Environmental Policy

I believe that we all have a responsibility to minimize the negative impact that our lifestyles have on the environment in terms of our use of non-renewable energy and the waste we produce, and this includes my business activities.

As a home-based service business, it is difficult to separate my use of energy, in particular, from that of my household, and many of the measures described below are part of our normal household practice.

Use of energy

As a home- and technology-based business, energy use is probably the source of my biggest environmental impact, but I endeavour to use non-renewable energy responsibly. We have just installed infra-red heating, which is more efficient than our old system.

• All the lighting in our house uses energy-saving light bulbs, and most of our external lighting is solar powered. We switch off our lights when we do not need them.
• We have insulated our loft with Welsh sheep's wool, and we will be using insulating paint as we decorate the house.
• I ‘hibernate’ my computer when I am away from my desk for short periods, switch it off at the end of the day and switch off printers, screens and computers when not in use.
• I monitor overall energy use in the house and keep records so that I can measure the impact of any changes we make in our behaviour.

Transport

The vast majority of my work is home based, and I keep the need for travel to the absolute minimum. Most of my work is on screen and internet based so I do not need to transport documents around the world, and my rare trips to the post office are generally made on foot, by bicycle, or en route to somewhere else. My rare meetings with clients are held in a local café, to which I walk or cycle.

Where I do need to travel and cannot do so by public transport (as is often the case in my rural situation), I use a car that is efficient and well maintained and drive in such a way as to conserve fuel. Wherever practicable, I share a car with local people making the same journey.

Use of materials

I consume very few materials in the normal running of my business. The main ones I use are listed below, along with the measures I am taking to minimize their use and deal with waste.

More generally, we use only biodegradable cleaning products that do not contain phosphates and petroleum derivatives or other environment- or human-unfriendly ingredients. We are careful with water. Oh, and we have more re-usable shopping bags than you could shake a stick at.

Paper

I work on screen, and generally have no need to print out documents. Where I do need to print I use recycled paper for my own private use, and on the very rare occasions when I need to use quality paper for a customer I use FSC-accredited paper. I print on both sides of the paper and use any other waste as scrap for day-to-day notes. I put my waste paper (after re-use as just mentioned) into our council’s kerbside recycling scheme. I shred confidential documents and feed them to my worms.

Toner

Because I print so seldom, I find ink is not cost-effective (I was using more ink to 'clean' the nozzles than I was to print!). So I have switched to a laser printer. I recycle my toner cartridges.

Other 'consumables'

Tea and coffee are Fair Trade, or equivalent. We compost tea leaves and coffee grounds.

The salad in my lunchtime sandwiches is usually home grown (organically)!

Review

I will review this policy periodically and will update it if I make significant changes to the way I conduct my business.

V2.3

Sue Browning

1 January 2025