We are very pleased to announce that we can offer readers of the PeopleProfitPlanet blog complimentary or discounted tickets access to the highly prestigious BASE Show (www.baseshow.co.uk).

Go to the following booking page: http://bit.ly/b6yYHx and use one of these 3 options:

1. SMALL BUSINESS – COMPLIMENTARY  TICKET: If you are a small business enter “bursary” into the discount code, and you will get in for free for an ‘Entry Ticket’, which gets you into the exhibition and all the keynotes, roundtables, fringe workshops + 1 Conference Session.  These will easily keep you amused/interested for at least 1 day.
2. MEDIUM OR LARGER – DISCOUNT ENTRY TICKET: If you are medium or larger business, enter “BasePPP” into the discount code, and you will get in for £120 (rather than £150) for an Entry Ticket.
3. ALL INCLUSIVE TICKET – DISCOUNT ENTRY: If you want access to all the Conference Sessions, then enter “accessall” into the discount code and it costs £275.

Adam Woodhall will be at the event both days delivering two seminars and hosting one round table.  You can find out more information on the related blog page.

If you want further information about the event or how to book, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Adam on 07967 603 717 or adam@peopleprofitplanet.co.uk. 

PeopleProfitPlanet are pleased to be attending and supporting the 'Climate Risk and the City' event on 18th March at Leeds City Museum.     

As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, this event, which is designed to engage the public, will examine:

- the projected impacts of climate change
- the different risks that climate change could pose for cities
- the ways in which these climate risks might best be managed
- the ways in which we can move toward climate resilient, low carbon cities.

The event will include stimulating and accessible presentations from the Environment Agency, Arup, Friends of the Earth and Leeds City Council, as well as the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy. The presentations will be followed by a debate and an exhibition.

The event will take place on Thursday 18th March from 5.30pm-7.30pm in the Thoresby Room, Leeds City Museum, Millennium Square, Leeds, LS2 8BH. Tea and coffee will be available from 5.10pm and the event will start promptly at 5.30pm.

Come and join Adam Woodhall: To book a place at the event, please contact Margo Hanson: m.hanson@leeds.ac.uk with your full name, email address and if relevant, organisation.

Places will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

 

PeopleProfitPlanet are very proud to announce that we are delivering three separate sessions at the very prestigious BASE (Business and a Sustainable Environment) Show at the huge ExCeL events complex in London’s Docklands on March 16th and 17th.

Some of the highest profile individuals in business, sustainability and politics will be speaking and attending.  To name a few:
• Ed Milliband, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change
• Justin King, Chief Executive, Sainsburys
• Kate Silverton, Journalist, BBC
• Philip Green, Chief Executive, United Utilities
• Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Environment

If you can attend for just one day or even half a day, we would highly encourage you to do so, as in addition to the PeopleProfitPlanet sessions and the high profile speakers, there will be a large programme of sessions. 

DISCOUNT: There are two main ways to attend, both with a discount:

Entry Ticket: this gets you into the exhibition, access to all the keynotes, the fringe/round table sessions (which is where PPP is delivering) and one full conference session.  This would normally cost £150, but we have obtained a discount code of 20%, reducing the price to £120.  To attend additional full conference sessions costs £75 a session.

Access All Pass: this gets you into everything the Basic Pass plus unlimited access to all the full conference sessions for £275.

FURTHER INFO OR TO BOOK: Go to: BASE Show and input the following discount code: BasePPP.

PeopleProfitPlanet Sessions: the sessions that Adam Woodhall is delivering are:
•    Middle Management… hindering your sustainability?  How to get them to help.
•    Green Team/Champions – how to get the best out of them
•    MD/CEO & Senior Execs – engage them to drive your agenda

We would be delighted to see you at BASE.  If you have already seen Adam in action, we won’t mind if you decide to attend the myriad other sessions!

A recent survey demonstrated a large amount of small and medium sized business are not taking the opportunity to cut costs and engage staff by going green.  The Netregs report (http://bit.ly/9vmUk1) shows that the majority of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) haven’t realised what they are missing out on.

Environment Champions or Green Teams are often seen as excellent low cost method of motivating staff to take significant carbon & cost cutting action.  According to the survey, only 7% of businesses had taken this easy step to engage employees environmentally.

A surprisingly low 11% of the businesses surveyed had carried out a programme of environmental improvements and just 18% had assessed the impact their business has on the environment.  A slightly more heartening number (28%) have made energy cuts, but this is still very low when you consider the impact that electric and gas bills have on the bottom line.

An Environmental Management System (EMS) can really help a company boost its bottom line by focusing on the many eco-cost savings available.  Furthermore with many large public and corporate organizations requiring proof of your environmental credentials, attaining an EMS such as ISO14001 can make all the difference.  Unfortunately a majority of the SME’s considered an to be of "no use" or of "little use" with only four percent of the businesses surveyed having one, although a quarter did have an environmental policy.

However it wasn’t all bad news, as the ‘Reduce, Re-use, Recycle’ message is starting to get through. The survey found that environmental awareness increased with the size of the business and overall, 84% of SMEs are recycling and 41% have cut down their waste.

PeopleProfitPlanet works with your organisation to enable you to take all of the opportunities available to boost staff morale, bottom line and green credentials.  We offer programmes which can work to develop your environmental policy into a document that makes sense to your staff and finance director, for example working with your Green Champions or helping develop your EMS.

As this survey shows, many organisations need some help!

As well as showing your loved one how much you care, Valentine's day is a great way to show that you love the environment too. So here are PeopleProfitPlanet's top tips on how to green your Valentine's day.

Around a billion Valentine's cards are sent globally each year (1), making it the second largest card-sending holiday of the year after Christmas but most are thrown away. Instead, reduce your carbon footprint by buying a recycled card or why not make your own using recycled materials or send a charity ecard?

You could also be more creative with the flowers you buy. Red roses come from Holland, South America and Africa so to reduce their carbon footprint look for organic or Fairtrade (2). Or, if you would prefer something UK-grown narcissi, daffodils, tulips and chrysanthemums are all in season. Alternatively you could buy a house plant, they save packaging, last longer and absorb CO2!

Valentine's day just wouldn't be the same without chocolate so why not buy organic or Fairtrade chocolates which are greener and more ethical and taste good too.

And finally, when your fun is over, don't forget to compost and recycle your waste.  Happy Valentine's!

1. American Greeting Card Association http://corporate.americangreetings.com/
2. http://www.fairtrade.org.uk

 

Leeds is the latest city to sign up to the low carbon revolution and benefit from a green business boom after the council voted to cut city-wide carbon emissions 40% by 2020. The decision, which was made after a vote by Leeds' councillors is crucial as councils are key to providing leadership on climate change, following the failure to agree an ambitious and binding deal at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.

Here at PeopleProfitPlanet, we are delighted that our home city, will see a boom in green jobs and a stronger local economy as the council has pledged to support both energy efficiency and mirco-renewables in homes and commercial buildings. Leeds City Council has also promised to approve renewable energy schemes to decarbonise the grid and increase the use of public transport and greener vehicles.

We are also excited to see a groundswell of support for cutting carbon emissions and the economic, social and environmental benefits that it brings. Leeds joins Bristol, Harrogate, Durham and Surrey who have already committed to cutting emissions 40% by 2020. While Manchester has pledged 41% by 2020, Scotland 42% by 2020, London 60% by 2025 and Birmingham 60% by 2026. Has your council signed up (www.getseriousaboutco2.com)?

In the second part of PeopleProfitPlanet's Green Champions series, we will discuss how to maximise the effect of your Green Champions and ensure they are engaging your employees in the workplace. Each business may have a self-nominated person or team or Green Champions, sometimes called Energy Champions, Environment Champions, Green Team etc. Regardless of what you call your Green Champions, your organisation benefits from their enthusiasm and role in the workplace to help you increase staff morale, reduce your business carbon footprint and importantly, save costs.

Green Champions are key in engaging your staff to cultural, organisational and environmental behaviour change. They will help your business go green, reduce your business carbon footprint, motivate your staff and help you boost the bottom line.

Altogether this is a win-win-win situation. Where your staff have increased morale and are engaged, your business benefits from resource efficiency. Employees who are involved with making the workplace greener will feel like they are working in a team and feel motivated by that. Green workplaces are also safer and sends out the message that your organisation cares about the environment, therefore attracting the best staff.

What can Green Champions do? Initially, they may take the lead in educating and encouraging green action in the workplace. From environmental awareness posters to environmental behaviour change workshops, these activities will help bring recognition to champions work. Collecting data on energy usage, waste and resources and measuring environmental performance will also be useful for identifying areas for improvement.

 

Don't lose focus
For some organisations, the problem is not encouraging sustainability – but coordinating it. While some companies will be just on the start of their Green Journey, many others may feel like their environmental teams or green champions have not had the desired impact on their company.  It is important to set benchmarks and measure and evaluate targets on a regular basis. A system of rewards and incentives for teams and individuals to achieve environmental targets and will also continue to keep employees involved in the programme.

To maximise their impact, the champion will also need the support and commitment of senior management and the wider team that will deliver the improvements. Green Champions are most efficient if they are familiar with most of the staff and internal processes. Business managers and directors should take a supportive role with Green Champions activities and not be too prescriptive.

Green Champions can give you extra green credentials, fulfil some steps to achieving internationally recognised environmental accreditations like ISO 14001. Together you can help inspire environmental change in the workplace and take real steps to saving costs through resource efficiency and helping the planet.


If you missed the first part of our Green Champions series, go back and read The Importance of Green Champions in the Workplace.

Follow us on Twitter - we are green champions. If you want to find out more about how we can help you develop your Environmental Team, or how we can engage employee environmental awareness, call us now on 0845 2799 837.

In the first part of PeopleProfitPlanet's Green Champions series, we will discuss the importance of Green Champions in the workplace. Each business may have a nominated person or team of  Champions, sometimes called Energy Champions, Environment Champions, Environment Team, Green Team etc. What you call your Green Champions is not as important as how your organisation benefits from their enthusiasm and role in the workplace that will help you increase staff morale, reduce your business carbon footprint and importantly, save costs.

There are now lots of organisations focussing on developing “Green Champions” in the workplace. Just what are Green Champions and how are they important in engaging your staff? We know that they can help your organisation through motivating your staff to take environmentally friendly action but they can also help you boost your bottom line and go greener.

What makes a green champion?
A good Green Champion is enthusiastic, have great communication skills, the ability to motivate, and the organisation skills to coordinate activities and be credible at all levels of the organisation. For example, your green champions could implement energy saving activities, from educating and encouraging staff to turn off monitors and photocopiers to evaluating energy usage in the office and identifying opportunities to reduce it.

Staff are more likely to listen to their peers so your green campaign will be more effective through organisation by your Green Champion team. Having a Green Champion who is in close contact with staff in your organisation will also mean that the bottom up push will meet with a top down approach from supervisors and managers.

It's also a good idea to let your green champions generate ideas relevant to their departments and teams. Don’t box in their creativity – give  them the freedom to fly. In some cases, this means that your green champions may need allocated times to fulfil their role. However, keep in mind that they will also be developing and improving skills that will be beneficial for the organisation and to the individual.

Remember, it is not just directors and managers that affect your organisation's Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability policy, it's everyone! Make sure you have engaged all your employees for a successful Green Policy.

Don't forget our second part in our Green Champions series out on Monday on How to maximise the effect of your Green Champions in the workplace.

Follow us on Twitter- we are green champions. If you want to find out more about how to engage your staff to environmental behaviour change or have successful Green Champions in the workplace, call us now on 0845 2799 837.

Climate sceptics are having a field day: a month of frozen Britain with record-breaking sub zero temperatures, surely, they say, that puts an end to the climate change debate?

But the climate change deniers are failing to understand basic meteorology; that weather is not the same as climate. Weather is what happens locally on a day-to-day basis while climate is what happens with the weather over a larger area over the long-term, and that is what's changing.  For a 2 minute video summary click here for this great BBC report.

Also, living in the UK, we might be tempted to think that what happens here is indicative of what's happening globally, it's not. While it has been colder than average in some parts of the northern hemisphere, it has been 5-10C warmer in Alaska, northern Canada, North Africa and the Mediterranean. In fact, it looks as if the temperature differences have been caused by blocks of high pressure preventing air-flow between the land and the sea. Further proof of more unstable weather patterns caused by climate change.

If you still need convincing, new figures show that Australia's temperatures over the past 10 years were the hottest since records began and considering the relative sizes of Australia and the UK, this is something we should be taking more notice of. We must avoid the short-term interpretation: one cold UK winter is not the end of global warming.

p.s. can you spot the eco-saving device in the picture below? 

In the festive season, aside from the obvious Bag for Life, you may want to invest in a living, breathing Christmas tree, delivered to your living room.

The Independent has reported that as many as six million Christmas trees will find new homes in landfill sites in Britain once the festive season is over. Christmas Tree Man comes to the rescue! Delivering a potted Christmas tree which you can label and reorder the next year means that your tree will grow each year with your family. When the tree finally outgrows your home, it will be donated to the a charitable cause.

Aside from the great environmental implication of renting then returning a tree to the ground, there is increased safety in owning a living christmas tree. For example, the rooted base is heavier thus safer around children and pets and they are also less likely to dry out and cause a fire hazard with hot fairy lights draped all over them. 

So start cutting your waste in the season of excess, starting with your Christmas tree! 

(image from Christmas Tree Man)