05/04/2005 - The Environment
Agency today (5 April 2005) called for businesses
to back World Environment Day and save money
and the environment in three easy steps:
1. Switch off office equipment and lighting
at night and when not in use
2. Organise and promote a car-sharing scheme,
with car parking
spaces reserved for car-sharers
3. Use double-sided printing for printers
and copiers/use recycled
paper
Over a year, these simple actions would not
only prevent acres of trees from being felled
and reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions
in the atmosphere, but they can also help
businesses to save hundreds of pounds on their
electricity and stationery bills.
Typical savings could include:
- long-term energy bill savings of 30% in
most sectors when switching off office equipment
and lighting at night and when not in use
- save £65 per year by replacing 10
normal lightbulbs with energy efficient ones,
that use 75% less electricity, provide the
same amount of light and last up to ten times
longer.
- save up to 50% on paper costs for printers
and copiers
- there are currently more than 10 million
empty seats on UK roads every day, car-sharing
not only reduces emissions of carbon dioxide
- it is also an effective way of saving money
and reducing congestion. A 10% increase in
car occupancy would result in a 9% reduction
in traffic
These actions are amongst the twelve pledges
that businesses can sign up to for World Environment
Day 2005. Last year over 12,000 people signed
up to one or more pledges and in a year they
saved over 100 million litres of water, reduced
of carbon dioxide emissions by one million
kg and cleared half a million plastic bags
from the environment. This year the Environment
Agency hopes to beat these targets and is
urging all businesses to take part too.
Sir John Harman, Environment Agency Chairman
says: “Businesses consume vast amounts of
energy in the course of a normal working day;
paper and plastic, electricity consumption
and carbon dioxide emissions. World Environment
Day is a perfect opportunity for them to try
and replenish some of the resources they use
up. The pledges are very simple for even the
smallest company and will save money too”.
To find out more about the World Environment
Day campaign and to make a pledge click on
the WED link.
Issued on behalf of The Environment Agency
by The Forster Company. For further information,
please call Lotte Jones or Sasha Chisholm
on 020 10003 2230, email: lotte@forster.co.uk
or sasha@forster.co.uk
Notes to editors
1. World Environment Day is celebrated on
5 June every year
2. World Environment Day was started by the
United Nations in 1972 to focus world-wide
attention on the environment. In the UK it
is promoted by The Environment Agency and
businesses and the general public are encouraged
to sign up to one or more personal pledges
that show how they can make a difference to
the environment
3. You can make a pledge on the WED webpage.
4. Statistics courtesy of The Carbon Trust,
December 2004 and liftshare, March 2005 -
see links
For a full list of tips how your business
can benefit from environmental change for
World Environment Day, click on the WED link.
