Reducing our Carbon Footprint

We just calculated our base line for the 10:10 challenge!  From October 2008 to September 2009, Aerotrope produced a total of 5.5 tonnes of CO2.  Hence, we pledge to produce no more than 4.9 tonnes of CO2 (or 10% less) in the twelve months leading up to  September 2010.

By comparison, in 2008-2009 Aerotrope produced a ‘whopping’ 9.6 tonnes of CO2 emissions. This had to do with the number of long- and short-haul flights we took to see clients around the world. Therefore, year on year we have reduced our carbon footprint by 43%, while at the same time our turnover has steadily increased. Now we are happy to ‘go the extra mile’ in order to cut our carbon emissions by another 10%.

aerotrope

Image: www.1010uk.org

Do You Recycle CD’s and DVD’s?

Aerotrope had a big tidy-up to start the new year. Numerous sacks of paper and cardboard went straight to our usual recycling, but we were left with a pile of old CD’s and DVD’s. Why had we not thought of  recycling those before? Frankly, none of us wanted to use them as beer mats or bird-scaring mobiles on an allotment…

Here is another option: Specialist companies such as this one called ‘Polymer Recycling’ will take disks (including packaging) and recycle them responsibly. Count us in!

aerotrope

Image:  www.lib.aero/~ari/

A Gift that Counts

Payroll Giving is the most sustainable form of donating to charity all year around. Aerotrope recently set up a Payroll Giving scheme for its employees, and we just want to tell you how easy it was to set up: We chose Charitable Giving as our agency, who process our donations promptly and only charge a small administration fee. Aerotrope pays this fee so employees benefit 100% from the tax relief of donations to their chosen charity. In 2010 Aerotrope is due to qualify for a Payroll Giving Gold Award.

Over Christmas lunch the team hatched some exciting ideas about how else we can become involved in our local community, by donating some of our time and expertise to a worthwhile cause. Watch this space for news: you’ ll find out about it here as soon as our idea is fully hatched!

Aerotrope
image: www.uow.edu.au

Cycling to Work Champions

Aerotrope is listed among the first companies in the UK to sign up to a progressive new scheme called ‘The Cycle to Work Guarantee’. This is a voluntary initiative from the Department for Transport, challenging businesses to become cycle friendly employers by making it easy for staff to cycle to and from work.

You, too can sign up if you pledge to provide five key aspects to promote cycling: Bike storage, Changing facilities, Cycle to Work Scheme, Bike repair, Cycle training. Aerotrope hit four of these criteria without even trying! We are now working on the full set. Meanwhile, here are photos of our recent bike repair workshop. It was fun!

aerotrope

Image copyright: Aerotrope

Cutting 10% of emissions in 2010

Yes! Aerotrope has signed up to the 10:10 campaign: This means we are pledging to reduce our carbon footprint by 10% within the next year. Should be easy, shouldn’t it?

We are already using Good Energy as a 100% green electricity supplier (pure wind energy of course). All our staff are walking and cycling to work, which means 100% clean transport on a sunny day. Also, Aerotrope offers to buy new bikes as part of our tax-free cycle-to-work scheme.  BUT: Our recent  energy audit revealed that we can still do better by turning off the printer and PC’s, and cutting down on international travel and taxi journeys. So this is where we hope to make our 10% carbon savings.      Why not join us in the challenge? Here we go!

aerotrope

image copyright: www.1010uk.org