The warmest January on record and the severe floods in many parts of the UK are just two recent reminders of the ongoing climate crisis and the need for urgent action. Businesses can play an important part in tackling global warming (e.g. meeting the targets of the Paris Agreement), so this month we thought we’d share with you what we’re doing here at DataSalon.
Remote working: All our staff work from home, removing the need for commuting. We don’t need air conditioning to counteract the heat generated by lots of computers and people in one place, and we avoid the sort of waste often seen in offices, such as paper towels in toilets or vending machines full of packaged snacks.
Video conferencing: Many of our business meetings and training sessions take place online, minimizing travel – and with the number of US clients we have that’s a big carbon saving on flights. When we do need to travel, we use public transport or cycle when it’s possible and try to organise car shares when it isn’t.
Paperless office: Documents are shared electronically and invoices sent by email. Of course, digitization is also important to us from the viewpoint of efficiency and security, but it does have considerable environmental benefits.
Support for green causes: We support environmental charities – our Christmas donation was to Friends of the Earth. Employees also manage their own pension funds, allowing them to invest ethically and avoid companies guilty of environmental abuse.
Individual initiatives: Many of our employees eat a vegetarian diet, some growing their own food – another advantage of working from home is that you can get out and tend the veg patch in your lunch hour! And we take part in environmental action – from attending climate strikes to lobbying supermarkets to clean up their act.
We’re always looking for more ways to reduce our carbon footprint, so if you have any good tips to share then we’d love to hear from you!
The DataSalon Blog 