Our Sustainability & Environmentally Friendly Journey
It’s easy to see how the vast issue of global warming can only seem relevant to huge corporations and conglomerates. But the idea that our environment can only be saved by the sustainability of giant companies is far from true.
At Knapton Wright, we think that global warming is everyone’s responsibility. Even the smallest actions can contribute to a wider movement of people tackling the climate crisis head on. Even smaller businesses can make real and lasting change.
We’ve recently received funding from an incredible local initiative, the Smart Energy Programme, which aims to help local businesses in our community become as environmentally friendly as possible.
The Smart Energy Programme
‘Smart Energy Greater Lincolnshire’ is a £9.2m project delivered by North East Lincolnshire Council. This is on behalf of Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise (LEP) in partnership with the University of Applied Sciences (IfaS).
The programme aims to reduce energy usage and carbon output in Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), councils and other public sector owned buildings in the Lincolnshire area.
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) awarded £5.4m for the project, which started at the beginning of April 2018 and will take place over the next three years.
Along with private sector investment, the funding will be used to establish a one-stop-shop to provide energy and low carbon services for SMEs as well as facilitating large-scale investment in public infrastructure.
What We Have Done to Become More Sustainable
We’ve taken multiple steps to reduce our energy consumption and lower our carbon emissions. As a business, we’ve invested in environmentally efficient LED lighting throughout our premises, ensuring we consume less power and lose less energy overall.
We are also passionate about recycling! All of our plastics and packaging - from food packaging to e-waste and batteries - are carefully washed, categorised and sent off to fulfil a new purpose elsewhere.
We’re always careful to turn off all lights when leaving rooms, and to keep any unused appliances turned off. It seems like a very fundamental concept but as a Digital Marketing Agency, we rely on a number of electronics so it’s something we take very seriously as it does make a difference!
Where possible, we choose to share lifts to any meetings, talks, workshops or lectures we take part in. Alongside listening to some very questionable music choices, it gives us all valuable discussion time and means we’re doing our bit for the environment by saving fuel.
We also (fairly easily, we have to admit) make sure our paperwork is almost entirely digitised. This is both a time saving exercise and means that we don’t need to buy any paper, which is a tree-friendly exercise.
To help us invest in these energy saving measures, we had support from Smart Energy Greater Lincolnshire. Through this we received a grant of £500 to enable us to install our eco-friendly LED lights.
What else can Small Businesses do to Become Eco-Friendly?
There are many longer-term changes and investments that small businesses can make to reduce their carbon footprint.
Changing energy providers to a renewable alternative, for instance, is a straightforward and increasingly common process. Almost all mainstream energy tariffs now offer a renewably sourced energy option that could potentially save you money as well as look after the planet.
It’s always worth making sure your heating, plumbing and electricity is running efficiently and not wasting energy unnecessarily due to wear and tear or damage. This is particularly important with older office buildings, and is also relevant to any appliances in your building.
We all play a key role in implementing change for our planet - no matter how big or small we might be!
Find out more about sustainability in small businesses here:
