BioRegional Development Group One Planet Action Plan Report for 2011 Table of contents Foreword from Chief Executive...
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BioRegional Development Group One Planet Action Plan Report for 2011
Table of contents Foreword from Chief Executive ............................................................................................................................................................................................. ..3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................4 How the action plan works ......................................................................................................................................................................................................6 BioRegional’s ecological footprint........................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Highlighted performance and successes from the past year - 2011 .........................................................................................................................................8 Zero Carbon ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Zero Waste ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Sustainable Transport ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Sustainable Materials............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 18 Local and Sustainable Food .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 21 Sustainable water ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 24 Land and Wildlife .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 27 Culture and heritage ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 31 Local Economy and Equity .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 34 Health and Happiness ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 37 Targets and Plans for 2012 .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 39
Foreword from Chief Executive Demonstrating truly sustainable ways of living and doing business is our raison d’être. We developed the one planet living approach and process to make it easier to understand, design and deliver sustainability. Having a One Planet Action Plan such as this is an important part of the process and naturally we want to use it ourselves as well as make it available for others to use. This plan helps us to use the earth’s resources more wisely, develop a fair and green economy and a better quality of life. It sounds like motherhood and apple pie. But it really does work. Try it! You will see in our plan that we have made some great strides and are doing much better than best practice in many areas. But we want to achieve one planet living and we still have some tough targets to meet. This plan is an important guide to help us to reach them and we review it during the year and publish it annually. You should find it interesting to read and it may give you some ideas for what you can do. If you have any solutions to help us do better we’d also love to hear about them. We could not deliver on this plan without the inspired hard work of the ten one planet champions and so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them here. Thank you.
Sue Riddlestone Chief Executive & co-founder, BioRegional
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Introduction One planet living is a vision of a sustainable world where people lead healthy, happy lives within their fair share of the earth's resources. We are demonstrating our commitment to this vision by implementing this action plan, so that we embed sustainability in our organisation's culture and mission. Global Footprint Network and WWF’s Living Planet Report shows how the rate at which people are consuming natural resources and polluting the environment, our “ecological footprint”, is rising exponentially. Globally we’re consuming resources and polluting the planet at a level forty per cent higher than the earth can renew or absorb. Left unchecked, this will undermine the foundations of life for hundreds of millions of people around the world – access to water, food production, health and shelter. BioRegional runs the One Planet Living programme - a movement that aims to create a 'tipping point' by 2012 where current unsustainable trends are reversed. The 10 principles of One Planet Living (as laid out on the next page) can be used as a framework to take action for a sustainable future.
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Zero carbon
making buildings more energy efficient and delivering all energy with renewable technologies
Zero waste
reducing waste, reusing where possible, and ultimately sending zero waste to landfill
Sustainable transport
encouraging low carbon modes of transport to reduce emissions, reducing the need to travel
Sustainable materials
using sustainable and healthy products, such as those with low embodied energy, sourced locally, made from renewable or waste resources
Local and sustainable food
choosing low impact, local, seasonal and organic diets and reducing food waste
Sustainable water
using water more efficiently in buildings and in the products we buy; tackling local flooding and water course pollution
Land use and wildlife
protecting and restoring existing biodiversity and natural habitats through appropriate land use and integration into the built environment
Culture and heritage
reviving local identity and wisdom; support ing and participating in the arts
Equity and local economy Health and happiness
creating bioregional economies that support fair employment, inclusive communities and international fair trade encouraging active, sociable, meaningful lives to promote good health and well being
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How the action plan works Amy Hammond leads on the implementation of this action plan, supported by champions for each one planet living principle: Zero Carbon Joanna Marshall Cook Zero Waste Ben Gill Sustainable Transport Anna Francis Local and Sustainable Materials Tom Hill Local and Sustainable Food Seeta Rajani Sustainable Water Daisy Chen Natural Habitats and Land Use Jennie Organ Culture and Heritage Isabel Wreford Equity and Local Economy Freya Seath Health and Happiness Sam Smith Each month is devoted to one of the 10 principles, with a break in August and December. Each month’s activities and new initiatives for the year are defined in advance. The progress made for each principle is reported in this review. A summary is provided for BioRegional’s annual report. Procurement is coordinated by Samantha Grant (general office and IT) and Claire Murden (food and kitchen).
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BioRegional’s ecological footprint In 2007/08 BioRegional’s UK office footprint was calculated to be approximately 48.3gha, which equates to 1.84gha per full time equivalent staff member; this includes the impact of goods, transport to and for work, the building footprint, energy and some food. Whilst this footprint compares very well to many of the best practice standards for organisations of our size, given that the One Planet level is 1.8gha per person for all activities, it is clear that we will need to do further work towards reducing our impact to the sustainable level. The table below outlines the main components of our footprint. It is worth noting that the food element only includes light refreshments such as tea, coffee and milk etc. (the impact of food is explored in further detail later in the document). As can be seen, procurement and transport for work are our biggest impacts.
EF/employee/year 0.6 0.5
GHa
0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 building
-0.1
energy
transport transport to w ork for w ork
food
goods
recycling
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Highlighted performance and successes from the past year - 2011 This section summarises our performance and picks out a few highlights from the year. The following pages display the full review of the year’s activities. In our offices at BedZED we consume 55% less energy than a typical office and 30% less energy than is good practice. A month of behaviour change activities in 2011 led to a further 6% decrease in our electricity consumption which has since been maintained. A waste audit showed each worker produces 1.4kg of waste/week. This is 60-85% lower than typical London offices. We are achieving an 81% diversion of this waste from landfill through recycling and composting. So just 15kg is going to landfill per worker per year. This was a slight increase since the 2007 waste audit when we achieved 1.2kgs and an 84% diversion, but we have increased composting by 45% in 2011. 97% of employees are cycling, walking or using public transport for travel to and from work and for work related travel in UK and nearby EU countries. As our international work grows, the challenging area is travel for work outside the EU where we have to fly. To further encourage cycling, staff enjoyed various cycling activities such as the Dunwich Dynamo (a 130 mile overnight bike ride) and cycle confidence sessions. We are using the Mayor’s green procurement code and continue to review and improve the sustainability of all goods procured. We also make our equipment last as long as possible before recycling. In 2011 a DVD re-use club was set up. Staff lunch and catering for events is prepared on site from local, seasonal, organic, free range and fair trade ingredients. All food is vegetarian or vegan. We enjoyed a whole week of delicious vegan meals and have started growing our own herbs on site. We have reduced our water consumption by a further 2% and are now using 3,461 litres per employee per year which is 40% less water than the best practice standard. We have a Biodiversity Action Plan for our garden and flower beds around the office which we have started to monitor. Staff have learnt how to create wildlife habitats in their outdoor spaces and 15 people made bug hotels. BioRegional staff volunteer in the local community through the Lavender field, Sutton Community Farm, Beddington Farm bird group and Hackbridge Neighbourhood Planning group. A programme of skills-sharing events is now in place in the office which includes cooking, crafts, cycle maintenance, safe cycling and languages. We are a London Living Wage employer. We introduced disabled access to the exhibition and are working with local schools. Five new Fair Trade products are now being procured for the office and lunch club, these include; sugar, rice, biscuits, peanut butter and chocolate spread. In 2011 we organised lunchtime walks, a guitar club and pub trips. Our overall annual happiness score has increased from 3.88 to 4.00 which means we achieved our target this year. Page 8
Zero Carbon Making buildings more energy efficient and delivering all energy with renewable technologies
November 2011 Context BioRegional already performs very well in terms of energy consumption because it is based at BedZED (low energy building design). Our staff are also aware of the need to reduce energy use, so are more likely to turn lights and equipment off when they aren’t being used. The 2011 chart below shows that BioRegional uses significantly less electricity than the Carbon Trust’s best practice target.
We currently use 1,121kWh/employee/year. The PV cells at BedZED are designed to produce 20% of the site’s electricity. The remainder of our energy comes from fossil fuel sources.
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Targets and Indicators The table below shows what BioRegional’s targets are for this principle and what indicators are used to track our progress towards achieving them. Target
Indicator
Reduce our electricity consumption to 82 kWh/m2/year (1000 kWh/employee/year) Support Peabody in investigating opportunities for Green Tariff at BedZED
kWh/employee/year kWh/m2/year Yes/ no
Ensure a low carbon heat supply is sourced for BedZED
Yes/no
Identify PV output from BedZED
kWh/year
Find way of monitoring office’s heat consumption
kWh/employee/year kWh/m2/year
Campaign Actions for 2011 The following activities were carried out across the year to build upon BioRegional’s existing achievements with regards to zero carbon. Actions
Notes
When?
Prepare and deliver a presentation
Workshop on energy funding/incentives available to potential clients
24th November.
Do a switch off equipment day once a week for the zero carbon month
The zero carbon champion will go round at the end of each day and put red stickers on people who have not turned off their equipment and provide fair trade vegan chocolates to those who have turned off the equipment.
On an undisclosed day once a week for the whole zero carbon month (November).
Electricity competition
There is a separate meter for the front and back office. Run a competition between the front and back office as to who can reduce the energy consumption most compared to the same month last year.
November.
“How are we doing” email once a month
Send out an email to everyone saying whether we have reduced our electricity
1st of each month.
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consumption compared to the same month last year. The idea will be to encourage people to save more energy. Electricity monitoring
Take electricity reading manually.
1st of each month.
Summary of Zero Carbon month All tasks in the zero carbon month campaign were completed: 1. Presentation on funding initiatives for energy efficiency and renewable energy measures was completed, 16 staff attended. 2. The switch off spot checks and competition was successful reducing electricity consumption by 6% overall. Most staff are now turning their computers off at the plug at night, using the sleep function at lunch time and switching their monitors off when they are not at their desks. 3. The electricity consumption competition between the front and back office was completed, the back office won, as they reduced their electricity consumption by 13%. 4. The heat meter for the office has been identified and heat consumption data is now being collected.
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Zero Waste Reducing waste arisings, reusing where possible, and ultimately sending zero waste to landfill.
April 2011 Context BioRegional conducted a waste audit for the office in 2007. The audit found that each BioRegional worker was producing approximately 1.18 kg of waste per week. This compares to a 1994 study of London offices which suggests 3.69 kg per worker per week, and a more recent study of the financial services industry which suggest 9.54 kg per worker per week. The main waste streams in the bin were non-recyclable plastics and food waste. We were achieving 84% diversion from landfill. (62% recycled/ 23% composted/ 16% landfill).
Targets and Indicators The table below shows what BioRegional’s targets are for this principle and what indicators are used to track our progress towards achieving them. Target
Indicator
Reduce waste to 40kg/employee/year by end 09/10.
Kg/employee/year.
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Increase recycling and composting to 90% by weight by end 09/10.
% recycled and composted.
Campaign Actions for 2011 The following activities were carried out across the year to build upon BioRegional’s existing achievements with regards to zero waste. Actions
Notes
When
Become fully aware of what waste we’re producing and where it currently goes.
Waste audit
April
Decrease overall amount of waste produced by office by time of October audit.
Waste audit
Between April and October
Increase rates of recycling and composting by the time of audit in October.
Waste audit
Between April and October
Carry out waste audit • Kg waste (landfill) • Kg waste (recycled) • Kg paper recycled • Kg waste composted
Need to discuss logistics of when and how this can be done with Sam. This will give us; • Amount of waste/ employee/ year • % waste diverted from landfill • % reduction in waste produced from 07/08 and April 11
April and October
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Actions
Notes
When
Review bin labelling and communications to help with behaviour change
April
Start twice annual stationary amnesty
April and October
No Impact Day - zero waste to landfill
Promote through emails, posters and word-ofmouth with lots of ideas. Run on a Friday – Staff wear clothes they haven’t worn for 6 months and aim to produce zero waste to landfill for 24 hours. Collect stories and experiences during and afterwards.
April
Run waste seminar
Going to do short film, followed by discussion. Potential topics being No Impact Day, Cradle-tocradle. Also ask staff for ideas on reducing waste.
April
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Summary of Zero Waste month All tasks in the April campaign were achieved: •
•
The waste audit found that: o
Each employee now produces 1.4 kg of waste per week. This is an increase on 2007’s results but is still far below the London average.
o
We divert 81 % of our waste away from landfill. This is slightly lower than in 2007.
o
We have increased our rate of composting by 20%.
We have become fully aware of what waste we’re producing and where it currently goes. A workshop was delivered to staff which clarified our waste system. New, colourful signage on bins has been introduced.
•
We held a stationary amnesty which brought lots of dormant stationary back into use.
•
We held a No Impact Day, which challenged staff to send zero waste to landfill by removing individual office bins.
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Sustainable Transport Reducing the need to travel and using low carbon modes to reduce emissions
July 2011 Context Transport is the second largest component of BioRegional’s ecological footprint and is a vital area to address. We already employ a range of strategies to reduce our transport related impact: from teleconferencing to financial incentives for cycling to work related events, and recently offered the Cycle to Work scheme that enabled five staff to purchase tax free bicycles. Staff and visitors can use our shower in the office, store towels and dry clothes here, and use a range of secure cycle parking facilities. Staff can also use one of two pool bikes and the City Car Club cars parked at BedZED. Flying is by far the largest related impact and will be part of the focus of sustainable transport month.
Targets and Indicators The table below shows what BioRegional’s targets are for this principle and what indicators are used to track our progress towards achieving them. Target
Indicator
Increase the number of people who cycle to work.
Number of people who cycle to work.
Decrease the number of flights made for business.
Number of flights made.
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Campaign Actions for 2011 The following activities were carried out across the year to build upon BioRegional’s existing achievements with regards to sustainable transport. Actions
Notes
When
Transport seminar
Including update from Sam re new expenses form
Thursday 2nd June
Measure baseline data
Sam developed a template. We must monitor all flights.
30th June
Update transport strategy
Anna to circulate transport survey and update strategy
By end of June
Weekly cycle home
Every Thursday in June
Bike maintenance session
Run by Phil and Jane
June
Cycle confidence class
Run by Phil
June
Walk from work event
Walk back from work to Tulse Hill (via the pub?!)
June
Join London cycling competition
June
Dunwich dynamo campaign
Catherine coordinating
June
Transport pledges
Transport pledges to be written after / during sustainable transport seminar
June 3rd
Post completion project summary All actions were completed. A new expense form has been designed which enables us to calculate the emissions for each work-related journey we make.
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Sustainable Materials Using products that have a low embodied energy
February 2011
Context Highlights of BioRegional’s existing strategy include signing up to the Mayor’s Green Procurement Code and ensuring that we purchase recycled, sustainable and low impact materials wherever possible. We buy second hand furniture and redecorate our office with natural, low-impact paint. The recent refurbishment of our kitchen used 100% FSC certified wood and other low impact materials. After a review of and research into ICT equipment in the past year, we now only buy equipment with an EPEAT rating of Silver or Gold or from a green supplier that exceeds EPEAT requirements. We also make our equipment last as long as possible before recycling it. We use only local, recycled and recyclable paper for our printing needs. At BioRegional we follow the rule; reclaim, re-use and recycle for all of our purchases and opt for natural biodegradable materials wherever appropriate.
Targets and Indicators The table below shows what BioRegional’s targets are for this principle and what indicators are used to track our progress towards achieving them. Target
Indicator
Reduce the amount of junk mail received.
Number of junk letters received.
Increase the use of scrap-pads
Number of notepads bought.
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Campaign Actions for 2011 The following activities were carried out across the year to build upon BioRegional’s existing achievements with regards to sustainable materials. Actions
Notes
When
Who buys what?
Clarify who is responsible for the following purchases:
January.
•
Cleaning products
•
Stationery
•
Printers
•
Any other major expense
Cleaning materials
Carry out an inventory of all of the products that we use. Explore our use of acids, alkalis, bleaches, solvents and phosphates. Identify the types of packaging materials that are used.
January.
Specific campaigns
Launch a poster campaign outlining general points to consider when buying new products and materials.
Launch in February and continue throughout year.
Envelopes
Campaign to encourage staff to reuse old A4 envelopes for storage and as folders for internal meetings.
Launch in February and continue throughout year.
No Junk Mail
All staff to be provided with ‘Return to Sender’ stickers to help them field unwanted junk mail.
Launch in February and continue throughout year.
DRAG
Set up a DVD Reuse Action Group (DRAG) club. This involves:
Launch in February and continue throughout year.
•
A one off £5 membership fee to fund a basic stock of DVDs (procured from charity shops).
•
An on-going 50p per rental fee (to fund replacement DVDs).
• A sign in/out and movie request sheet. Philippa Ward and Tom Hill to procure DRAG stock.
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Actions
Notes
When
Seminar
The seminar will show a materials related short film such as The Story of Stuff or The Century of Self. This will be followed by a short discussion where the audience can voice any thoughts that they have.
February.
Summary of month All actions were completed. Following on from the Sustainable Materials month, the senior management team (SMT) has agreed to set up a working group to review the organisation’s procurement policies and to decide whether or not to continue pursuing the endorsement under the Mayor’s Green Procurement Code.
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Local and Sustainable Food Reducing waste and choosing low meat, local, seasonal and organic diets
September 2011
Context Since Claire Murden took on the lunch club catering a much greater proportion of our food has been sustainable, for example we bring in fewer preprocessed, highly packaged pots of hummus and quiches. Claire picks up bread from the local Carshalton Village bakery and then goes to the grocer, Country Harvest, to see what is good and in season and then places her order. They then deliver the next day. We do a really big order with Tradecraft for coffee, tea, sugar, biscuits, peanut butter, chocolate spread, hot chocolate and basmati rice. All of these are Fairtrade! Since the lunch club survey Claire has reduced amount of dairy in lunch club meals. Any dairy products which are bought are organic.
Targets and Indicators The table below shows what BioRegional’s targets are for this principle and what indicators are used to track our progress towards achieving them. Target
Indicator
Keep Lunch club local and organic
Proportion of lunch ingredients which are local and organic.
Keep herbs alive on site
Number of herbs used in lunch club which are growing on site.
Continue to buy fair-trade products such as coffee and sugar
Proportion of products which are fair trade.
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Campaign Actions for 2011 The following activities were carried out across the year to build upon BioRegional’s existing achievements with regards to sustainable food. Actions
Notes
When
Presentation
Impact of Food – already delivered by Anna and Seeta. Will repeat if there is interest
September
Bake a cake for Arabella
Have to use a vegetable in the cake
To be baked for the 7th September
Cooking demo by Claire
Speak to Claire – she wants to give a pasta making demo
tbc
Prepare BFF lunch themes
Claire to make her own hummus All food from the farm lunch (Thursday) Have a nice local desert (with pears – local fruit?)
Spetember
Vegan week prep
To reduce environmental impact of BDG food Seeta to give Claire some recipes
Prep in first week of Sept, deliver in second
Apple week
Seeta to source 3-5 different apples and recipes Have a taster day Longest peal competition
Last week September
Claire to prep foods with apple in them: Make hummus from scratch again to reduce waste
Claire will make hummus instead of buying it.
Throughout year.
Herbs to be grown on site
Growing own herbs in the beds by the back office (Claire has all the equipment!)
Throughout year.
• •
Use Compost from the allotment Parsley, coriander, (garlic) chives, dill, (basil), chervil and other potential herbs
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Summary of month All but one of the month’s activities were completed (unfortunately there was not enough time to do the cooking demo, but Claire plans to do this in future). Vegan week was a big success and the winning vegetable recipe was a chocolate and avocado mousse! The herb growing activity will commence in the spring.
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Sustainable water Reducing water usage in buildings and in the products we buy; preventing local flooding and water course pollution
August 2011 Context Due to the water-efficient design of BedZED, water use in the office is reduced, for example, through aerated taps and dual flush toilets. We also have (aerated) showering facilities available for cyclists. In 2009, we replaced the old dishwasher with a more efficient model. We only use tap water in the office and meetings, and generally require this to be the case for meetings we organise in external venues. In 2009/10, we used a total of 117.7 m3 of water including catering. This equates to approximately 3,461 litres per full time equivalent employee per year. In 2010/11, we used a total of 115.6 m3 of water, this equates to approximately 3,398 litres per full time equivalent employee per year. In comparison to year 2009/10, the office water use has been reduced slightly by 63 litres per employee per year. For small offices without catering the target figure is 4,4oo litre, with catering is 5,900 litre1. BioRegional office’s water use includes catering and is lower (better) than the best practice standard.
1
http://www.green-office.org.uk/audit.php?goingto=factsheet5
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Targets and Indicators The table below shows what BioRegional’s targets are for this principle and what indicators are used to track our progress towards achieving them. Target
Indicator
Reduce water consumption to 3,000 litres / employee / year by end 2009/10 (Initial target was 1,500 litre/employee/year without catering, current target has been adjusted to include catering)
Litres / employee
Campaign Actions for 2011 The following activities were carried out across the year to build upon BioRegional’s existing achievements with regards to sustainable water. Actions
Notes
When
Monitor water consumption
Find out last year’s water consumption (Matt/Phil/Stephen);
August and ongoing
Identify areas where we use most water; Set up a monitoring system for office water use (water bills and water meter) Behaviour change campaign
Put up posters in the kitchen, shower and washroom areas as part of campaign to reduce water use.
First week of August
Run water seminar
30min seminar on water footprint and/or plus discussion on how to reduce water consumption and raise water awareness in the offices and at home.
August
20-litre water day
Promote through emails, posters and word-of-mouth with lots of ideas.
TBC
Aim to consume only 20 litres per staff for the day, staff survey forms to monitor the water consumption of the day. Dress in blue
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Actions
Notes
When
World Water Day
Run at least one event during the World Water Day on 22nd March
March
Summary of month Posters have been put up in the kitchen and bathrooms as part of the behaviour change campaign to reduce office water use. A water monitoring strategy has been established. As one of the two water meters is located in the corner of a cupboard (and therefore very difficult to access) the best way to monitor the water consumption is a combination of water meter readings and double checking on the quarterly water bills. The 20 litre day initiative is still outstanding; the water champion is putting a plan in place to ensure the outstanding initiative or similar activities will be carried out in year 2012.
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Land and Wildlife Protecting and expanding old habitats and creating new space for wildlife
May 2011 Context BioRegional’s UK office is based at the BedZED eco-village situated in a suburban area of south London. At the design stage land use and wildlife was considered. The buildings have sedum roofs and 17 different species of spiders were found to be living there 2. The site has a grassy ditch running along the front to deal with water run-off, this is another place that can be managed for biodiversity. There are plant beds around the site; they were almost entirely planted with rosemary and lavender, native species that have a historical connection to the area, however an infestation of rosemary beetles have seen them suffer. Under BioRegional’s direct control is its show home garden’s which we manage to be nature friendly. Looking outside of the estate, a plan for the Wandle Valley Nature Reserve has recently been launched in the area including plans to create a large nature reserve a short distance behind our offices. There may be opportunities for us to support this project. In terms of setting our targets according to a benchmark for offices there is no official standard to follow. For organisations that manage a large estate there is a new standard called Biodiversity Benchmark for Land Management set up by The Wildlife Trusts but this is not suitable for BioRegional which only manages a very small area of land and buildings. So in 2010 we sought free advice from our council’s biodiversity team as to how best consider biodiversity and land management, the team visited our estate and did a basic visual survey. Their recommendations and our chosen actions have been written up into our 2010/11 Biodiversity Action Plan 3.
2 3
http://www.iob.org/downloads/880.pdf ..\..\7 - Land and Wildlife\BioRegional Biodiversity Action Plan 2010.doc
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Progress in this area from 2005, since we formally adopted a One Planet Action Plan: • Planting scheme for nature in the show home gardens • Planting flowers and shrubs in flower beds outside our offices • Clearing ditch at front of site of rubbish and sowing wild flowers there • Making staff aware of local nature events that they can get involved in • Sending information to BedZED residents about how they can garden for wildlife • Continue to source FSC sustainable wood products and low impact cleaning products • In 2010 we developed a Biodiversity Action Plan to action throughout the 2010/11 year
Targets and Indicators The table below shows what BioRegional’s targets are for this principle and what indicators are used to track our progress towards achieving them. Target
Indicator
Enact BioRegional’s Biodiversity Action Plan
Multiple indicators
Campaign Actions for 2011 The following activities were carried out across the year to build upon BioRegional’s existing achievements with regards to land use and wildlife. Actions
Notes
When
Local wildlife photography competition
All staff
May 2011
Seminar: How to manage your outside spaces for wildlife.
All staff invited
May 2011
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Actions
Notes
When
Wildlife monitoring around BedZED during lunch times.
All staff invited
9th – 13th May
Weekend conservation event with local conservation team
All staff invited
May 2011
Build an insect house activity
All staff invited
17th and 18th May
Trip to the Ecology Centre gardens
All staff invited
May 2011
Publish useful fact sheets to the intranet
All staff invited
May 2011
Feed into sports field renovation with particular focus on plants for biodiversity and practical work.
The project is run by the residents and stalled in 10/11. When it picks up again we’ll help.
Ongoing
Carry out a second wildlife survey during a week of lunch times in September, and potentially December.
September and December 2011.
Organise volunteer conservation days in local area
Weekend events haven’t been popular. Will look into options for lunch times or after work.
bi-monthly
Support Beddington Farmlands nature reserve
We became a member in 2010/11
Ongoing
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Summary of month All tasks in the May campaign were achieved: • Photography competition - 13 staff entered the winners were given framed copies of their entries. • Seminar - 11 staff attended, and following the seminar 5 staff pledged to improve their outdoor spaces for wildlife. • Wildlife monitoring - approximately 6 staff have monitored wildlife in their local areas. • Weekend conservation activity - 2 staff worked at the local wetlands creating wildlife habitat. • Bug hotel workshops - we ran two workshops with 15 staff attending. • Ecology centre gardens walk - 6 staff attended. • We have joined Beddington Farmlands and the Beddington Farm Bird Group. The principle champion has been attending monthly meetings and helped to produce materials for the group’s stand at the Carshalton Environment Fair, and helped man the stand. • Useful factsheets on how to create wildlife habitat in outdoor spaces is saved on our server.
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Culture and heritage Reviving local identity and wisdom; support for and participation in the art
October 2011 Context In the past, BioRegional has encouraged employee cultural participation by making meeting room space available for employee‐led hobbies and skill sharing. Popular activities have included crafts, guitar playing, football and French and Spanish speaking, all of which contributes to a lively and motivated office. BioRegional ensures that this principle is promoted externally when the ten principles are applied. We have also addressed it directly through the two projects, Carshalton Lavender and BioRegional HomeGrown charcoal. These projects are focused on protecting and enhancing local culture and heritage.
Targets and Indicators The table below shows what BioRegional’s targets are for this principle and what indicators are used to track our progress towards achieving them. Target
Indicator
Four skills sharing events to take place each year.
Number of skills sharing events which have taken place.
Four cultural & heritage events to take place each year.
Number of cultural & heritage events which have taken place.
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Campaign Actions for 2011 The following activities were carried out across the year to build upon BioRegional’s existing achievements with regards to culture and heritage. Actions
Notes
When?
Seminar: sustainability in the arts
Duncan to prepare and present seminar. Isabel has ensured that meeting room is booked. Isabel to send our reminder invitation to staff.
Tuesday 11th October
Crash course on sign language
Mark to prepare and present this lunchtime session. Isabel has ensured that meeting room is booked.
Thursday 20th October
Isabel to send out invitation to staff. Dr Bike
Phil will be on hand at lunchtime to help staff with any bike problems they have. If no staff bikes need assistance then we will maintain the pool bikes and people can drop into learn about bike maintenance.
Wednesday 26th October
Autumnal competition
Isabel to prepare an autumn-themed competition.
October
Quarterly skills sharing
Once every 3 months, a member of staff will share a skill with the rest of the company, through either a series of lunchtime or evening sessions. Ideas include:
Throughout year
Making pasta (Claire) Accessory crafts (Ridgely) China (Amy and Al) Wallet making (Seeta or Anna) Christmas decorations (Isabel) Quarterly Dr Bike sessions
To hold these on the last Wednesday of the month.
Throughout year
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Summary of month • • • • •
Both the seminar on sustainability in the arts and the crash course on sign language were well attended by staff. These were thoroughly enjoyed and staff felt that they had learnt a lot. Dr Bike took place, however, on that particular day nobody had any bike problems. This highlights how it is useful to make this a regular session. Several people took part in the competition and learnt about the origins of Halloween and Guy Fawkes’ night. In addition to the planned events, a cultural pub tour took place. Various members of staff are lined up to lead the skills sharing sessions throughout 2012.
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Local Economy and Equity Inclusive, empowering workplaces with equitable pay; support for local communities and fair trade.
March 2011
Context BioRegional ensures that at least one event takes place to celebrate Fairtrade fortnight. We review consumption of and introduce more fairtrade products to the office every year. We try to use local suppliers as far as possible. We have conducted a Conduct rigorous disabled accessibility survey for BedZED tours and have set up a staff forum and ensure effective working
Targets and Indicators The table below shows what BioRegional’s targets are for this principle and what indicators are used to track our progress towards achieving them.
Target
Indicator
Introduce two new fairtrade products in a year. Advertise two local activities in the office per month.
Number of new fairtrade products introduced within one year. Number of local activities which are advertised each month.
Campaign Actions for 2011 The following activities were carried out across the year to build upon BioRegional’s existing achievements with regards to local economy and equity. Page 34
Actions
Notes
When
Celebrate fairtrade fortnight
Promotion pack has been ordered- leaflets/posters/activity cards to be placed around the office (and on the Veg Van?)
Friday 25th Feb
Fairtrade quiz
Fairtrade quiz- how much do you know about fairtrade? Winner receives fairtrade chocolate prize!
Send out on Monday 28th Feb (everyone has till the end of Fairtrade fortnight to enter- 14th March)
Recipes
Going Bananas for Chocolate- a series of fairtrade banana and chocolate recipes to be added to the intranet.
Add regularly, at least one per week- starting Tuesday 1st March
Fairtrade/ local produce office audit
Review with Claire the products in office that are fairtrade or sourced locally- identify 5 new products that could come from local producers or fairtrade sources. Ensure there is an annual review each March around Fairtrade Fortnight.
Thursday 31st March
Local business mapping
Encourage staff to use local businesses by mapping what is actually available- Ben has already started this process. Create a large map print out with all the local businesses listed, put up on the notice board downstairs. Display local activities that are happening in and around Hackbridge. Start with this event: Pavilion on Saturday 26th Feb. between 11.30 and 14.00 for Fair Trade drinks and a jumble sale.
Friday 11th March
Hackbridge pub crawl
Visit all the pubs in Hackbridge to support local business and mark the end of Local Economy and Equity month
Thursday 31st March
Seminar
30 mins seminar by Pesticide Action Network- highlighting issues related to cotton growing in Africa, the issues farmers face trying to trade/market their products Review the working of the staff forum every 6 months with HR dept
March
Local activity notice board
Staff Forum
Friday 25th Feb
Every 6 months.
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Summary of month One of the main successes of Local Economy and Equity month was the fairtrade quiz, which was completed by 17 members of staff in total. 3 staff answered all of the questions correctly and everyone else managed to answer more than 50% of the quiz questions correctly. A number of quiz participants commented on the amount of information they learnt from looking up the answers on the internet- people seemed to take it all quite seriously and there was a healthy element of competition! Claire and I have reviewed the fairtrade products that are sourced for the office and identified a 5 new food items that we have been able to purchase which are fairtrade. These new items are: sugar, rice, biscuits, peanut butter and chocolate spread. The seminar I was coordinating, which was to be led by Pesticide Action Network (PAN), unfortunately did not take place as the guest speaker pulled out at the last minute while I was at a conference in New York. There was not enough time to make arrangements for another speaker. Ben J. Gill has comprehensively mapped the local businesses in Hackbridge as part of his greening local businesses project, which can be accessed by staff on the s drive. There is now a local activity notice board in the office, which is regularly updated with local events and activities that staff can get involved with.
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Health and Happiness Encouraging active, sociable, meaningful lives to promote good health and well being
January 2011 Context Happiness in the workplace is recognised as one of the most important factors for ensuring a creative, resourceful, motivated, and productive workforce. Being happy also helps us to be inspiring, optimistic and positive in our approach to sustainability. Improvements in health are intrinsically linked with happiness, and vice versa. Therefore this part of the action plan has several actions that help to promote good health, as well as happiness. In 2009, a health and happiness survey was conducted. It revealed that everyone is largely happy and feels that we are, on the whole, effective and well managed and that BioRegional tries to treat its staff fairly. People are fond of each other and feel there is a strong team spirit. Most people feel valued and supported in producing quality work, and empowered to get on with their job without interference.
Targets and Indicators The table below shows what BioRegional’s targets are for this principle and what indicators are used to track our progress towards achieving them. Target Improve average score in health and happiness survey to 4 out of 5.
Indicator Average score
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Campaign Actions for 2011 The following activities were carried out across the year to build upon BioRegional’s existing achievements with regards to health and happiness.
Well-being questionnaire Health and Happiness test? Lunchtime short movie club Best environmental joke competition Reinstate suggestion box Lunchtime walks Guitar club Seminar
Pub trip
Notes See well-being document prepared for Nesta bid for more details Discuss with Lisa whether we should do this and best method to do it. Can we use SurveyMonkey? To find out: time it takes Screening of 10-15min shorts in Meeting Rm 1. Optional attendance. Competition for best environmental joke. Winner gets free lunch at the Savoy. Budget to be confirmed from SMT. We used to have one. Get it out again and put in a prominent place. Wildlife walk Hide a geocache! Hackbridge tour – allotments & Spencer Road wetland Free guitar lesson promoted. Ensure guitar club continues
What factors influence well-being at work and a summary of recent relevant publications. Either the Grange or a Sam Smith Cultural Tour organised by Stephen In the end of month email
Send out month summary, summary of discussions, joke, and survey results Note: usually football/Frisbee/golf club, ditch cleaning, gardening is done in the Summer.
When Send out at beginning of month. Either design in-house or promote use of nef’s online tool Send out at beginning of month. Second and last Monday of the month, lunchtime 1.30pm. Send out at beginning of month – reminder half way through Do at beginning of month, promote via intranet/email Every Wednesday lunchtime Thursday lunch 27th TBC. Propose 18/01/2010, 12.30am
Proposed date: Thurs 20th 27/01/2010
Summary of month All of the above activities and targets in section one were delivered. Principle lead is measuring on-going targets on an on-going basis. Page 38
Targets and Plans for 2012 We are doing well with our target to reduce electricity consumption to 1000 kWh/employee/year. It is currently 1,121 kWh so this would be a further 10% reduction. This would make our electricity use 40% lower than good practice and 60% lower than an average office. Continue work towards other targets. Now all staff are fully aware of the waste management systems in place, we should be on track to achieving our aim to reduce the total amount of waste we produce and increase our recycling and composting rate. Our target is zero waste to landfill. Further work needs to be done in 2012 in order to be able to monitor our impact and progress towards the targets.
Some of the initiatives will require periodic follow up to ensure that people remain aware of them. To this end the Sustainable Materials champion, Tom Hill, has inserted bi-monthly reminders into his diary to do brief tours of the office reminding people of the initiatives. In addition to the initiatives already undertaken, the Lunch Club would very much like ultra local produce from the Sutton Community Farm – but delivery at present is proving difficult. We will have to see if delivery on Tuesday is possible for Lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We also have plans to adopt a farm row.
The water monitoring strategy will enable us to better tackle reaching our target of 3,000 litres/employee/year. It is currently 3,641 litres/employee/year. Monitoring of our Biodiversity Action Plan will be carried out in January 2012. Residents are leading the sports field renovation project. We will help them if they decide to do any more work on this project. The real value of the culture and heritage principle will be obtained by ensuring that it remains in focus throughout the year, for example, by making sure that the skills sharing sessions and other events take place. We will increase our focus on supporting the local economy. We achieved our target of 4/5 in the staff happiness survey. We will ensure that the happiness surveys continue to be conducted on an annual basis to ensure our happiness level remain high! Page 39