31/07/2008Sustainability Guide: Reinvent

Re-invent the way YOU work
Re-invent the way your agency works
See how companies have done it
The tools that make it easy




Re-invent the way YOU work

One of the most loved ads in recent years had as its refrain ‘hate something, change something’. It struck a chord. Change doesn’t have to be complicated. And it starts with the individual. You. Making the change to being greener can start with something as small as how you use your staples and the type of paper you use. To start, just scroll down.

Small changes YOU can make to get big results

	Buy organic Skinny decaf latte to go or a builder's tea with three sugars. Whatever your poison, choose organic coffee and tea. That way, you’re protecting growers from harmful pesticides and are also preserving natural habitats. It tastes better too.
	Keep it local If you’re in charge of buying in food for the office, choose the products which have travelled the least distance to reach you. This cuts down on the carbon footprint. Support local farms and cafes too.
	Be a cheapskate Re-invent your lunch hour and make your own sarnies. This will help save on packaging and transport costs. You make savings too -- about £4 a day. A Tupperware box may not be the coolest of looks at the desk, but the £1000 you save a year is pretty cool.
	Give the printer a holiday Reducing the amount that you print is a great way to save paper, which saves trees. It also reduces electricity use, which reduces bills.
	Refresh the humble A4 Wide margins are so ‘90s. Make your margins narrower so you can fit more words onto a page. This means less paper is used. If you like your margins just how they are, then why not reduce your font size to 11 instead of 12? This cuts back on paper use too.
	Shut down at night Turn your PC off overnight. This saves an eye-watering amount of electricity. When the time comes to change your computer, make sure you give it to a charity who will reuse it.
	Staple less Friends of the Earth say that if we each used one staple less each day, we’d save 120 tonnes of steel a year. That’s a lot of steel. Instead, use a staple-less stapler from www.naturalcollection.com . It can bind up to four sheets of paper. Clever.
	Speak more In 2002 the Industrial Society found that 65% of businesses would change their policies if pushed by employees.

Fact

Leaving a PC monitor on overnight wastes enough electricity to laser print 800 A4 pages.

Links

Re-invent the way your Agency works

When you think about it, changing the way your agency works is a bit like pitching. Except you’re selling ideas to your own people. You have to have some quick wins . You have to have examples of how it can be done . And some technology with the wow factor really helps too. Scroll down to see how going green is easier than you’d think.

Some fast, quick wins

Alternative paper

If saving the planet seems a bit daunting, start with something small that will make an immediate difference. Have your production department source paper made from bamboo, hemp or recycled cotton.

Be heat efficient

When that blue moon comes around when people won’t be working at the agency over the weekend or at night, set the thermostat a few degrees lower. It saves energy and slashes bills.

Banish screen savers

They sure look purdy but those screen savers save nothing at all. Instead, they eat up a lot of electricity and generate heat. The best screen saver setting is ‘none’ or ‘blank screen’.

Be a monitor wizard

Buy a monitor that’s smaller. Reducing a monitor by two inches saves up to 30% in your monitor’s energy consumption.

Champion elbow grease

Discuss cleaning supplies with your maintenance crew. Ask them to use traditional cleaners like vinegar and baking soda. Less toxic than commercial products and just as effective.

Reduce your paper use

There’s software called Fineprint designed to lower your paper usage by up to 50%. Visit  www.softwarepartners.co.uk

Pioneer a new office look

Shabby chic. Eclectic electric. Vintage. Whatever you want to call it, think about buying recycled tables, desks and cubicles for your agency. Check out www.craigslist.com or www.freecycle.co.uk for some great ideas. This is environmentally friendly and a great way to find some classic design gems too.

Encourage telecommuting

With instant messaging, emails and video conferencing, working from home is a great way to reduce pollution and also raise staff morale and efficiency.

Be virtual

Whenever you can, try video conferencing instead of tearing up the ozone layer flying to meetings. It’s cheaper too.

Introduce flexible working

Create a flexible working environment where employees work a four day week: four ten hour days instead of five eight hour days. This cuts down energy use at the office and time spent commuting by 20%. And creates a very welcome three day weekend.

Companies that have taken the green leap.

Free Range Studios

A full service creative agency with full-service environmental credentials. This 100% wind powered agency is anything but hot air when it comes to being Green.

Free Range Studios have two missions. One, to do work that is award-winning and creative. Two, only work with companies that have an environmental or ideologically sound message to get out. Before checking out their work at www.freerangestudios.com , check out their sustainable measures:

• Free Range Studios only select third party vendors who are socially responsible.

• They are 100% wind powered.

• Employees get paid to do volunteer work.

• Their yearly Gratitude Grant gives pro bono services back to the social change community.

• An innovative bottom-line accounting system measures success not just in profits but in benefits to employees and the environment.

Pizza Fusion

The US pizza company Pizza Fusion has sustainability as a key ingredient of its operations. They are ‘Saving the Earth One Pizza at a Time.’ Here’s a taste of some of its most imaginative initiatives:

• In-store banner graphics are printed on material made from 100% recycled plastic soda bottles. The ink is non-VOC too.

• Counter tops are made from 100% recycled detergent bottles.

• Glass bottles from Pizza Fusion stores are recycled to create flooring tiles for future Pizza Fusion locations.

• Ceiling panels are made from 74% recycled aluminium cans and 24% post-industrial metals.

• All their deliveries are carried out in hybrid vehicles.

• An impressive 100% of their power consumption is offset by purchasing renewable wind energy.

www.pizzafusion.com

Clear Channel

As specialists in outdoor advertising, Clear Channel is reliant on its fleet of vans to deliver its products. They made the switch to clean fuels and saved money, reduced emissions and picked up a gong along the way.

In 1998 Clear Channel started an alternative fuels policy. In 2000 Clear Channel began to move their entire fleet of vans to bi-fuel. Today, they operate 335 bi-fuel vans. Its 47 light diesel commercial vehicles are being changed to run on LBP. The car fleet has some 45 LPG models.

In 2007 Clear Channel was named Fleet hero of the Year by the Energy Saving Trust.

What the change to a greener fleet has achieved:

• In June 2005, they used over 100,000 litres of LPG and only 21,000 litres of petrol.
• Clear Channel has saved 74 tonnes of carbon a year for the last two years as a result of switching three-quarters of its fleet to LPG, hybrid or electric power.
• They have reduced average annual mileage from 20,000 to 16,500 and saved at least £100,000 on fuel and £30,000 on vehicle lease costs.

Clear Channel is committed to having a greener fleet. Its fleet has 20 hybrid vehicles for its sales teams and will shortly be testing electric vehicles for city centre work.

Careful route planning and driver training ensures that vehicle miles are kept to a minimum.

The tools that make it easy to be that bit greener

Second Life

IBM has a thriving community of 1,500 internal engineers, consultants and designers who regularly use Second Life to brainstorm ideas and collaborate on projects. This means that wherever they are in the world, IBM employees can pull up a chair at a virtual table.

The technology is simple and the novelty factor is high. If you use Second Life for a client, you just make up an avatar for them so they are ready to go. Product demonstrations and 3D diagrams can be used to illustrate concepts: much more effective than a phone call.

Second Life is also used by Intel and Sun Microsystems. This has helped save on air travel costs, hotel costs and dramatically cuts down on air pollution.

www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/02/using_second_li.html

Viapost

This hasn’t been launched yet. But it soon will be, and it could be the future of post. Viapost lets you send a piece of printed and sealed mail direct from your computer. This is snappily called Print Over Internet Protocol (POIP). Your mail is encrypted and sent to a dedicated printer which is located as close to the delivery address as possible. The letters are automatically printed and sealed, and delivered First Class by Royal Mail. Each letter is only 24p: so you get a first class service for a second class price.

Viapost are committed to helping businesses cut their carbon emissions. Environmentally, the impact of using Viapost could be huge. This is especially true if you have a large volume of mail to send. To check out this new technology for yourself visit
viapost.com

Webex

Webex is a piece of easy to install software that lets you demonstrate products remotely on the computer. The person holding the meeting takes control of the client or prospect’s computer to demonstrate a product or service.

To find out more visit webex.co.uk