Our Environmental Policy As a company, we’re highly committed to reducing the environmental impact our company has through it’s operation. Equally, through the magazine, we endeavour to promote the region’s biodiversity, countryside and wildlife, and help educate and inform our readership so that they are fully able to value their local environment and consequently to take their own part in contributing to all aspects of local environmental conservation and sustainability. We feel that what’s key for any business is understanding that working to reduce environmental impact is totally compatible with reducing costs and hence operating a more profitable business, making it a totally necessary and logical way for our business to go! As a publishing company, we understand that producing printed material could be considered un-environmentally friendly, but various measures mean that we try our best to reduce the environmental impact to a minimum including the following measures and intentions:
THE MAGAZINE Bimonthly publication - instantly cuts down our paper print consumption in half over the course of a year (opposed to monthly publication). We work on many factors within the magazine to increase interest for the reader, hence shelf-life, so that instead of viewing and then disposing of the magazine in a short time, the magazine has plenty of interesting and colourful content so that it’s kept for a long time. Minimum whitespace use - many magazines use whitespace as a way to generate classy, spacey design layouts, but these are inherently wasteful, when perhaps 2 or 3 times as much content could have occupied the same paper space. We’re very much against this way of working, and only use it if a client particularly specifies. The HUB - ways of reducing paper usage are important, one method we use is the HUB websites which effectively allow us to use much less paper in the magazine for the event listings and divert people to the event information contained in the HUB. Digital magazine versions - rather than extending our print run (demand for the magazine is very high) we produce digital versions that can be read on ipad/tablet and even on smart phones (ones with larger screens). This is a low environmental impact way to enable the public to access the magazines without increasing the print run. Magazine delivery - we have our own team of people delivering the magazines
across both East and South Devon regions. In order to keep the mileage recorded to a minimum, our delivery routes are highly optimised and run off our database system. Additionally, our delivery teams are picked from areas closest to the delivery round to minimise mileage. Vehicle use - we’re careful to keep travel to and from clients, and also for the purpose of features and walks down to an absolute minimum. Our general mode is that client visits be avoided in favour of telephone calls, which are greener and much more efficient timewise. We use a high efficiency turbodiesel for work travel. For commuting purposes, the total daily mileage for all three of us is 14 miles!
POWER USAGE IN THE OFFICE Computer workstations - all workstations are iMacs which are EPA Energy Star 5.2 qualified for both low power usage and recycleability. These are powered down as soon as possible and are set to go into energy saving mode within daytime hours, if inactive. Lighting - we use low power consumption led lighting in the office. Printers - our colour laser printer is Energy Star compliant. Heating - we carefully monitor, so as not to waste energy through excessive heating of office space. The heating is the latest gas powered instant heating system (Vaillant Eco TEC plus). Rated at SAP 2005 to operate with an efficiency of 90%.
RECYCLING/WASTE Paper use - any paper used in the office is re-used. For instance, delivery report sheets that come in ticked by our staff are used for note taking (using the back of the sheets). Invoicing/Royal Mail - we invested heavily in software development from outset for a range of reasons. We now have automated electronic emailing that saves probably 1 man day a week in labour, but also reduces the cost of postage which would have contributed to our annual fuel consumption through Royal Mail’s postal delivery service. This is again, another reason why we consider working with the environment in mind is good for any business and should be embraced. Database system - all notes, invoicing, magazine planning, editorial lists are made in our database, rather than on paper. Recycling - all our waste is processed for recycling, which is then collected by the council.
BANKING We bank with the COOP which has had an Ethical Policy since 1992. (see website).
STAFF AWARENESS
All 3 members of staff are fully committed to saving energy and waste wherever possible. All 3 members of staff have signed up to the company’s Environmental Policy. Staff member:
Signed ................................................... Name ..................................................... Position .................................................