Last year we committed to planting trees on behalf of our clients, upon completion on a project of work. To date this initiative has seen us plant 1,900 trees in the UK and across the globe.
It’s not something we choose to shout too loudly about as we weren’t on a mission to “save the planet” – and the last thing we’d want to do is try and greenwash anyone.
“Greenwashing is where a company uses advertising and public messaging to appear more climate friendly and environmentally sustainable than it really is. It’s also a technique used by certain companies to distract consumers…
Companies have a real financial incentive to appear sustainable and socially conscious. It can be seen in advertising, sponsorship and public messaging in the media and on social media”
– Climate Earth
The project completion/planting initiative was a nice aside we chose to do on behalf of our clients, and we were happy with that.
Innovation with a heart
Earlier this year however, we made the conscious decision that it was time to up our game. We felt as a group we could do more and we should step up our efforts to offset the impact we make to our environment.
‘Innovation with a heart ‘ is one of our core values, it means we use engineering as a force for good, we don’t get involved with projects that may result in causing harm to people, animals or our environment. We asked ourselves, as a business, is this enough?
The answer was “no”.
So, a few months ago we started a partnership with Ecologi.
Ecologi
Based on various metrics, including commuting, business miles, power consumption (through office working and working from home), we calculated a monthly contribution that will offset the carbon footprint we as a business leave, and then we added little more – just to be sure.
Through Ecologi’s various initiatives we will be planting trees around the world and help fund a range of certified carbon avoidance projects.
To date, Ecologi’s 40,602 members have contributed to funding 65.8 million trees and have helped to avoid 2.7 million tonnes of CO2e. We’re pleased to announce that we’re assisting them, to help our planet with simple and impactful climate solutions.
What’s next?
While we feel this is a great big step in the right direction, we’re not resting on our laurels just yet. Over the next six months we’ll be assessing all aspects of how we run our business, from cleaning supplies to energy consumption, EV schemes to waste disposal.
If there’s more we can do to reduce our impact we’ll make it happen.
If you’d like to keep an eye on our progress, you can visit our forest here.