Feature
goal to become the UK’s first net zero emissions city, SP Energy Networks has funded two new state-of-the-art First Glasgow electric buses. The First Minister said: “Scotland was one of the first countries to acknowledge that we are facing a global climate emergency and we have legislated for the most ambitious carbon reduction target of any country in the world. A key part of our plans is encouraging greater use of public transport as well as phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles.” Andrew Jarvis, Managing Director
for First Glasgow, said: “Every customer journey on the route will save around 2kg of CO2 compared with driving on your own in an average car, making bus the best choice in reducing the impact on the planet. By working with Glasgow City Council and Transport Scotland, we plan to make great strides forward in doing our bit to improve the city’s air quality and making Glasgow a cleaner and greener place to live and work.” In Glasgow city centre, levels
of harmful nitrogen dioxide from road traffic are being recorded at levels which do not meet statutory expectations. As a result, by the end of 2022, Glasgow’s low emission zone will be in place for all vehicles. Meanwhile, charity Sustrans believes there is a need for a national approach to deliver infrastructure to develop walking and cycle-friendly neighbourhoods, to make journeys on foot or bike to our town centres the attractive choice and building segregated cycle routes on arterial roads into towns and cities. Sustrans’ Bike Life Glasgow 2018 survey states that there are 182 miles of cycle routes, with an average of 11,000 cyclists per day travelling in and out of the city. Spokeswoman Claire Daly said:
“Transport is the biggest source of carbon emissions in Scotland. Along with having the right infrastructure in place, we want to change people’s mindsets to overcome barriers to cycling and walking and show that these options are often easier and quicker than they think. “The
www.waytoworkscot.org website is a good place for businesses to start encouraging staff to change just one journey from car to walking, bus or cycling and work upwards.” The organisation is launching the
fifth Scottish Workplace Journey Challenge (see page 39). Claire said: “Reducing car use is key but we know it is not always an easy thing to do. We are supporting a number of Glasgow City Council projects which will have a big impact, including part-funding the Avenues Project to make the city centre more pedestrian friendly, and the South City Way.”
We are doing our bit to improve the city’s air quality and making Glasgow cleaner and greener”
Glasgow Clyde
College Catering and Cleaning
Services Manager John Clark
The South City Way is a 3km segregated cycle and pedestrian route that runs from Queen’s Park, connecting Govanhill and the Gorbals, to Glasgow city centre. Led by Glasgow City Council alongside Transport Scotland funding through Sustrans’ Places for Everyone fund, the first sections are already complete and the final phases should be finished in the autumn after some delays in 2019.
More than two-thirds of SMEs
in Scotland want to be more environmentally sustainable, according to Bank of Scotland’s Business Barometer. The survey found 72 per cent have taken steps to become greener in the past 12 months. Ideeas Ltd’s Steve says he wants to help more local businesses improve their sustainability through a ’20 for 20’ campaign – informing businesses how to reduce their carbon footprint by 20 per cent in 2020. “Some will find this more difficult than others, but little things can make a huge difference. For example, take the David Attenborough programme’s effect on single-use plastic. I’ve been talking about this for 20 years! For SMEs, there are
common issues to consider, including waste, energy, procurement and transport. This might include ensuring windows are closed when the heating is on, or encouraging use of public transport rather than company car. But it is really difficult for businesses to be zero carbon.” Coffee shops are leading the way on
improving their environmental practices, from sustainable growing to coffee cup recycling. Cup Movement in Glasgow launched an initiative to increase cup reuse and recycling rates in over 100 coffee shops in the city centre. Working with some of the biggest coffee chains – Costa, Greggs, McDonald’s, Pret and Starbucks, the #TakeItBack initiative encourages people to bring any paper cup back to be recycled. The message will also be added to the city’s blue on- the-go recycling bins, which currently cannot accept coffee cups. In addition, Cup Movement will continue to encourage using a reusable cup as the most sustainable option. Glasgow Clyde College has removed 83,000 single use hot drinks cups from sale and is offering a reusable, sustainable alternative at its Cardonald campus. Once used, the new cups will be placed in collection station bins located throughout the campus, making it easy for students and staff to get involved in the initiative. John Clark, Catering and Cleaning Services Manager said: “We are continually looking to implement
new programmes and schemes to reduce our carbon footprint and help combat climate change issues. We are making the process easy to adapt to; but we do need buy-in from students and staff to really break the habit and tackle our throwaway culture. The initiative has been highly successful, and we are looking forward to rolling this out to our other campuses.”
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www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
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