bt green business practices: using echosign electronic signature

8/14/2019 BT Green Business Practices: Using EchoSign Electronic Signature

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green business practices

Understanding...

Bringing it all togetherIT communications support

Whats good for the environment can also

be good for your business


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Understanding

green business practices

To nd out more about how BT can help your company,visit our website at www.bt.com/business

Welcome to Understanding green business practices, one in our series

of guides designed to help smaller businesses get more from their IT and

communications systems. We aim to demystify key topics by:

Contents

04 PART 1

Tackling Climate Change: Whose responsibility is it?

06 PART 2

The business impact of turning green

08 PART 3

What it means to be a sustainable business

10 PART 4

What actions can my business take to become green?

10 Flexible working

14 Business tools

20 Marketing your business

22 The role of IT systems

24 Staff development

26 The ofce environment

27 Working with suppliers

28 PART 5

Making it a reality

30 PART 6

Some useful websites

This guide will look at how modern IT and communications can help

your business to act in a more environmentally-friendly way. The

exciting news about adopting green business practices is that whats

good for the environment can also be good for your business. Making a

difference is easier than you think.

For further advice about technology and what it can do for your

business, access to case studies and articles or to download copies

of the other Understanding guides, go to BT Business Insight,a unique online resource for small businesses, at www.bt.com/insight

Explaining the basics of concepts so you can see how they

apply to your business

Outlining key opportunities and benets so you can see

what is possible

Advising on the best approach to move forward, helping

you to make the right decisions for your business and avoid

common pitfalls

Helping you to save time and money, simplifying the way

you approach communications.


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Learning about your own carbon footprint

BTs carbon calculator uses data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural

Affairs to help determine your individual carbon footprint. It is available at

www.btplc.com/ClimateChange/CarbonCalculator

Tackling Climate Change: whose responsibility is it?

Myth: Its the responsibility of big business

Climate change is a critical threat to the continued existence of our civilisation.

The climate change that we are now seeing, also known as g lobal warming,

is being caused predominantly by human activities.

As owner-managers of smaller businesses, it is easy to ignore green issues

and place the onus on big business to take action to tackle the issue. The truth,

however, is that small and medium-sized organisations account for almost

60 per cent of the UKs workforce. That, in turn, means that SMEs are contributing

to climate change in much the same way as even the largest multi-nationals.

Step one in your journey to acting responsibly is the calculation of your carbon

footprint. In other words, gaining an understanding of how much CO your

business activities create.

Opposite youll nd a simple tool to help you do this. Youll need your fuel and

electricity bills, details of any ights during the past year, plus your yearly road

and rail mileage. Enter your vital statistics, hit calculate and away you go.

PART 1


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Green business practices can:

Help save money

The experience of businesses that have already adopted environmentallysustainable working practices is that energy efciency can lead to signicant

cost savings. The tried and trusted routes to this are things such as turning lights

and ofce equipment off when not in use, and remembering to keep windows

closed during the winter months when the heating is on. In addition to this,

conferencing, exible working, virtual workspaces can result in reduced travel

costs, shrinking energy bills, and lower property rental expenditure. All of which

means your business can become leaner and more efcient.

Help win business

Increasingly, companies need to prove their green credentials. There is growing

pressure from society, government and customers for businesses to act in an

environmentally responsible way. A Henley Centre Headlight Vision study into

sustainable buying behaviours conducted in 00 found that per cent of

respondents would boycott rms that damage the environment up from only

nine per cent in 2001.

The attitudes and expectations of consumers are changing rapidly and

businesses need to be able to adapt quickly.More and more, the requirement to demonstrate environmentally responsible

business practices is being enshrined in the tendering process. Companies

whose green behaviour falls short are being excluded at the outset.

Can your company afford to be locked out of new business opportunities?

Myth: Whats good for the environment isnt good for my business

Modern IT and communications has now well and truly turned this assertion on its

head. Becoming a more environmentally-friendly business isnt just an ethical choice.

It can also help your business to get ahead.

The business impact of turning green

PART 2

Enhance reputation

Customers and the public increasingly demand that businesses behave in an

environmentally ethical way. Those that fail to meet these expectations risk

causing damage to their brand. In turn this can harm a companys ability to wincustomers and attract and retain the best employees. Research among 54,000

graduates published by Forum for the Future in 00 uncovered that nearly

half of all graduates would refuse to work for organisations they believed to

be unethical.

Far from being a nice to have, green behaviour is now a critical business issue.

Make you more efcient

The same technologies that help reduce your carbon footprint can at the same

time result in signicant efciency gains. A good example is home working.

Allowing employees the exibility to work from home not only reduces the

amount of travel they do, thereby cutting carbon emissions, but research shows

it also makes employees around 0 per cent more productive.


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What it means to be a sustainable business

There are four main areas where a business can take action to become more green:

Improve energy efciency

The emission of CO from the use of fossil fuels is the single greatest

contributing factor to climate change. From lighting, to the power needed

to run ofce equipment, to the fuel consumed in travelling to and from work,

business is responsible for vast amounts of energy consumption. Later in

the guide well go on to provide some tips on simple ways to improve your

companys energy efciency.

Work smarter and reduce travel

Business travel is not only one of the biggest causes of carbon emissions; it is

also something which can be drastically reduced through modern technology.

Changes in work practices can reduce travel and energy use.

Recycle and reduce consumption of materials

From using recycled paper to encouraging employees to recycle or re-use

packaging, cutting down on consumption of materials is a realistic goal.

Sustainable sourcing

Businesses of all sizes can take simple steps to encourage their suppliers to act

in a more sustainable way. Remember, if your individual actions are mirrored

by companies across the board, the overall impact could be enormous.

PART 3


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10 11

What actions can my business take to become green?

Flexible working

Flexible working is growing in popularity among the UKs small and medium-sized businesses.

More and more organisations are seeing the double win of improved productivity and

environmental benets.

Working from home

Increasingly people are now taking the opportunity to spend at least some of their week working

from home. The availability and affordability of business broadband packages means that

companies can quickly and easily link employees PCs to the companys IT network. Similarly,

online communities are springing up, which bring small businesses and individual sellers

together with potential customers. More than ever before, the internet and modern IT and

communications is making it possible for employees to be as effective when away from the

ofce as they are in it.

Case study: Flexible working a triple win for ESFAC, its peopleand the environment.

ESFAC is a private company providing medical training services and emergency

medical cover, particularly for corporate and public events. This means that the

people working for, and running, the company need to be able to work easily and

efciently when not in the ofce. Company co-founder and Managing Director,

Kim Coe, says: As a small company my co-director and I are both heavily involved

in service delivery, yet we also need to run the company. With an ever greater

reliance on email communication, staying on top of things when we are away

from base was becoming more and more of a challenge.

As well as needing email and internet facilities when on the move, its two directors

also wanted to have remote access to the Microsoft Outlook application that stores

its events calendar and business commitments.

BT Ofce Anywhere, developed in partnership with Microsoft, brings advanced

phone and data services together on a single device, enabling users to work

as effectively away from the ofce as at their desks. The BT Ofce Anywhere

subscription package can be tailored to suit user requirements.

BT Ofce Anywhere is an absolute marvel. It really does enable us to have the

facilities of our ofce wherever we are. On several occasions, having access on the

move to vital business details has saved me the hassle of driving back to the ofce

in between meetings a win for me and the environment!

Managing Director, Kim Coe.

Recent research makes this point even more powerfully:

Enterprises offering exible working enjoy an average 20 per cent productivity gain

Flexible working is gaining an increasing foothold among the UKs smaller businesses.

65 per cent cite increased motivation and 50 per cent improved productivity as benets

Meanwhile, 59 per cent of directors in small businesses believe they can adopt exible

working just as successfully as big businesses.

The environmental argument is no less satisfying. Home working can help to cut the amount

of ofce space required by companies. A study by the British Council of Ofces found that

the growth of IP-enabled exible working has reduced the requirement for ofce space

by 25 per cent in most industries. This means lower energy consumption and lower carbon

emissions. Home working also cuts out emissions created by travelling to work:

Within ten years, teleworking and technology is predicted to achieve an 18 per cent

reduction in heavy goods vehicle journeys

By 2010, the benets to the UK economy in reduced congestion costs could be as much

as 1.9 billion

BT employees save on average 12 million litres of car fuel a year by working exibly

Increased home working has the potential to cut the worst peak trafc by up to 10 per cent

within ve years; a reduction that would save 14.5 billion miles a year. This equates to 17

million cars foregoing a trip from Lands End to John OGroats.

PART 4

The attitude of employers to exible working is shifting

A recent survey by the British Chambers of Commerce found that:

Nearly three quarters of employers offer part-time working

69.9 per cent offer variable working hours

Over one third offer employees the opportunity to work from home

16.9 per cent offer job sharing opportunities.

(Research from the British Chambers of Commerce April 2007)


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12 13

Mobile working

Technologies such as high-speed wireless broadband or Wi-Fi as its more

commonly known have ensured that out of the ofce doesnt have to mean

out of touch. The UKs wireless broadband network has grown considerably

over the past ve years. In fact, there are now almost 18,000 UK Wi-Fi hotspots

in key locations, such as hotels, airport lounges, service stations, cafs and railway

stations, where mobile workers can log on and experience the benets

of broadband while on the road.

An even more exciting development is the emergence of Wireless Cities

city centres from Liverpool, to London, to Birmingham, to Cardiff are being

transformed into wireless broadband zones. So wherever your staff are within

these zones at home, visiting a client, or parked in their car they can get

online and stay productive.

Meanwhile, a new breed of smart phone is now available that allows users to send

emails, edit documents and even automatically synchronise calendar and contact

details with their ofce PC while on the move. Such devices mean people can do

business anywhere, effectively taking their ofce with them, and reduce travelling

time on unnecessary trips back to a central base. Once again, this means less travel

and less carbon emissions, as well as more responsive, effective employees.

Case study: MED-EL UK Ltd reduces unnecessary travel withmobile working

Cassandra Brown is Managing Director of MED-EL UK Ltd, a company which makes

cochlear and middle ear implants special hearing devices for hearing impaired

children and adults. As with many MDs, Cassandras diary is fraught and whilst

travel plays a central part of her day-to-day routine, smarter working through

Wireless Broadband (Wi-Fi) is helping to reduce unnecessary travel time.

Cassandra said: The ability to work anytime, anyplace through WiFi has positive

benets for the environment. From an individual perspective it means less traveltime as you can easily work wherever you are, whether thats in a hotel, local caf

or Wi-Fi-enabled city centre, as well as access to information without the need

to return to the ofce.

From an employers perspective we are now able to have our team meetings

offsite, instead of dragging all our eld staff up to the ofce, which is an

overnight trip for some staff. We can meet in a central location by train,

all getting work done on the way, and being able to have Wi-Fi access

during our meeting allows us to immediately action items as well as access

vital information.


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14 15

Business tools

Conferencing audio, web, video

Using audio, video and web conferencing technology saves money and cuts out large

amounts of travel time.

Case study: Civica Group reduces its carbon footprint

The Civica group provides consulting, software and managed services to

the public sector. Among its 1500 customers are 89 per cent of the UKs

local authorities and many more in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

As a large international business, Civica typically holds hundreds of client

and internal meetings every week. As many of these involve multiple parties,

the normal way of doing things had always been to hold them face to face.

This, in turn, meant a large amount of national and international travel for

Civicas employees.

We began to realise that the amount of travel to and from meetings was

responsible for generating high levels of carbon emissions, said Renna

Benson, Civica UK Internal Services Manager. We wanted to reduce our

carbon footprint without harming the productivity and customer service

standards that our business is built on.

Civica decided to use the BT MeetMe conferencing service. Users simply

arrange the time theyd like to hold their audio meeting, then dial in on the

BT MeetMe number they have been provided with. The service can be used

by up to 40 people, so no matter how many parties need to join the call, there

will always be room for them to do so. No long-term contracts are needed

either customers only get charged when they dial in and use the service.

We found that conferencing actually helps productivity levels among our

staff. The massive reduction in travelling times means our people can get

on with their jobs, added Renna Benson. But it also means Civica has been

able to slash its carbon footprint. Travel constitutes a large amount of any

businesses carbon emissions. Conferencing has played an important rolein helping us to become a more environmentally sound organisation.

Independent research for BT found the average journey time associatedwith a meeting is an hour and a half. Over a year this adds up to an

average of four working weeks a year per employee lost to travel time

In addition, the average cost associated with three people carrying outthis travel is 305 per meeting. Compare that with a cost of around

17 for holding a conference call instead and you get a saving of around

30,000 over the course of an average year.

Of course, the big environmental benet is air travel substitution.

Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

show that a 322 mile round trip ight from London to Manchester

would generate 89kg of CO

However, it is generally recognised that CO released at high altitudescontributes between two and four times more to global warming than

the same volume released at ground level

So an equivalent CO emission gure for this ight could be anywherefrom 178kg to 356kg.

And while other forms of travel, such as rail or road, emit less carbon, the

point remains a powerful one: holding a conference call rather than travelling

to a meeting is an environmentally responsible way of doing business.


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The virtual ling cabinet

Recent years have seen the emergence of new and exciting forms of online software that

enable better collaboration and reduce paper usage. Known as workspaces, the simple

idea is to improve team-working by storing all the documents and information relating

to any given project in one place.

Its practically a virtual meeting room, ling cabinet and notice board rolled into one.

Team members can pin notices on the message board and can speedily locate any

reference materials or plans pertaining to their project role.

And, perhaps most importantly from an environmental perspective, is the document

control feature. Most of us have experienced the headache of reading and editing a

document that we believe to be the latest version, only to discover we are looking atan old one. This not only wastes time but also ends up wasting a huge amount of paper.

The virtual workspace concept removes this problem by holding the master copy of

each document. So you always know the version youre working on is the most current.

Electronic signatures

Contracts are a major source of paper usage in business. Firstly

there is the need to print contracts and sign them, then the need

to fax them to the recipient, which uses the same amount of paper

again. However technology is now becoming available that enables

electronic signatures to be used. The services to look for are those that

comply with the UK Electronic Signatures Act, which gives electronic

contracts the same weight as those executed on paper.

Electronic signatures mean documents never need to be printed.This creates a major saving in paper usage

In addition to this, there is the potential to cut down on theofce space needed to store hard copies of all such documents

With the possibility for smaller premises comes the potential forlower energy bills from the reduced heating and lighting costs.

Case study: Henmore Marketing moves business to a virtualwork space

Henmore Marketing specialises in delivering marketing communications and consultancy

services to IT and technology companies. MD Catherine Doels knowledge of the

technology market meant she had been quick to see an opportunity to move her

business to a virtual footing.

Henmore Marketing shifted to home-working. Enabled by broadband, all employees

could now be happy home-workers with the same access to the company network

as they used to enjoy from the ofce.

But after a stolen laptop scare, a few days of seriously delayed email, and the new

challenge of managing email through a rewall at a clients site, Catherine knew she

had a problem ensuring communications and access to key documents was kept at

the required levels. This led Henmore Marketing to embrace BT Workspace software.

It helps them ensure that team members always work on the correct version of

important documents, while client communication now takes place via discussion

forums in the workspace.

As well as the cost savings of no longer needing to pay rent for ofce space, there was

a clear environmental benet in the form of reduced employee travel and power usage.

The combination of broadband and workspace software helped to transform the way

Henmore do business.


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Case study: Rawnet cuts paper usage with eSignatures

Rawnet is a design agency located in Berkshire, England. The company has

developed websites, web applications and award winning presentations for

some of Britains most successful organisations such as Shell, Honda, Williams F1,

Savills and M.

Typically, Rawnets design projects span from a few days to a few months and there

are multiple milestones that require customer sign-off. Rawnet manages about

100 project documents per month sending out various documents for signature

anywhere from two to four times per day. The documents used to be emailed

or faxed to the customer and the next phase of the project would begin upon

receiving the returned form. On average, this caused a two or three day delay

at each phase of the project, and required a large amount of paper.

Our traditional method of getting approvals and signatures was simply taking

too long. It also wasnt very environmentally friendly because it meant we got

through high volumes of paper, said Adam Smith, Creative Director.

Rawnet decided to purchase BTs eSignature solution. The difference has been

dramatic. Rawnet now sees customer approvals in just a couple of hours, while

some documents have been signed in as little as 0 minutes. Production is more

efcient and there is minimal delay in getting projects completed.

The other real bonus is environmental, said Smith. We believe in doing

outstanding work and providing excellent client service, but we also believe in

doing our bit for the environment. By allowing us to reduce paper consumption,

BTs eSignature product is helping us to achieve this goal.

Saving paper

Paper costs your business money, as well as costing the environment. Double-sided

printing and copying is easy to set up on most systems. It could halve the amount

of paper you use.

Packaging

Consumers are becoming less and less comfortable with the amount of packaging

they buy. Consider how necessary it really is, and reduce as much as possible.

There may also be ways you can re-use packaging.

Recycling

As well as promoting recycling in your ofce, try to buy products that are made from

recycled materials. Its useful to learn the subtle difference between the labels seen

on packaging.

A circle of arrows with a percentage in the middle means that the item is made with

recycled material. The arrows on their own just mean that the item can be recycled

a big difference.

Every tonne of recycled paper saves 32,000 litres of water. Every year, BioRegional

Development Group, an independent environmental organisation, recycle 4,300

tonnes of paper thats the weight of 600 double decker buses that would otherwise

go into landll.


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Marketing your business

In the last ten years, IT and communications has been instrumental in making it simpler

and faster for businesses to promote themselves and win new business.

Networking

Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have been front-page news

for over 12 months now. However, less well-known are the emerging number of sites

designed for business networking such as BT Tradespace. Such sites can be used to

exchange views and experiences with peers, to nd new business partners, or just to

gain a better understanding of unfamiliar markets, new business practices, or to source

potential employees.

Once again, the positive side effect is reduced carbon emissions. The old days of jumping

in the car to go to a networking event in a nearby town are long gone. Face to face get-

togethers will remain a vital part of the overall networking mix, but the ease of doing it

online is helping to cut travel and help the environment.

Online marketing

Online advertising is another topic that frequently nds its way onto the pages

of the broadsheet press. In the early days of the internet, few businesses had a full

understanding of how best to use this emerging medium. Now however, no advertising

strategy is complete without an online component.

Whether a company is promoting itself via email marketing campaigns or one of the

various forms of online advertising, the impact on the environment has been positive.

The mass distribution of paper-based marketing materials is being replaced by online

equivalents.

Case study: Using online communities to help the environmentand win business

Andy Vaughan is a freelance journalist from Wigan. He runs his own company

publishing independent writing. Keen to raise the prole of his business, but

unwilling to rely on traditional paper-based marketing materials, he began to

explore digital alternatives. He wanted to nd a way to make contacts and build

his business without harming the environment.

He decided to use BT Tradespace the online community specically designed

for small businesses. Vaughan and his business partner, Martin Tarbuck, useBT Tradespace to publish an e-zine, sell merchandise online and listen to readers

feedback. As well as allowing them to reduce paper usage, and so help the

environment, it has also proved a success in business terms:

Ive used social networking sites before so I know how they work I use MySpace

to review CDs and gigs, Andy explained. But we wanted something a bit different

to represent our business. BT Tradespace looks really professional in layout, so we

were condent it would help us get our voices heard by as many people as possible.

The extra bonus is that it means we can also do our bit for the environment by

doing our marketing in the virtual world.


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The role of IT systems

IT is a signicant generator of carbon emissions. Research by Gartner found that

information and communications technologies (ICT) account for approximately two per

cent of all global carbon emissions. Amazingly, thats the same amount as the aviation

industry. However, just as its important for business to reduce unnecessary ICT-related

energy usage, it is also crucial to understand that the right kind of investments in

technology can play a major role in dealing with this challenge.

IT networks, and in particular something called IP networks, are a good example

of this. IP networks replace the old set-up of a company having one network for voice

(or phone calls) and another for data (or IT). Instead, they combine the two, so that

every kind of information whether phone calls, emails, documents, video clips

or audio les travels along one set of cabling on the same network.

By uniting all these kinds of data onto one system, business can take advantage of

a whole host of exciting services that save them time and money. One example is the

ability to make telephone calls over the IP network. One colleague can call another

colleague based in a different ofce and, just like sending an email to that person,

it is effectively free of charge. This is a radical development and one that is set to

become widespread in businesses in the years ahead. The term often used to refer

to this kind of merging of previously separate types of data and systems is called

convergence. And the good news is that the benets extend beyond the functionality.

The environment not to mention your companys bank balance benet as well.

Relying on a single, unied network means only one set of network connections,

cables and hardware are needed; it also means you only need to provide power

for one system

A single network also means you only need to hire one IT and communicationsservice provider, which cuts the carbon emissions associated with nding and

using multiple suppliers

A simple example here would be a reduction in the travel emissions relatedto potential suppliers travelling to and from meetings at your ofces

Similarly, in many cases, IP networks allow for upgrades and repairs to be carriedout remotely, something that helps to minimise engineer travel.


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Staff development

The training and development of your staff is an essential part of helping any

business to succeed. But historically it has also had an impact on the environment.

The carbon emissions associated with gathering course delegates at a central

location especially if ying in from overseas can be signicant. Similarly,

the energy usage needed to heat and light the training room, as well as the

heating and lighting used in the trainees hotel rooms, all add up.

The internet is helping to change this situation for the better. E-Learning systems

are now becoming so advanced that your staff can learn as effectively from a PC

as they used to in a physical classroom. Todays computing power means that

the best e-learning courses include a high level of interactivity and sophisticated

tools for monitoring and assessing progress. From a cost point of view, the ability

to train staff without having to pay for paper-based training manuals, ights,

hotels and training rooms is incredibly attractive to business. Meanwhile, the

environmental advantages of cutting out travel, paper and power usage are

extremely exciting.

Case study: Mosaic Fashions e-Learning success story

Mosaic Fashions, which owns Whistles, Karen Millen, Oasis and Coast, recently

deployed BT Expedites retail e-learning solution to support the implementation

of its new point of sale system. Previously, staff had been trained using paper

manuals through trainers that travelled from store to store.

All of the four brands are very different with different target markets. Their estates

consist of standalone stores, and concessions in the UK and internationally.

Therefore a number of paper manuals were produced at Head Ofce to suit the

target audience and shipped to stores ready for trainers to train staff members.The retail e-learning solution has drastically reduced paper costs by per cent.

Staff can now access content online to obtain help when they have queries around

the new POS system which runs 10 versions over one system across 249 stores,

and 387 concessions in the UK and 50 stores, 112 franchises and 64 concessions

internationally.

The overall green impact has been positive. The savings in paper, travel and

energy usage from using this retail e-learning solution have been signicant.


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The ofce environment

Buildings account for almost half of the UKs carbon emissions. According to the

Building Design Partnership, almost 70 million square metres of ofce space

in the UK are unnecessarily lit. Thats the equivalent of 8,750 football pitches,

representing a cost of 00-00 million a year.

A Forum for the Future research report for BT found that energy used to power

heating, lighting and IT accounts for a greater proportion of each workers total

energy use than transport.

The UK Government wants new building projects to use a minimum of 10 per cent

of recycled building materials. The aim of this is to reduce unnecessary waste andharmful emissions in construction processes, and encourage more creative re-use

of traditional waste products.

Working with suppliers

Companies, however small, all have the ability to make a difference through the way

they purchase.

Ofce supplies

For ofce supplies, you can reduce your companys environmental footprint by

sourcing locally and in bulk. This will cut down or reduce your transport costs and

your companys impact on climate change from transport-related carbon emissions.

Many local governments run schemes encouraging local businesses to source locally

made products.

Green suppliers

Changing to green energy to power your ofce and operations is an easy way to make

a difference. It will boost your green credentials with customers, employees and the

community. Choosing the right green energy deal could also save you money, as well

as reduce your companys carbon emissions.

BTs electricity supply contract provides nearly all of the companys UK electricity from

renewable sources and combined heat and power plants. In the last nancial year,

BTs use of renewable energy cut carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 627,000

tonnes. BT is a big business, but its experience can be repeated by companies of all sizes.

Renewable energy is more widely available and more cost-effective than ever before.

Have a look at the back of this guide for some useful websites related to this subject.

Green purchasing

The biggest impact small and medium-sized businesses have on the environment

is through their supply chains and the environmental performance of their ofce

equipment.

Why not include environmental requirements in your contract documents?

Also ask your suppliers for the most environmentally-friendly products with

minimal packaging. This will encourage your suppliers to reconsider their practices

Similarly, you could consider adopting a policy that says all replacement products

or services should have a lower environmental impact than their predecessors.

Energy saving in the ofce did you know?

1) Lighting an ofce overnight wastes enough energy to heat

water for 1000 cups of tea.

2) A photocopier left on overnight uses enough energy to

produce over 1500 copies.

3) Leaving a PC monitor on all night wastes enough energy to

microwave six dinners.

4) A typical window left open overnight in winter will waste

enough energy to drive a small car over miles.

5) Switching off non-essential equipment in an ofce overnight

saves enough energy to run a small car for 100 miles.

6) A compressed air leak the size of a match head wastes enough

energy in a working day to toast 444 slices of bread.

(Source: The Carbon Trust)


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Making it a reality

PART 5

1. Source: Figures are based on a survey carried out examining BTs own use of conferencing:

Conferencing at BT results of a survey on its economic, environmental and social impacts,

Professor Peter James, University of Bradford and SustainIT, April 2007.

. Source: The Carbon Trust.

. Source: The Environment Agency.

To register your personal commitment to the environment go to:www.btplc.com/ClimateChange/Takeaction/LivingLightly

Global warming is one of the biggest issues facing the world today. The good news

is that scientists and politicians agree that if we all work together, we can avoid some

of the worst effects. Small and medium-sized businesses in the UK have an integral

role to play in this challenge.

Why not think about taking one or more of these easy steps? After all, small steps

when taken by a large number of individuals make a big difference.

With . million small businesses in the UK the collective impact could be incredible.

Use conferencing to reduce travel for meetings

One audio conference meeting can save up to an average of 0kgs1, enough

CO for a return journey from London to Oxford.

Making an impact: If every small business in the UK replaced 10 meetings with

audio conferences, small businesses could collectively save more than 1.7m

tonnes of CO.

Reduce unnecessary trips back to the ofce by using mobilecommunications technology

According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs an average

petrol car can emit up to 0kgs if driven at a steady 0mph for one hour.

Making an impact: If every SME in the UK made a commitment to reduce

their employee car travel by the equivalent of two working days of car travel

in a year, small businesses could collectively save more than 1 million tonnesof CO.

Shut down computers and other electrical kit at the end of the day

Leaving a PC monitor on all night wastes enough energy to microwave six dinners.

Making an impact: If UK small businesses forget to switch off even one

PC monitor at night, they could be collectively wasting enough energy to

microwave nearly 26 million dinners.Thats enough energy for every personin London to microwave at least two dinners each.

Use recycled stationery and save paper

Remember every tonne of recycled paper saves 32,000 litres of water.

Making an impact: If every SME in the UK switched to using recycled paper,

small businesses would collectively save billions of litres of water.

Take-up exible working

Based on data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

and the Department for Transport, avoiding one average road commute per

week for a year in an average petrol car would save around 120kg of CO.

Making an impact: If every SME in the UK supported the equivalent of one

employee working from home for just one day a week for a year, smallbusinesses could collectively save 516 million kgs of CO .

And remember, being environmentally responsible and helping your business

to succeed can go hand in hand. Whats good for the environment can be good

for your business too.


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Useful websites

General tips and information on green practices

The Climate Group

Green news and information on programmes supporting business on the path

to a low carbon economy.

www.the climategroup.org

Defra

The website of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs carriesinformation on the governments climate change programmes.

www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/business

Travel

Reducing the need to travel

The Energy Saving Trust has long been a champion of cutting carbon emissions.

This page contains lots of useful tips and ideas.

www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/eet/Waystotravel/Reducingtheneedtotravel

Seat 61

A site set up by a former British Rail station manager as a hobby, to explore

the best options for plane-free travel.

www.seat61.com

Rail Europe

Air travel emits 10 times more carbon than a train journey over the same

distance. Book your train travel here.

www.raileurope.co.uk

BTs carbon calculator

The calculator, based on data from Defra, shows you what your annual CO

usage is at any point in time.

www.btplc.com/ClimateChange/CarbonCalculator/index.cfm

BTs climate change website

Details of BTs own progress in this area, as well as information for businesses

eager to become more environmentally sustainable.

www.btplc.com/ClimateChange

Power usage

Green Electricity

Website giving details of all of the green tariffs on offer to UK customers.

www.greenelectricity.org

uSwitch

Website for comparing costs of different energy suppliers.

www.uswitch.com/Energy/Green-Energy.html

Energy future

News, views and practical advice on the ways to live a lower energy life.

www.energyfuture.org.uk

Waste and packaging

Envirowise

Advice on practical ways to increase prots, minimise waste and reduce

environmental impact.

www.envirowise.gov.uk

WasteOnline

Link to an information sheet on packaging recycling.

www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/Packaging.htm

Low carbon buildings

Website of the low carbon buildings programme, which provides private

businesses with grants for microgeneration technologies. www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk

PART 6


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