Article of interest

Our governments relentlessly preach on at us to make our homes more eco-friendly. We have to install energy-efficient lighting, solar panels and wind turbines so much so that in the UK households are now looking at an increase of £249 per year on energy bills so energy providers can switch to greener sources of power. So OK, we of course should do our bit in our personal lives, and most of us will accept the cost, but what are big industries doing? After all they are the ones that pollute the most – are they matching our efforts?

Later this year, 192 countries will meet at the 2009 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. This summit hopes to draw up binding agreements to reduce carbon emissions that were first set out in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It is estimated that to bring climate change down to a manageable level, the world as a whole needs to cut emissions by 80% by 2050. The British government has just set out ways it plans to tackle change and lower its rates by 34% on 1990 levels.

However, yet again it is households that have to make the biggest sacrifices - a 29% reduction in emissions by 2020, compared to just 13% in the workplace. This may leave you feeling somewhat disgruntled with the current government and industries for not taking steps themselves to become more eco-friendly. But whilst you can continue to bemoan the government, many industries, usually the ones that don’t make a fuss about it, are actively looking at ways to reduce their emissions, increase recycling and become more environmentally friendly.

For example, did you know that since 2008 Kwik Fit Insurance* has reduced the amount of waste it sends to landfill by 40%? No, is probably the answer. But this isn’t the only green initiative they have in place. A year ago they appointed an environmental manager to not only save the company £100,000, but to increase recycling rates; help staff become more eco-friendly by installing secure bike storage and showers so they can cycle to work; printer defaults were set to double-sided and people were encouraged to think before using the printer to reduce consumption.

On top of this, they set up Little Fingers, an on-site eco-friendly child-care facility. It encourages and raises awareness about recycling among young children, setting the standard for future generations, and it helps sort out office waste for recycling.

If this is possible in a mid-sized company with relative ease, surely these ideas and others should be rolled out everywhere?

*Kwik Fit Insurance are leaders in the field of car insurance.  Take a look at their site for a quote.