Author: BEBAWP

Thames Chase Trust encourages all businesses in Brentwood to engage with the Community Forest

Why did you sign the Pledge?

We are Thames Chase Trust, a charitable body responsible for 40 square miles of Community Forest on the edge of east London and south-west Essex known as Thames Chase Community Forest.  The northern part of Thames Chase is located in the borough of Brentwood and Brentwood Borough Council has been a long-standing partner in the Community Forest. Thames Chase Trust is represented on the BEBA Board to increase awareness to the Community Forest and to find ways in which the Forest can help businesses in Brentwood achieve their commitment to going green.

What changes are you making within your business?

The environment is at the core of our business. Thames Chase Community Forest has been transforming landscapes and transforming lives since 1990. On a daily basis, Thames Chase Trust continues to take steps to make our operations more sustainable, whether this be using digital services to reduce paper usage, or encouraging recycling not only of office materials but also food waste which is placed into our composting system for use in our Community Tree Nursery.

The Thames Chase Forest Centre is accessible by public transport, has facilities for cycle parking, and Thames Chase Trust has also installed an electric car charging point for staff. In addition to planting in excess of 1.3 million trees, creating or restoring over 41km of hedgerows, and in excess of 800 hectares of non-woodland habitat since 1990, Thames Chase also actively encourages walking and cycling across the Community Forest with the Forest Circle now in place providing a contiguous circular walking route around the 40 square miles of the Forest.

Ground Control Ltd, a grounds maintenance firm, is committed to enhancing the physical environment

Why did you sign the Pledge?

The green pledge really aligns to values and sustainability commitments at Ground Control. We create better landscapes, nurture natural environments and construct spaces that bring people, places and the planet together. We are committed to enhancing and improving the physical environment with a vision to leave the World in a better place than we found it. As a large local employer based in Billericay we want to share the experiences of our carbon and wider environmental journey with other local business so we can learn and grow together to make Braintree a better place to live, work and play.

What changes are you making within your business?

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do and we are focusing of four key areas where we feel we can make a difference.

• Delivering biodiversity enhancements
• Achieving carbon net zero
• Sourcing and using materials responsibly
• Delivering social value in the communities where we work.

At Ground Control we were very proud to be certified as carbon neutral in 2021 by the Carbon Trust. However, we recognise to make a real difference we must be carbon net zero and play our part in preventing global temperatures from rising above 1.5^oC. As such we have formally committed to setting Science Based Targets and with the help of the Carbon Trust have recently calculated our full carbon footprint including those within our supply chain (scope 3)

Our primary focus so far has been on reducing the emissions in our direct operations:

• We have switched to 100% renewable electricity supply
• We are converting our fleet to fully electric and currently operate the largest Tesla fleet in Europe
• We are converting our hand tools to battery powered and are using robotic mowers in places such as the Tower of London
• We are incentivising our employees to switch to a renewable electricity supplier

We are incredibly proud of our Evergreen Fund, that dedicates 5% of our annual net profits to supporting environmental initiatives and carbon sequestration. This includes planting 1 million trees by 2025, much of which will be at our 296 acre Wildfell Centre for Environmental Recovery.

Axis Europe specialise in the improvement and maintenance of Housing, Heritage, Education, Public and Commercial properties.

Why did you sign the Pledge?

Axis Europe specialise in the improvement and maintenance of Housing, Heritage, Education, Public and Commercial properties. We are dedicated to improving the living conditions of people’s housing and the environment we live and work in. We signed the pledge to do better and encourage others to join us on our journey.

What changes are you making within your business?

Last year was a big step for Axis. We mapped out our entire carbon footprint and put in tangible reduction goals to ensure we are on track to Net Zero by 2050. We have ensured all our paintbrushes are carbon neutral and eco-friendly, recycled every paint can we use and increased our diversion to landfill rate to 97%. As a company we have began planting trees for every employee who has done their first year at Axis and we are on track to plant our 1000^th tree!

We know there is a very long way to go to have a real tangible impact on the environment and to see large scale emission reduction. That is why we have begun to electrify are fleet and phase out gas use in our offices. We know there is a big challenge ahead, but we are very excited to tackle it.

Zest Recycle, a recycling and waste management company, is dedicated to helping businesses make green choices

Why did you sign the Pledge?

Here at Zest Recycle, positive environmental actions truly sit at the heart of what we do, so signing the pledge was a natural choice for us. We believe that, by making connections, finding solutions, and building partnerships, we can help businesses to develop sustainable waste management practices. Through our partnership with BEBA, we can help businesses develop bespoke resource management plans and optimise processes so that they are good for both our clients and the environment.

What changes are you making within your business?

We have recently joined the Good Business Charter, which demonstrates our commitment to environmental responsibility in the way in which we conduct our business and in setting a path to net-zero carbon.

We have also recently become a Gold Investor in Wildlife, Corporate Member for the Essex Wildlife Trust, the county’s leading conservation charity. They are committed to protecting wildlife, inspiring a lifelong love of nature, and tackling the current climate crisis.

Our latest accreditation includes our membership to the Living Wage Foundation, committing us as a business to pay our employees a real living wage and not just the minimum standards set by the government, now and moving forward.

In terms of our business operations, we are currently in the process of moving our company vehicles to electric vehicles to minimise carbon emissions wherever possible. We are also holding meetings virtually whenever we can, to minimise the amount of avoidable travel required, and to reduce our staff members’ carbon footprint. We are also gradually switching to paperless working by embedding more sustainable working practices and becoming more digitally focused.

One of the key components of our business model is that our services are delivered through a network of regional, specialised supply chain partners, meaning we can provide our customers with sustainable solutions that work for them and their unique circumstances, looking to minimise waste miles wherever possible for our clients and help them reduce our clients’ carbon footprint.

The service we provide to our customers are operated in line with the Waste Hierarchy principle meaning that we aim to prevent and reduce waste wherever possible, for instance, we have partnered with Reyooz.com, which provides a sustainable reuse option for office furniture.

We have several green initiatives throughout the council, with more coming soon.

Why did you sign the Pledge?

One of our five themes of our corporate strategy is protecting the environment. By signing the pledge, we are showing our commitment to this, and hope to work with businesses within the Borough to make a big difference on both a local and global level..

What changes are you making within your business?

Brentwood Borough Council is taking both large and small steps to become more sustainable. From banning single-use plastics in our offices to investing in new electric vehicles, we are always looking for sustainable solutions for the day-to-day running of the council.

As a local employer, we are keen to educate our staff into living more sustainable lifestyles and as such have produced an e-learning platform for all staff to use.

We have also developed a draft environment strategy which highlights the key areas to reduce our environmental impact. We will be sending this out for consultation in the coming months because as a local authority, it is key that our residents and businesses support and have an opportunity to have their say on our environmental initiatives and plans.

Business advisors, Newton Wright Advisors, pledge to help the local community reduce its carbon footprint

Why did you sign the Pledge?

I am a business advisor. I help organisations with two key aspects: one, their strategy and transformational change; and, two, measuring and reducing their carbon footprint. I conduct these activities through Newton Wright Advisors (strategy) and my affiliation with the 100-strong Auditel network (carbon footprint & cost management). I strongly believe that we all have a responsibility to do as much as we can to make our planet sustainable for future generations, no matter the size of our business. As a Brentwood local for over 20 years, I was keen to help our local community with sharing some of my experience and knowledge in sustainability and carbon footprint reduction.

What changes are you making within your business?

My business is a micro-business with my office based in my home, so in many ways, the changes I make are intertwined with those made in the home. From an energy consumption perspective, I’ve moved to renewable energy for electricity (or so I am told by the energy company), my technology is cloud-based (though I am still trying to get information on carbon emissions from my provider), I follow good energy efficiency measures (e.g. turning off all technology and lighting). From a materials perspective, I am paper-free for my own office and when necessary use recyclable materials for documents to clients. From a transport perspective, I use public transport when I can, but I will also be transitioning to an electric vehicle by the end of Q3. In working with clients, even when not specifically on carbon footprint projects, I can’t help myself but try to shift mindset to carbon emission reduction.

Baker Labels is the leading UK trade label manufacturer focused on improving their green credentials

Why did you sign the Pledge?

We are a manufacturer of self-adhesive labels and flexible packaging, with a large production facility in Brentwood. We are conscious of using a lot of energy and creating a fair amount of waste during our production processes. Although there are ways to reduce some of the waste we produce, there will always be a lot – it is unavoidable. We started a journey to look into offsetting anything we couldn’t avoid. During this process we discovered there is a lot more we can do in other areas of the business.

By signing the pledge we are committing to improving our environmental credentials, and to learning as much as we can about how to be more sustainable in all areas of the business. As well as being good for the planet, we know it will also be good for the business.

We hope to attract new business from customers looking for greener suppliers as well as build on the relationships we have with new products. Our employee wellbeing program is a valuable part of the success of our business and working for a company that cares about the environment and the planet we live on feels good. Staff appreciate the effort and can be proud to be part of it going forward.

What changes are you making within your business?

We started by first ensuring we used a green energy supplier, so all our electricity is supplied from a renewable source. Our waste is now “Zero to Landfill” and we recycle / repurpose as much as possible. This includes sending our large cardboard cores to wildlife sanctuaries for animal enrichment programs.

 Within our facility we have made a number of changes:

• We now only use LED lightings, all of which automatically switch off when there is no activity
• Plastic curtains installed over our despatch and delivery doors to minimise loss of heat
• Insulating and maintaining our roof areas to reduce heating costs
• Installed an EV charge point in our staff car park
• Fully digital admin process where we only print what is absolutely necessary.

Although we have made a number of valuable steps, we are still in the early stages of our sustainability project. We have plans to measure and subsequently reduce our carbon footprint to work towards becoming carbon neutral. Discovering and embracing new technologies and ways to reduce our carbon footprint is a very interesting journey for all of us.