What can you do to reduce your carbon footprint?
Earth Day was born in 1970s America when 10% of the American population took to the streets to protest against environmental ignorance.
The endorsement from the US Senator at the time fast tracked the possibility of a wider conversation to start happening. Since then, every year on the 22nd April, climate change and global warming awareness is raised amongst the masses. Earth Day inspires action towards protection of the environment and focuses on the need for conservation, making environmental needs a global discussion.
Over the years, there has been more focus on individuals and businesses alike to do more to preserve our planet. We’ve seen the rise of sustainable packaging in supermarkets and online retailers, and people are trying to cut down on how much plastic they use by buying eco-friendly household items. Businesses have started to introduce green initiatives to help significantly reduce their carbon footprint.
It’s not just large corporations who have the power to make real change, smaller businesses can implement green initiatives too, which collectively all adds to positively improving our carbon footprint. Plus, there’s the added bonus of standing out as a brand amongst the sea of companies who continue to rely on unsustainable business operations.
This year’s Earth Day theme is “Restore our Earth” and what better way to enter the discussion than to start to assess and address your carbon footprint as a business and find ways to reduce your impact on the environment.
We saw a glimpse of the environment restoring itself during the first lockdown when the world stopped for a couple of months. Despite this, the economy needs to be revived and now that businesses are starting to open again, it’s unrealistic to see such dramatic improvements continue. What we can do is become more environmentally conscious and implement sustainable changes to contribute towards reducing our overall footprint.
Birch goes green
Over the past few years, Birch have been working hard to reduce our carbon footprint by implementing more sustainable methods of operation.
In the last two decades, the printing industry itself has shifted in the way that supplies are sourced. Our suppliers’ source both paper and ink as sustainably as possible, with approximately 75% of our orders printed using vegetable ink. This is a huge improvement from unsustainable wood loggings and synthetic ink that was used in the past.
We also make a conscious effort to work with suppliers that are FSC certified. FSC stands for Forest Steward Council, a non – profit organisation promoting responsible management of the world’s forests. We continuously search for FSC accredited suppliers to ensure our paper supply has been harvested in a responsible manner from sustainable forests.
Since 2014, we’ve used a Biomass boiler to heat 27,000 square feet of office and warehouse space. Virgin wood pallets are burned and used as heat material which has cut our CO2 emissions to around 48,000 kg per year, and because these pallets are virgin wood, harmful emissions are not released into the air in the process of burning.
We now use LED lights which are 80% more efficient than traditional fluorescent lights. 95% of energy used by LED is converted into light and only 5% wasted as heat, which means more heat energy is preserved.
Can we help you become more environmentally friendly?
We’re proud to supply some of our customers with environmentally friendly products in a bid to reduce the amount of plastic waste they generate.
We can brand any range of product, from pens to re-usable mugs. Stamping your logo on a product that’s recyclable improves your brand awareness and promotes sustainability all in one. Our team have recently been working on some great projects helping our customers to reinvent their product packaging and use more sustainable materials to improve their carbon footprint. Have a read of one of project case studies here.
If you’re thinking of making a switch to more sustainable marketing products, we’re always at the end of the phone to help. Our team will work with you, from designing a logo, advising on materials, through to print production and delivery.
Call us on 0115 951 2468 to chat to our team or send us an email to [email protected]
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