How we aim to reduce our impact on the environment
by Joshua Shaxson, Adviser Support
Following our article late last year explaining our involvement with Trees for Cities, we thought it would be a good idea to show what we as a business are doing to reduce our impact on the environment.
As financial advisers, you may wonder how we as a firm can reduce our environmental impact. We do not cause noise pollution (some individuals in the office may in fact contribute…), we don’t directly contribute to air pollution (unlike the transportation industry for example) and as a relatively small firm with less than 30 employees, our levels of waste aren’t that of a multinational conglomerate.
However, where we can reduce our impact, we try to do so.
We encourage employees to think before they print, and where client information has been requested from providers, if this can be sent securely via email, this will of course be preferable to a postal copy.
No one in the office drives to work, and almost 25% of the office regularly cycle into the office. Holden & Partners offer the Cycle to Work scheme to help encourage those want-to-be “Wiggins”.
One of the easiest things that can be done to conserve energy usage is to turn off our computers at the end of the working day. If all computers were shut down tonight instead of being put into sleep mode, enough energy would be saved to light the Eiffel tower for 24 hours a day, for the next 720 years!
Over the course of 2018, we generated over 4 tonnes of waste (4,220kg to be precise). However, we are pleased to say that 100% of this was recycled.
As you will see below, this consisted of mainly waste paper (3,080kg) and meant CO2savings of 5,780kg and a total of 51 trees saved.
Our target for 2019 is to reduce the total waste that we produce by 5%. A monthly email is circulated in the office providing information on our year on year waste levels to ensure no one forgets the goal. We will be sure to report on our success at meeting this target early in 2020!