Some examples green initiatives that have been implemented so far:
We have re-clad the warehouse roof and cleaned sky lights on our main warehouse to provide greater insulation and improved natural light. We believe this will reduce energy consumption in this warehouse by 20%.
In accordance with the UK’s new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations, we are contributors to the Government’s new recycling initiative (4).
We have created online materials for teachers that are available to download.
We now have online-only Magazine subscriptions. Visit our Magazine web pages
We have adapted our book club business model to reduce the amount of paper that is mailed to customers by reducing the number of pages in a catalogue in our ‘Book Club Lite’ initiative.
The Warwickshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre (WEEAC) have provided us employee education relating to energy efficiency.
We have been working with the Carbon Trust to implement awareness campaigns..
We are switching to light bulbs that are more energy efficient and kinder to the environment when disposed of.
As our servers reach end of life we are consolidating onto single servers rather than replacing multiple servers. This will reduce energy consumption and cooling requirements in our data centres.
We have replaced our end-of-life PCs with more energy efficient PCs and flat monitors with lower electricity usage.
We provide travel loans to staff that use public transport to get to work.
We take great care to make sure that our stock is sensibly managed and that we minimise waste in all our activity. Our wastage on promotional material is generally less than 5%, and waste material is recycled wherever practical.
Our own printed marketing material uses papers sourced from sustainably managed forests, certified to meet PEFC guidelines1. We use paper from mills who operate a certified chain-of-custody in accordance to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. Most of our printers use vegetable-oil based inks. We have banned papers sourced through Indonesian mills in our books that are sold to the trade.
We only supply plastic bags to our Book Clubs and Book Fairs customers when they request carrier bags. The plastic bags provided with our Book Clubs and Book Fairs are produced using d2w plastic, which is specially treated to be totally degradable2. Our Book Club mailings are now packaged in cardboard boxes, which are totally recyclable, rather than plastic shrinkwrap.
Most of our promotional material is sourced from suppliers in the UK, which reduces transport costs and carbon emissions.
Our Book Fairs transport team reduced fuel consumption by 50,438 litres and operated 580 fewer trucks in 2006-7 compared to 2005-6, while still delivering more Book Fairs. In accordance with European Law, as of March 2007 all our new trucks have an additive called AdBlue3 added to the fuel management systems to further reduce emissions.
- All new trucks over 3.5t (vans) now comply with new European Union exhaust emission laws & have “Euro4” engines (these engines are designed to reduced nitrogen & specific pollutants emitted by trucks)
- Fairs trucks now limited to 56mph max to comply with legislation
We have implemented a video conferencing solution to reduce business travel. We utilise conference calling facilities wherever possible
We have formed a ‘Green Team’ made up of employees that are able to implement environmental initiatives in our offices and warehouses.
We have formed a Environmental Committee made up of managers that are able to influence and change our working practices.
We have implemented a ‘Switch it off’ campaign which encourages all employees to switch off electrical items and lights when they are not in use.
We employ specialist recycling companies to ensure that our waste is recycled wherever feasible to do so.
Old computer equipment that is suitable for school use is donated to schools. Other computer equipment is disposed of in accordance with WEEE directives.
Our book fairs business ensures that no in-fill packaging is required when we post product. We utilise a range of box sizes and cut down boxes to ensure a good fit.
Our computer systems calculate the required box size for our book club parcels to minimise the filling of packaging voids.
We have implemented a green intranet page that informs employees about progress of our green initiatives.
We encourage employees to reduce paper consumption and reuse paper wherever possible.
Wherever possible we encourage our customers to place orders electronically to avoid paper usage.
Where practical our computers are set to automatically shut down at night if left unattended after working hours.