Understanding...

‘green’ business practices

What’s good for the environment can also
be good for your business

IT • communications • support Bringing it all together

 Contents Understanding…
‘green’ business practices
04 PART 1
Tackling Climate Change: Whose responsibility is it?
Welcome to “Understanding ‘green’ business practices”, one in our series
of guides designed to help smaller businesses get more from their IT and
06 PART 2
communications systems. We aim to demystify key topics by:
The business impact of turning ‘green’
• Explaining the basics of concepts so you can see how they
08 PART 3
apply to your business
What it means to be a sustainable business
• Outlining key opportunities and benefits so you can see
10 PART 4 what is possible
What actions can my business take to become green?
• Advising on the best approach to move forward, helping
you to make the right decisions for your business and avoid
10 Flexible working
common pitfalls
14 Business tools • Helping you to save time and money, simplifying the way
you approach communications.
20 Marketing your business
This guide will look at how modern IT and communications can help
22 The role of IT systems your business to act in a more environmentally-friendly way. The
exciting news about adopting ‘green’ business practices is that what’s
24 Staff development
good for the environment can also be good for your business. Making a
difference is easier than you think.
26 The office environment
For further advice about technology and what it can do for your
27 Working with suppliers business, access to case studies and articles or to download copies
of the other ‘Understanding…’ guides, go to BT Business Insight,
28 PART 5 a unique online resource for small businesses, at www.bt.com/insight
Making it a reality

30 PART 6 To find out more about how BT can help your company,
Some useful websites visit our website at www.bt.com/business

 
PART 1

Tackling Climate Change: whose responsibility is it?

Myth: “It’s the responsibility of big business” Learning about your own carbon footprint
Climate change is a critical threat to the continued existence of our civilisation. BT’s carbon calculator uses data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural
The climate change that we are now seeing, also known as global warming, Affairs to help determine your individual carbon footprint. It is available at
is being caused predominantly by human activities. www.btplc.com/ClimateChange/CarbonCalculator
As owner-managers of smaller businesses, it is easy to ignore green issues
and place the onus on big business to take action to tackle the issue. The truth,
however, is that small and medium-sized organisations account for almost
60 per cent of the UK’s workforce. That, in turn, means that SMEs are contributing
to climate change in much the same way as even the largest multi-nationals.
Step one in your journey to acting responsibly is the calculation of your carbon
‘footprint’. In other words, gaining an understanding of how much CO2 your
business activities create.
Opposite you’ll find a simple tool to help you do this. You’ll need your fuel and
electricity bills, details of any flights during the past year, plus your yearly road
and rail mileage. Enter your vital statistics, hit ‘calculate’ and away you go.

 
PART 2

The business impact of turning ‘green’

Myth: “What’s good for the environment isn’t good for my business”
Modern IT and communications has now well and truly turned this assertion on its
head. Becoming a more environmentally-friendly business isn’t just an ethical choice.
It can also help your business to get ahead.

’Green’ business practices can: Enhance reputation

Customers and the public increasingly demand that businesses behave in an
Help save money environmentally ethical way. Those that fail to meet these expectations risk
The experience of businesses that have already adopted environmentally causing damage to their brand. In turn this can harm a company’s ability to win
sustainable working practices is that energy efficiency can lead to significant customers and attract and retain the best employees. Research among 54,000
cost savings. The tried and trusted routes to this are things such as turning lights graduates published by Forum for the Future in 2007 uncovered that nearly
and office equipment off when not in use, and remembering to keep windows half of all graduates would refuse to work for organisations they believed to
closed during the winter months when the heating is on. In addition to this, be unethical.
conferencing, flexible working, virtual workspaces can result in reduced travel
costs, shrinking energy bills, and lower property rental expenditure. All of which Far from being a ‘nice to have’, ‘green’ behaviour is now a critical business issue.
means your business can become leaner and more efficient.
Make you more efficient
Help win business The same technologies that help reduce your carbon footprint can at the same
Increasingly, companies need to prove their green credentials. There is growing time result in significant efficiency gains. A good example is home working.
pressure from society, government and customers for businesses to act in an Allowing employees the flexibility to work from home not only reduces the
environmentally responsible way. A Henley Centre Headlight Vision study into amount of travel they do, thereby cutting carbon emissions, but research shows
sustainable buying behaviours conducted in 2007 found that 26 per cent of it also makes employees around 20 per cent more productive.
respondents would boycott firms that damage the environment – up from only
nine per cent in 2001.
The attitudes and expectations of consumers are changing rapidly and
businesses need to be able to adapt quickly.
More and more, the requirement to demonstrate environmentally responsible
business practices is being enshrined in the tendering process. Companies
whose green behaviour falls short are being excluded at the outset.
Can your company afford to be locked out of new business opportunities?

 
PART 3

What it means to be a sustainable business

There are four main areas where a business can take action to become more ‘green’:

Improve energy efficiency

The emission of CO2 from the use of fossil fuels is the single greatest
contributing factor to climate change. From lighting, to the power needed
to run office equipment, to the fuel consumed in travelling to and from work,
business is responsible for vast amounts of energy consumption. Later in
the guide we’ll go on to provide some tips on simple ways to improve your
company’s energy efficiency.

Work smarter and reduce travel

Business travel is not only one of the biggest causes of carbon emissions; it is
also something which can be drastically reduced through modern technology.
Changes in work practices can reduce travel and energy use.

Recycle and reduce consumption of materials

From using recycled paper to encouraging employees to recycle or re-use
packaging, cutting down on consumption of materials is a realistic goal.

Sustainable sourcing
Businesses of all sizes can take simple steps to encourage their suppliers to act
in a more sustainable way. Remember, if your individual actions are mirrored
by companies across the board, the overall impact could be enormous.

 
PART 4
What actions can my business take to become green?
Flexible working
Flexible working is growing in popularity among the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses.
More and more organisations are seeing the double win of improved productivity and
environmental benefits.
Working from home
Increasingly people are now taking the opportunity to spend at least some of their week working
from home. The availability and affordability of business broadband packages means that
companies can quickly and easily link employees’ PCs to the company’s IT network. Similarly,
online communities are springing up, which bring small businesses and individual sellers
together with potential customers. More than ever before, the internet and modern IT and
communications is making it possible for employees to be as effective when away from the
office as they are in it.
Recent research makes this point even more powerfully:
• Enterprises offering flexible working enjoy an average 20 per cent productivity gain
• Flexible working is gaining an increasing foothold among the UK’s smaller businesses.
65 per cent cite increased motivation and 50 per cent improved productivity as benefits
• Meanwhile, 59 per cent of directors in small businesses believe they can adopt flexible
working just as successfully as big businesses.
The environmental argument is no less satisfying. Home working can help to cut the amount
of office space required by companies. A study by the British Council of Offices found that
the growth of IP-enabled flexible working has reduced the requirement for office space
by 25 per cent in most industries. This means lower energy consumption and lower carbon
emissions. Home working also cuts out emissions created by travelling to work:
• Within ten years, teleworking and technology is predicted to achieve an 18 per cent
reduction in heavy goods vehicle journeys
• By 2010, the benefits to the UK economy in reduced congestion costs could be as much
as £1.9 billion
• BT employees save on average 12 million litres of car fuel a year by working flexibly
• Increased home working has the potential to cut the worst peak traffic by up to 10 per cent
within five years; a reduction that would save 14.5 billion miles a year. This equates to 17
million cars foregoing a trip from Lands End to John O’Groats.
10
Case study: Flexible working – a triple win for ESFAC, its people
and the environment.
ESFAC is a private company providing medical training services and emergency
medical cover, particularly for corporate and public events. This means that the
people working for, and running, the company need to be able to work easily and
efficiently when not in the office. Company co-founder and Managing Director,
Kim Coe, says: “As a small company my co-director and I are both heavily involved
in service delivery, yet we also need to run the company. With an ever greater
reliance on email communication, staying on top of things when we are away
from base was becoming more and more of a challenge.”
As well as needing email and internet facilities when on the move, its two directors
also wanted to have remote access to the Microsoft Outlook application that stores
its events calendar and business commitments.
BT Office Anywhere, developed in partnership with Microsoft, brings advanced
phone and data services together on a single device, enabling users to work
as effectively away from the office as at their desks. The BT Office Anywhere
subscription package can be tailored to suit user requirements.
“BT Office Anywhere is an absolute marvel. It really does enable us to have the
facilities of our office wherever we are. On several occasions, having access on the
move to vital business details has saved me the hassle of driving back to the office
in between meetings – a win for me and the environment!”
Managing Director, Kim Coe.
The attitude of employers to flexible working is shifting
A recent survey by the British Chambers of Commerce found that:
• Nearly three quarters of employers offer part-time working
• 69.9 per cent offer variable working hours
• Over one third offer employees the opportunity to work from home
• 16.9 per cent offer job sharing opportunities.
(Research from the British Chambers of Commerce – April 2007)
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Mobile working
Technologies such as high-speed wireless broadband – or Wi-Fi as it’s more Case study: MED-EL UK Ltd reduces unnecessary travel with
commonly known – have ensured that ‘out of the office’ doesn’t have to mean mobile working
‘out of touch’. The UK’s wireless broadband network has grown considerably
Cassandra Brown is Managing Director of MED-EL UK Ltd, a company which makes
over the past five years. In fact, there are now almost 18,000 UK Wi-Fi hotspots
cochlear and middle ear implants – special hearing devices for hearing impaired
in key locations, such as hotels, airport lounges, service stations, cafés and railway
children and adults. As with many MDs, Cassandra’s diary is fraught and whilst
stations, where mobile workers can log on and experience the benefits
travel plays a central part of her day-to-day routine, smarter working through
of broadband while on the road.
Wireless Broadband (Wi-Fi) is helping to reduce unnecessary travel time.
An even more exciting development is the emergence of ‘Wireless Cities’
Cassandra said: “The ability to work anytime, anyplace through Wi–Fi has positive
– city centres from Liverpool, to London, to Birmingham, to Cardiff are being
benefits for the environment. From an individual perspective it means less travel
transformed into wireless broadband zones. So wherever your staff are within
time as you can easily work wherever you are, whether that’s in a hotel, local café
these zones – at home, visiting a client, or parked in their car – they can get
or Wi-Fi-enabled city centre, as well as access to information without the need
online and stay productive.
to return to the office.
Meanwhile, a new breed of ‘smart phone’ is now available that allows users to send
“From an employer’s perspective we are now able to have our team meetings
emails, edit documents and even automatically synchronise calendar and contact
offsite, instead of dragging all our field staff up to the office, which is an
details with their office PC while on the move. Such devices mean people can do
overnight trip for some staff. We can meet in a central location by train,
business anywhere, effectively taking their office with them, and reduce travelling
all getting work done on the way, and being able to have Wi-Fi access
time on unnecessary trips back to a central base. Once again, this means less travel
during our meeting allows us to immediately action items as well as access
and less carbon emissions, as well as more responsive, effective employees.
vital information.”

12 13
Business tools
Conferencing – audio, web, video
Using audio, video and web conferencing technology saves money and cuts out large
amounts of travel time.
Independent research for BT found the average journey time associated
with a meeting is an hour and a half. Over a year this adds up to an
average of four working weeks a year per employee lost to travel time
In addition, the average cost associated with three people carrying out
this travel is £305 per meeting. Compare that with a cost of around
£17 for holding a conference call instead and you get a saving of around
£30,000 over the course of an average year.
Of course, the big environmental benefit is air travel substitution.
Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
show that a 322 mile round trip flight from London to Manchester
would generate 89kg of CO2
However, it is generally recognised that CO2 released at high altitudes
contributes between two and four times more to global warming than
the same volume released at ground level
So an equivalent CO2 emission figure for this flight could be anywhere
from 178kg to 356kg.
And while other forms of travel, such as rail or road, emit less carbon, the
point remains a powerful one: holding a conference call rather than travelling
to a meeting is an environmentally responsible way of doing business.
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Case study: Civica Group reduces its carbon footprint
The Civica group provides consulting, software and managed services to
the public sector. Among its 1500 customers are 89 per cent of the UK’s
local authorities and many more in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
As a large international business, Civica typically holds hundreds of client
and internal meetings every week. As many of these involve multiple parties,
the normal way of doing things had always been to hold them face to face.
This, in turn, meant a large amount of national and international travel for
Civica’s employees.
“We began to realise that the amount of travel to and from meetings was
responsible for generating high levels of carbon emissions,” said Renna
Benson, Civica UK Internal Services Manager. “We wanted to reduce our
carbon footprint without harming the productivity and customer service
standards that our business is built on.”
Civica decided to use the BT MeetMe conferencing service. Users simply
arrange the time they’d like to hold their audio meeting, then dial in on the
BT MeetMe number they have been provided with. The service can be used
by up to 40 people, so no matter how many parties need to join the call, there
will always be room for them to do so. No long-term contracts are needed
either – customers only get charged when they dial in and use the service.
“We found that conferencing actually helps productivity levels among our
staff. The massive reduction in travelling times means our people can get
on with their jobs,” added Renna Benson. “But it also means Civica has been
able to slash its carbon footprint. Travel constitutes a large amount of any
businesses’ carbon emissions. Conferencing has played an important role
in helping us to become a more environmentally sound organisation.”
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 The virtual filing cabinet
Recent years have seen the emergence of new and exciting forms of online software that
enable better collaboration and reduce paper usage. Known as ‘workspaces’, the simple
idea is to improve team-working by storing all the documents and information relating
to any given project in one place.
It’s practically a virtual meeting room, filing cabinet and notice board rolled into one.
Team members can pin notices on the message board and can speedily locate any
reference materials or plans pertaining to their project role.
And, perhaps most importantly from an environmental perspective, is the document
control feature. Most of us have experienced the headache of reading and editing a
document that we believe to be the latest version, only to discover we are looking at
an old one. This not only wastes time but also ends up wasting a huge amount of paper.
The virtual workspace concept removes this problem by holding the master copy of
each document. So you always know the version you’re working on is the most current.
Electronic signatures
Contracts are a major source of paper usage in business. Firstly
there is the need to print contracts and sign them, then the need
to fax them to the recipient, which uses the same amount of paper
again. However technology is now becoming available that enables
electronic signatures to be used. The services to look for are those that
comply with the UK Electronic Signatures Act, which gives electronic
contracts the same weight as those executed on paper.
Electronic signatures mean documents never need to be printed.
This creates a major saving in paper usage
In addition to this, there is the potential to cut down on the
office space needed to store hard copies of all such documents
With the possibility for smaller premises comes the potential for
lower energy bills from the reduced heating and lighting costs.

Case study: Henmore Marketing moves business to a virtual

work space
Henmore Marketing specialises in delivering marketing communications and consultancy
services to IT and technology companies. MD Catherine Doel’s knowledge of the
technology market meant she had been quick to see an opportunity to move her
business to a ‘virtual’ footing.
Henmore Marketing shifted to home-working. Enabled by broadband, all employees
could now be happy home-workers with the same access to the company network
as they used to enjoy from the office.
But after a stolen laptop scare, a few days of seriously delayed email, and the new
challenge of managing email through a firewall at a client’s site, Catherine knew she
had a problem ensuring communications and access to key documents was kept at
the required levels. This led Henmore Marketing to embrace BT Workspace software.
It helps them ensure that team members always work on the correct version of
important documents, while client communication now takes place via discussion
forums in the workspace.
As well as the cost savings of no longer needing to pay rent for office space, there was
a clear environmental benefit in the form of reduced employee travel and power usage.
The combination of broadband and workspace software helped to transform the way
Henmore do business.

16 17
Case study: Rawnet cuts paper usage with eSignatures
Rawnet is a design agency located in Berkshire, England. The company has
developed websites, web applications and award winning presentations for
some of Britain’s most successful organisations such as Shell, Honda, Williams F1,
Savills and 3M.
Typically, Rawnet’s design projects span from a few days to a few months and there
are multiple milestones that require customer sign-off. Rawnet manages about
100 project documents per month – sending out various documents for signature
anywhere from two to four times per day. The documents used to be emailed
or faxed to the customer and the next phase of the project would begin upon
receiving the returned form. On average, this caused a two or three day delay
at each phase of the project, and required a large amount of paper.
“Our traditional method of getting approvals and signatures was simply taking
too long. It also wasn’t very environmentally friendly because it meant we got
through high volumes of paper,” said Adam Smith, Creative Director.
Rawnet decided to purchase BT’s eSignature solution. The difference has been
dramatic. Rawnet now sees customer approvals in just a couple of hours, while
some documents have been signed in as little as 30 minutes. Production is more
efficient and there is minimal delay in getting projects completed.
“The other real bonus is environmental,” said Smith. “We believe in doing
outstanding work and providing excellent client service, but we also believe in
doing our bit for the environment. By allowing us to reduce paper consumption,
BT’s eSignature product is helping us to achieve this goal.”
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Saving paper
Paper costs your business money, as well as costing the environment. Double-sided
printing and copying is easy to set up on most systems. It could halve the amount
of paper you use.
Packaging
Consumers are becoming less and less comfortable with the amount of packaging
they buy. Consider how necessary it really is, and reduce as much as possible.
There may also be ways you can re-use packaging.
Recycling
As well as promoting recycling in your office, try to buy products that are made from
recycled materials. It’s useful to learn the subtle difference between the labels seen
on packaging.
A circle of arrows with a percentage in the middle means that the item is made with
recycled material. The arrows on their own just mean that the item can be recycled
– a big difference.
Every tonne of recycled paper saves 32,000 litres of water. Every year, BioRegional
Development Group, an independent environmental organisation, recycle 4,300
tonnes of paper – that’s the weight of 600 double decker buses that would otherwise
go into landfill.
Marketing your business
In the last ten years, IT and communications has been instrumental in making it simpler Case study: Using online communities to help the environment
and faster for businesses to promote themselves and win new business. and win business
Networking Andy Vaughan is a freelance journalist from Wigan. He runs his own company
publishing independent writing. Keen to raise the profile of his business, but
Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have been front-page news
unwilling to rely on traditional paper-based marketing materials, he began to
for over 12 months now. However, less well-known are the emerging number of sites
explore digital alternatives. He wanted to find a way to make contacts and build
designed for business networking such as BT Tradespace. Such sites can be used to
his business without harming the environment.
exchange views and experiences with peers, to find new business partners, or just to
gain a better understanding of unfamiliar markets, new business practices, or to source He decided to use BT Tradespace – the online community specifically designed
potential employees. for small businesses. Vaughan and his business partner, Martin Tarbuck, use
BT Tradespace to publish an e-zine, sell merchandise online and listen to readers’
Once again, the positive side effect is reduced carbon emissions. The old days of jumping
feedback. As well as allowing them to reduce paper usage, and so help the
in the car to go to a networking event in a nearby town are long gone. Face to face get-
environment, it has also proved a success in business terms:
togethers will remain a vital part of the overall networking mix, but the ease of doing it
online is helping to cut travel and help the environment. “I’ve used social networking sites before so I know how they work – I use MySpace
to review CDs and gigs,” Andy explained. “But we wanted something a bit different
Online marketing to represent our business. BT Tradespace looks really professional in layout, so we
Online advertising is another topic that frequently finds its way onto the pages were confident it would help us get our voices heard by as many people as possible.
of the broadsheet press. In the early days of the internet, few businesses had a full The extra bonus is that it means we can also do our bit for the environment by
understanding of how best to use this emerging medium. Now however, no advertising doing our marketing in the virtual world.”
strategy is complete without an online component.
Whether a company is promoting itself via email marketing campaigns or one of the
various forms of online advertising, the impact on the environment has been positive.
The mass distribution of paper-based marketing materials is being replaced by online
equivalents.

20 21
The role of IT systems
IT is a significant generator of carbon emissions. Research by Gartner found that
information and communications technologies (ICT) account for approximately two per
cent of all global carbon emissions. Amazingly, that’s the same amount as the aviation
industry. However, just as it’s important for business to reduce unnecessary ICT-related
energy usage, it is also crucial to understand that the right kind of investments in
technology can play a major role in dealing with this challenge.
IT networks, and in particular something called IP networks, are a good example
of this. IP networks replace the old set-up of a company having one network for voice
(or phone calls) and another for data (or IT). Instead, they combine the two, so that
every kind of information – whether phone calls, emails, documents, video clips
or audio files – travels along one set of cabling on the same network.
By uniting all these kinds of data onto one system, business can take advantage of
a whole host of exciting services that save them time and money. One example is the
ability to make telephone calls over the IP network. One colleague can call another
colleague based in a different office and, just like sending an email to that person,
it is effectively free of charge. This is a radical development and one that is set to
become widespread in businesses in the years ahead. The term often used to refer
to this kind of merging of previously separate types of data and systems is called
convergence. And the good news is that the benefits extend beyond the functionality.
The environment – not to mention your company’s bank balance – benefit as well.
Relying on a single, unified network means only one set of network connections,
cables and hardware are needed; it also means you only need to provide power
for one system
A single network also means you only need to hire one IT and communications
service provider, which cuts the carbon emissions associated with finding and
using multiple suppliers
A simple example here would be a reduction in the travel emissions related
to potential suppliers travelling to and from meetings at your offices
Similarly, in many cases, IP networks allow for upgrades and repairs to be carried
out remotely, something that helps to minimise engineer travel.

22 23
Staff development
The training and development of your staff is an essential part of helping any
business to succeed. But historically it has also had an impact on the environment.
The carbon emissions associated with gathering course delegates at a central
location – especially if flying in from overseas – can be significant. Similarly,
the energy usage needed to heat and light the training room, as well as the
heating and lighting used in the trainees’ hotel rooms, all add up.
The internet is helping to change this situation for the better. E-Learning systems
are now becoming so advanced that your staff can learn as effectively from a PC
as they used to in a physical classroom. Today’s computing power means that
the best e-learning courses include a high level of interactivity and sophisticated
tools for monitoring and assessing progress. From a cost point of view, the ability
to train staff without having to pay for paper-based training manuals, flights,
hotels and training rooms is incredibly attractive to business. Meanwhile, the
environmental advantages of cutting out travel, paper and power usage are
extremely exciting.
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Case study: Mosaic Fashions’ e-Learning success story
Mosaic Fashions, which owns Whistles, Karen Millen, Oasis and Coast, recently
deployed BT Expedite’s retail e-learning solution to support the implementation
of its new point of sale system. Previously, staff had been trained using paper
manuals through trainers that travelled from store to store.
All of the four brands are very different with different target markets. Their estates
consist of standalone stores, and concessions in the UK and internationally.
Therefore a number of paper manuals were produced at Head Office to suit the
target audience and shipped to stores ready for trainers to train staff members.
The retail e-learning solution has drastically reduced paper costs by 45 per cent.
Staff can now access content online to obtain help when they have queries around
the new POS system which runs 10 versions over one system across 249 stores,
and 387 concessions in the UK and 50 stores, 112 franchises and 64 concessions
internationally.
The overall ‘green’ impact has been positive. The savings in paper, travel and
energy usage from using this retail e-learning solution have been significant.
25
The office environment
Buildings account for almost half of the UK’s carbon emissions. According to the
Building Design Partnership, almost 70 million square metres of office space
in the UK are unnecessarily lit. That’s the equivalent of 8,750 football pitches,
representing a cost of £200-£300 million a year.
A Forum for the Future research report for BT found that energy used to power
heating, lighting and IT accounts for a greater proportion of each worker’s total
energy use than transport.
The UK Government wants new building projects to use a minimum of 10 per cent
of recycled building materials. The aim of this is to reduce unnecessary waste and
harmful emissions in construction processes, and encourage more creative re-use
of traditional ‘waste’ products.
Energy saving in the office – did you know?
1) Lighting an office overnight wastes enough energy to heat
water for 1000 cups of tea.
2) A photocopier left on overnight uses enough energy to
produce over 1500 copies.
3) Leaving a PC monitor on all night wastes enough energy to
microwave six dinners.
4) A typical window left open overnight in winter will waste
enough energy to drive a small car over 35 miles.
5) Switching off non-essential equipment in an office overnight
saves enough energy to run a small car for 100 miles.
6) A compressed air leak the size of a match head wastes enough
energy in a working day to toast 444 slices of bread.
(Source: The Carbon Trust)
26
Working with suppliers
Companies, however small, all have the ability to make a difference through the way
they purchase.
Office supplies
F or office supplies, you can reduce your company’s environmental footprint by
sourcing locally and in bulk. This will cut down or reduce your transport costs and
your company’s impact on climate change from transport-related carbon emissions.
Many local governments run schemes encouraging local businesses to source locally
made products.
Green suppliers
C hanging to green energy to power your office and operations is an easy way to make
a difference. It will boost your green credentials with customers, employees and the
community. Choosing the right green energy deal could also save you money, as well
as reduce your company’s carbon emissions.
 T’s electricity supply contract provides nearly all of the company’s UK electricity from
B
renewable sources and combined heat and power plants. In the last financial year,
BT’s use of renewable energy cut carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 627,000
tonnes. BT is a big business, but its experience can be repeated by companies of all sizes.
Renewable energy is more widely available and more cost-effective than ever before.
Have a look at the back of this guide for some useful websites related to this subject.
Green purchasing
T he biggest impact small and medium-sized businesses have on the environment
is through their supply chains and the environmental performance of their office
equipment.
• Why not include environmental requirements in your contract documents?
• Also ask your suppliers for the most environmentally-friendly products with
minimal packaging. This will encourage your suppliers to reconsider their practices
• Similarly, you could consider adopting a policy that says all replacement products
or services should have a lower environmental impact than their predecessors.
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PART 5
Making it a reality
Global warming is one of the biggest issues facing the world today. The good news
is that scientists and politicians agree that if we all work together, we can avoid some
of the worst effects. Small and medium-sized businesses in the UK have an integral
role to play in this challenge.
Why not think about taking one or more of these easy steps? After all, small steps
– when taken by a large number of individuals – make a big difference.
With 4.5 million small businesses in the UK the collective impact could be incredible.
Use conferencing to reduce travel for meetings
One audio conference meeting can save up to an average of 40kgs1, enough
CO2 for a return journey from London to Oxford.
Making an impact: If every small business in the UK replaced 10 meetings with
audio conferences, small businesses could collectively save more than 1.7m
tonnes of CO2.
Take-up flexible working
Based on data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
and the Department for Transport, avoiding one average road commute per
week for a year in an average petrol car would save around 120kg of CO2.
 aking an impact: If every SME in the UK supported the equivalent of one
M their employee car travel by the equivalent of two working days of car travel
employee working from home for just one day a week for a year, small
businesses could collectively save 516 million kgs of CO2.
1. Source: Figures are based on a survey carried out examining BT’s own use of conferencing:
Conferencing at BT – results of a survey on its economic, environmental and social impacts,
Professor Peter James, University of Bradford and SustainIT, April 2007.
2. S ource: The Carbon Trust.
3. Source: The Environment Agency.
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Shut down computers and other electrical kit at the end of the day
Leaving a PC monitor on all night wastes enough energy to microwave six dinners.2
Making an impact: If UK small businesses forget to switch off even one
PC monitor at night, they could be collectively wasting enough energy to
microwave nearly 26 million dinners. That’s enough energy for every person
in London to microwave at least two dinners each.
Use recycled stationery and save paper
Remember every tonne of recycled paper saves 32,000 litres of water.3
Making an impact: If every SME in the UK switched to using recycled paper,
small businesses would collectively save billions of litres of water.
Reduce unnecessary trips back to the office by using mobile
communications technology
According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs an average
petrol car can emit up to 20kgs if driven at a steady 60mph for one hour.
Making an impact: If every SME in the UK made a commitment to reduce
in a year, small businesses could collectively save more than 1 million tonnes
of CO2.
And remember, being environmentally responsible and helping your business
to succeed can go hand in hand. What’s good for the environment can be good
for your business too.
To register your personal commitment to the environment go to:
www.btplc.com/ClimateChange/Takeaction/LivingLightly
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PART 6

Useful websites

General tips and information on ’green’ practices Power usage

The Climate Group Green Electricity
Green news and information on programmes supporting business on the path Website giving details of all of the ‘green’ tariffs on offer to UK customers.
to a low carbon economy. www.greenelectricity.org
www.the climategroup.org
uSwitch
Defra Website for comparing costs of different energy suppliers.
The website of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs carries www.uswitch.com/Energy/Green-Energy.html
information on the government’s climate change programmes.
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/business Energy future
News, views and practical advice on the ways to live a lower energy life.
Travel www.energyfuture.org.uk

Reducing the need to travel Waste and packaging

The Energy Saving Trust has long been a champion of cutting carbon emissions.
This page contains lots of useful tips and ideas. Envirowise
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/fleet/Waystotravel/Reducingtheneedtotravel Advice on practical ways to increase profits, minimise waste and reduce
environmental impact.
Seat 61 www.envirowise.gov.uk
A site set up by a former British Rail station manager as a hobby, to explore
the best options for plane-free travel. WasteOnline
www.seat61.com Link to an information sheet on packaging recycling.
www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/Packaging.htm
Rail Europe
Air travel emits 10 times more carbon than a train journey over the same Low carbon buildings
distance. Book your train travel here. Website of the low carbon buildings programme, which provides private
www.raileurope.co.uk businesses with grants for microgeneration technologies.
www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk
BT’s carbon calculator
The calculator, based on data from Defra, shows you what your annual CO2
usage is at any point in time.
www.btplc.com/ClimateChange/CarbonCalculator/index.cfm

BT’s climate change website

Details of BT’s own progress in this area, as well as information for businesses
eager to become more environmentally sustainable.
www.btplc.com/ClimateChange

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