Catch up on our World Environment Day webinar
On Wednesday 5 June, World Environment Day, we hosted a webinar to talk about GC's net zero commitments and how we can all get involved. If you missed it, you can watch the recording below.
Highlights
During the webinar, colleagues had the opportunity to get involved and share their thoughts and ideas.
Qustion 1 - Which bracket does your carbon footprint fall in?
The most popular response was 8-10 tonnes with 36 participants falling into this category, followed by 10 - 13 tonnes with 26 responses.
Qustion 1 - From your carbon footprint results, which one had the highest percentage?
The most popular response was Travel, with 44 participants, followed by Home (27), Food (9) and Stuff (2).
Qustion 3 - How do you feel about your carbon footprint?
Colleague reponses can be seen in the word cloud above, most common answers include surprised, responsible, guilty, anxious and worried.
Qustion 4 - What is your Carbon Literacy Pledge?
Colleague reponses can be seen in the word cloud above, most common answers include public transport, walk more, reduce food waste, less eating out and plant based lunches.
Q&A
Should I be aiming to make every journey by public transport, or is there any guidance/rule of thumb about at what point it makes more sense to drive?
Commuting is one of our highest emitting areas, highlighting potential for great impact. However, when encouraging colleagues to choose public transport > car, we want to make sure we are doing so in an inclusive and realistic manner, and empower them to make the most achievable changes.
There are a number of things to consider:
- Is this a single-occupant car journey? Driving by car may be more appropriate if the vehicle is at full capacity for the duration of that journey (eg. driving your children to school)
- Check out car-sharing! If any colleagues live nearby, consider driving to the office together.
- Sustainability vs well-being perspective. If your journey time would double/triple when commuting, this may have a detriment to your quality of life and spare time. You may also struggle taking public transport due to added stress and sensory overload.
- If commuting to work by public transport is not possible, why not try doing so on the weekends, or even on holiday?
In a nutshell, we highly encourage colleagues to use public transportation as much as possible, yet we understand it is not always a possibility.
I need help with my pledge, who can I contact?
For pledge support, colleagues can come along to a Team Green meeting to discuss. Email teamgreen@growthco.uk for an invite. Alternatively, email Lola Wiseberg (lola@greeneconomy.co.uk) for support from our Team Green Carbon Literacy support volunteers.
Do we measure Carbon footprint per capita - per employee or per £turnover?
We current normalise our carbon footprint against a number of intensity ratios; floor area, FTE and turnover. This enables GC to de-couple growth from our carbon emissions. As the business increases the number of contracts then this will see an increase in colleagues, new sites and energy use, however, comparing our carbon emissions against these ratios enables GC to understand whether our overall environmental impact is going up or down in response.
How can I find out more about home upgrades?
Most local authorities have schemes to offer support and advice to residents about how to reduce their energy bills and whether they qualify for free or discounted home upgrades. You can find out more about some of those schemes here.