Our Environmental Policy
Environmental sustainability is key to our work both abroad and in the UK. We are committed to ensuring that our practices and policies not only protect the environment but also improve it wherever possible. One key part in doing this is to look at where we are contributing to the production of carbon emissions and acting to reduce them. As a result we strive to undertake environmental best practice in all that we do, as well as following relevant environmental legislation.
Our Approach
We are focussing our efforts to become a more efficient and environmentally friendly organisation on key areas:
- Procurement – considering the environment in our choice of goods and services
- Recycling – doing our best to reduce waste in all our offices
- Transport – reducing travel where possible or choosing low carbon options
- Efficiency – reducing our carbon emissions in ways such as investment in energy efficient lighting
- Operations – designing project activities to minimise carbon emissions whilst ensuring effective delivery
Spotlight on Andrew
Andrew is a Senior Data Analyst at Practical Action. He’s using the power of small to change the bigger picture.
After becoming more aware of our family’s impact on the environment, my wife and I reviewed some of our daily habits. I was really surprised to see how by making some small changes we have noticeably reduced our household waste:
- Baby Wipes – Having 2 toddlers, baby wipes were a regular purchase but we now use machine washable, re-useable bamboo wipes. That saves around 2,500 from going to waste each year
- Plastic bottles – we now use reusable water bottles and have switched from supermarket plastic milk bottles to a local milk delivery in glass bottles. Combined with other alternatives we’ve adopted, we’re saving over 1,000 bottles per year
- Buy local, buy packaging free – we’re avoiding supermarkets as much as possible in favour of a local refill shop which stocks everyday essentials such as pasta, cereals, spices and washing detergent. We’ve also switched to buying our fruit & vegetables from the local market & farm shops
There is no doubt that it is a challenge to reduce plastic use and buying locally comes at a higher price. But we are combatting the increase in cost by being more resourceful with what we have and a hope that the small changes that we all could make might influence bigger brands and supermarkets to deliver environmentally conscious change on a bigger scale.