Context
Sue Proof was started in 2008. A continuing aim of the company since the start has been to keep its carbon footprint to a minimum. I work from a home office, so there is no commute.
General principles
- Business is conducted in compliance with relevant environmental legislation.
- Performance is monitored and reviewed.
Travel decision-making hierarchy
- See whether the need to travel can be eliminated, for example, by use of communications technology; if not …
- walk or cycle if distance and time permit, but if this isn’t practical …
- travel by train or bus if a convenient service exists which may be used with minimum covid risk – for example, at a quiet time of day; however, if a convenient service only starts part-way to the destination …
- combine methods of transport to ensure minimum car use, but if a car must be used for the whole trip …
- share a car if the opportunity arises, and/or …
- try to combine several tasks per trip, and then, only when there is no alternative …
- travel solo the whole journey by car as a last resort, but, whatever the circumstances …
- never fly.
Energy use
- The workstation is located to make best use of natural light.
- Draft exclusion and warm clothes are deployed to minimise energy requirements.
- The office is only heated during work hours.
- The main office heater is an infra-red heater, which is more energy efficient that convection or radiation heaters.
- Business energy requirements are powered by electricity from 100% renewable sources – the energy supplier is Good Energy. (There is no mains gas where Sue Proof is located.)
- The premises is fitted with a smart meter.
- No electrical equipment is left switched on, even in standby mode, when not in use.
- Web browsers are closed when not in use.
- The use of cloud storage and cloud computing is kept to a minimum.
- Business energy requirements are powered by electricity from 100% renewable sources – the energy supplier is Good Energy. (There is no mains gas where Sue Proof is located.)
- The premises is fitted with a smart meter.
Water use
- The nature of the business means no water is used for business purposes beyond toilet flushing, hand washing and tea making.
- The premises is fitted with a water meter.
Paper use hierarchy and printer ink cartridge disposal
- Print as little as possible, but where it’s necessary to print …
- print on both sides of the paper, and
- arrange text to use as few pages as possible, and, if it’s not for presentation …
- use the printer in draft/economy mode.
- Only when paper has been used on both sides and is waste, use for other purposes and/or recycle.
- Exhausted printer ink cartridges are recycled through the Cats Protection League charity fundraising scheme.
Other waste
- There is not much waste from the business; the waste that arises is disposed of in an environmentally responsible way.
From time to time I may change this statement by updating this page. You should regularly check this page to ensure that you are happy with any changes. The date of the last revision was: 17 January 2023.