For more than 10 years we’ve strived to accelerate the adoption of sustainable IT, and help our customers embrace the principles of circularity. Whether that be identifying opportunities for the use of refreshed or remanufactured technology, extending the life of existing infrastructure, or extracting the additional value of assets through ethical end of life strategies.
We’ve always felt that it’s crucial to not simply pay lip service to the practices we preach, which is why we’ve consistently looked to apply the same sustainable approaches we deliver to our customers throughout every facet of our own business.
In recent times, we’ve embarked on some bold plans. We realise that no one is born with a passion for these principles, they build it. That’s why we’ve taken the step of setting our own goals and initiatives around sustainability and have handed responsibilities to every member of our team to help us on our way.
At heart of this is our ambition to become carbon neutral by 2022. It’s an aggressive target but we’ve already seen it as a galvanising force across our team. For that reason, we’d like to share the reasons why we settled for this target, and highlight some of the initial steps we’ve already taken.
Why is this important?
Since the mid-20th century scientists have identified the greenhouse effect as the cause of the unprecedented increase in global temperatures.
Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, gather in the earth’s atmosphere. As heat rises from the earth’s surface, these gases block its release into the upper atmosphere and beyond, bouncing the heat back towards our planet causing the temperature to increase over time.
In recent decades the release of these gases has only become more evident, with the actions and activities of a growing global population only serving to exacerbate the situation.
The global temperature increase over the last 50 years has already led to some significant environmental impacts, creating unpredictable weather conditions, destroying the natural habitats of various groups of wildlife, and melting the polar ice caps.
Left unchecked, the damage done could be irreversible, which is why we see the need to act now.
The first steps on our carbon neutral journey
Despite the already measurable impact of climate change, it’s not too late to make a positive impact.
No one person or business can hope to tackle the global climate crisis alone, but by making small efforts and changes, we can all contribute to a much greater outcome.
That’s why we are proactively identifying opportunities to make small changes within our businesses, in the hope that these positive actions will amount to a more significant return.
Our approach is guided by the knowledge and insights of carbonneutral.com, an external organisation that we are partnering with to support us as we strive to meet our objectives. Together, we have assessed every element of our business and balanced an achievable runway with something that also felt like it could be a stretch to arrive at a carbon neutral position. Pioneering sustainability in IT, we felt strongly we must lead by example, so rather than kicking a target into the long grass, we wanted to strive for something that actually isn’t that far off and can prove what’s possible with a concentrated effort.
It goes without saying that we were already operating our own IT in the same way we advocate to others, but we needed to extend these principles into all areas of our business. As an example of the steps we’ve already taken, one of our first actions was to find an alternative energy supplier, one that could deliver a genuinely sustainable offering through renewable energy sources and carbon neutral supply. Crucially, we appreciate that it cannot be sustainability at all costs and also focused on how we could achieve this without hampering the quality of service or commercials.
A seemingly simple task has proven more challenging than we anticipated as we wanted proof that the energy we would receive was genuinely sustainable. Digging deeper, many mainstream providers simply couldn’t produce the evidence we needed, after some hard work and due diligence from the team, we identified a credible supplier that delivered on all our requirements.
It’s a great example of the balancing act necessary as we look closer at the operation of our business to achieve our carbon neutral target. Therefore, as our attention shifts to our recycling processes, reassessing our disposal of delivery pallets in our warehouse, or even something as simple as finding eco-friendly and sustainable janitorial supplies, we will inevitably make more concessions along the way to do what is right for the business and the environment.
Climate change and sustainability have rightfully become key focuses for many businesses in recent times, and many organisations have made claims and set targets to support this. However, while there are many who are genuinely committed to these changes, greenwashing is also very prevalent as organisations make claims that are not supported by their actions.
We hope that by not only setting our own goals, but sharing the first steps in our journey, we can deliver the positive outcomes we seek and inspire others to follow suit.
As we continue to embark on our journey, we’ll keep you updated on our progress. Equally, we know that finding the balance between suitability, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability is a decision that many organisations face as they look to review their own approach. This includes strategies in areas such as IT, and we are here to help your business implement more sustainable technology as you look to meet your own environmental objectives by guiding the adoption of a circular approach.
To learn more about our own goals, the steps we’ve taken so far, or how we could help you with the implementation of a more sustainable IT strategy, feel free to get in touch.
