waste products.
Working with suppliers
Companies, however small, all have the ability to make a difference through the way
they purchase.
Ofce supplies
For ofce supplies, you can reduce your companys environmental footprint by
sourcing locally and in bulk. This will cut down or reduce your transport costs and
your companys impact on climate change from transport-related carbon emissions.
Many local governments run schemes encouraging local businesses to source locally
made products.
Green suppliers
Changing to green energy to power your ofce and operations is an easy way to make
a difference. It will boost your green credentials with customers, employees and the
community. Choosing the right green energy deal could also save you money, as well
as reduce your companys carbon emissions.
BTs electricity supply contract provides nearly all of the companys UK electricity from
renewable sources and combined heat and power plants. In the last nancial year,
BTs use of renewable energy cut carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 627,000
tonnes. BT is a big business, but its experience can be repeated by companies of all sizes.
Renewable energy is more widely available and more cost-effective than ever before.
Have a look at the back of this guide for some useful websites related to this subject.
Green purchasing
The biggest impact small and medium-sized businesses have on the environment
is through their supply chains and the environmental performance of their ofce
equipment.
Why not include environmental requirements in your contract documents?
Also ask your suppliers for the most environmentally-friendly products with
minimal packaging. This will encourage your suppliers to reconsider their practices
Similarly, you could consider adopting a policy that says all replacement products
or services should have a lower environmental impact than their predecessors.
Energy saving in the ofce did you know?
1) Lighting an ofce overnight wastes enough energy to heat
water for 1000 cups of tea.
2) A photocopier left on overnight uses enough energy to
produce over 1500 copies.
3) Leaving a PC monitor on all night wastes enough energy to
microwave six dinners.
4) A typical window left open overnight in winter will waste
enough energy to drive a small car over miles.
5) Switching off non-essential equipment in an ofce overnight
saves enough energy to run a small car for 100 miles.
6) A compressed air leak the size of a match head wastes enough
energy in a working day to toast 444 slices of bread.
(Source: The Carbon Trust)
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Making it a reality
PART 5
1. Source: Figures are based on a survey carried out examining BTs own use of conferencing:
Conferencing at BT results of a survey on its economic, environmental and social impacts,
Professor Peter James, University of Bradford and SustainIT, April 2007.
. Source: The Carbon Trust.
. Source: The Environment Agency.
To register your personal commitment to the environment go to:www.btplc.com/ClimateChange/Takeaction/LivingLightly
Global warming is one of the biggest issues facing the world today. The good news
is that scientists and politicians agree that if we all work together, we can avoid some
of the worst effects. Small and medium-sized businesses in the UK have an integral
role to play in this challenge.
Why not think about taking one or more of these easy steps? After all, small steps
when taken by a large number of individuals make a big difference.
With . million small businesses in the UK the collective impact could be incredible.
Use conferencing to reduce travel for meetings
One audio conference meeting can save up to an average of 0kgs1, enough
CO for a return journey from London to Oxford.
Making an impact: If every small business in the UK replaced 10 meetings with
audio conferences, small businesses could collectively save more than 1.7m
tonnes of CO.
Reduce unnecessary trips back to the ofce by using mobilecommunications technology
According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs an average
petrol car can emit up to 0kgs if driven at a steady 0mph for one hour.
Making an impact: If every SME in the UK made a commitment to reduce
their employee car travel by the equivalent of two working days of car travel
in a year, small businesses could collectively save more than 1 million tonnesof CO.
Shut down computers and other electrical kit at the end of the day
Leaving a PC monitor on all night wastes enough energy to microwave six dinners.
Making an impact: If UK small businesses forget to switch off even one
PC monitor at night, they could be collectively wasting enough energy to
microwave nearly 26 million dinners.Thats enough energy for every personin London to microwave at least two dinners each.
Use recycled stationery and save paper
Remember every tonne of recycled paper saves 32,000 litres of water.
Making an impact: If every SME in the UK switched to using recycled paper,
small businesses would collectively save billions of litres of water.
Take-up exible working
Based on data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
and the Department for Transport, avoiding one average road commute per
week for a year in an average petrol car would save around 120kg of CO.
Making an impact: If every SME in the UK supported the equivalent of one
employee working from home for just one day a week for a year, smallbusinesses could collectively save 516 million kgs of CO .
And remember, being environmentally responsible and helping your business
to succeed can go hand in hand. Whats good for the environment can be good
for your business too.
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Useful websites
General tips and information on green practices
The Climate Group
Green news and information on programmes supporting business on the path
to a low carbon economy.
www.the climategroup.org
Defra
The website of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs carriesinformation on the governments climate change programmes.
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/business
Travel
Reducing the need to travel
The Energy Saving Trust has long been a champion of cutting carbon emissions.
This page contains lots of useful tips and ideas.
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/eet/Waystotravel/Reducingtheneedtotravel
Seat 61
A site set up by a former British Rail station manager as a hobby, to explore
the best options for plane-free travel.
www.seat61.com
Rail Europe
Air travel emits 10 times more carbon than a train journey over the same
distance. Book your train travel here.
www.raileurope.co.uk
BTs carbon calculator
The calculator, based on data from Defra, shows you what your annual CO
usage is at any point in time.
www.btplc.com/ClimateChange/CarbonCalculator/index.cfm
BTs climate change website
Details of BTs own progress in this area, as well as information for businesses
eager to become more environmentally sustainable.
www.btplc.com/ClimateChange
Power usage
Green Electricity
Website giving details of all of the green tariffs on offer to UK customers.
www.greenelectricity.org
uSwitch
Website for comparing costs of different energy suppliers.
www.uswitch.com/Energy/Green-Energy.html
Energy future
News, views and practical advice on the ways to live a lower energy life.
www.energyfuture.org.uk
Waste and packaging
Envirowise
Advice on practical ways to increase prots, minimise waste and reduce
environmental impact.
www.envirowise.gov.uk
WasteOnline
Link to an information sheet on packaging recycling.
www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/Packaging.htm
Low carbon buildings
Website of the low carbon buildings programme, which provides private
businesses with grants for microgeneration technologies. www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk
PART 6
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