CITY OF LONDON CORPORATION ANNOUNCES
THE UK’S MOST SUSTAINABLE ORGANISATIONS The City of London Corporation has identified the 41 organisations competing to win a Sustainable City Award, almost half of which are small businesses, many implementing green policies to cut business costs. The awards recognise organisations from the private, public and third sectors who are leading the way in sustainable business practices.
Organisations in the running to win one of 12 Sustainable City Awards, in a ceremony in the City’s prestigious Mansion House, include:
• Arcola Theatre – Hackney’s Arcola Theatre aims to be theWorld’s first carbon neutral theatre and the theatre provides a platform for educating Hackney residents about sustainability through events such as Arcola Green Sundays and outreach programs in local schools. Sustainable practices are incorporated into maintaining and running the building itself. For example, energy and water usage throughout the whole theatre is carefully monitored to drive reductions in usage and low energy LED lighting has been introduced to cut electricity usage by 60% - in turn, significantly reducing running costs for the theatre. In addition, inspiring green practices have been incorporated in the very performances themselves with the use of fuel cell to power the lighting in many shows and the environmental impact of all aspects of the production – such as set construction, marketing and company travel – are actively minimised.
• GetMoreLocal – GetMoreLocal is a loyalty card scheme which is run as a social enterprise by a team of 18-24 year olds in Islington and Hackney. Local residents and employees are rewarded for buying from local business within walking distance of their homes and places of work. By encouraging local trade and supporting SMEs in the boroughs, the scheme works to build a resilient and sustainable local community. In addition, GetMoreLocal’s model generates sustainable employment within the local area. Launched in June 2010, it originally employed 79 young unemployed Islington residents. As a direct result of the hands-on training they received with the project, 42% have gone on to find full time employment within the Islington area and 15 set up their own incubator social enterprises in the area which now supply to GetMoreLocal. The second workforce will be launching in Hackney this January.
• The Alma gastro-pub - for their super seasonal and locally sourced menu – staff forage for herbs, nuts and fruits, which are made into ice cream, sloe gin, cordial and champagne.
• JP Morgan for their research into sustainable finance and investment in the field of Microfinance Equity Valuation. • Eversheds for the firms’ all-encompassing efforts to reduce waste and landfill. • Sheffield City Council is shortlisted for this year’s Air Quality category for their Gas Vehicles project which involved trialling Compressed Natural Gas vehicles. The vehicles run on bio-methane gas, a renewable fuel sourced from landfill sites whose use as a vehicle fuel is well established around the globe in countries such as India, America and Argentina. With transport being the second largest contributor to Sheffield’s carbon footprint, the use of gas as vehicle fuel will play a large part in transforming the air quality in Sheffield and is part of the council’s continuing work in this field with the urban area having been declared an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). In addition, the bio-methane gas is locally sourced which is not only developing the local green economy but in itself plays a large part in reducing emissions and improving air quality in Sheffield. Following the trial’s success, the council is now introducing the vehicles to their fleet and establishing a refuelling infrastructure for the City.
• London Fire Brigade – for the Harold Hill Fire Station – the first new fire station to be built in London for 10 years. Built to be the greenest fire station in London, it only uses reclaimed or Forest Stewardship Council-certified timber, and used contractors who employed and sourced locally.
Simon Mills, Head of Sustainability at the City of London Corporation, says “Sustainable business practices are now far more cost-efficient to implement and can offer a rapid return on investment – meaning that smaller organisations are championing the green agenda as a means to cut costs. This trend is reflected in this year’s shortlist, with almost half of shortlisted entries coming from SMEs.”
This year the awards will be hosted by Lord Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency.
|12| ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
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