25/05/2005 - Small businesses
can make big savings from environmental action.
The Environment Agency today called for south
west businesses to back World Environment
Day and save money and the environment in
three easy steps:
Switch off office equipment and lighting at
night and when not in use
Organise and promote a car-sharing scheme
with parking spaces reserved for participants
Use double-sided printing and recycle paper.
Over a year these simple actions would not
only prevent acres of trees from being felled
and reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions
into the atmosphere, but they can also help
businesses save hundreds of pounds on their
electricity and stationery bills.
Typical savings could include:
long-term energy bill savings of 30 percent
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 percent less electricity, provide the
same amount of light and last up to 10 times
longer
save up to 50 percent on paper costs for
printers and copiers
there are currently more than 10 million
empty seats on UK roads every day, car sharing
reduces emissions of carbon dioxide and is
also an effective way of saving money and
reducing congestion. A 10 percent increase
in car occupancy would result in a 9 percent
reduction in traffic.
These actions are among the 12 pledges that
westcountry businesses can sign up to for
World Environment Day 2005 on June 5. 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 carbon
dioxide emissions by one million kilos 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.
Richard Cresswell, Environment Agency south
west regional director, says: "Businesses
consume vast amounts of energy in the course
of a normal working day, paper and plastic,
electricity, 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 World Environment Day
and to make a pledge visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wed.
The site also has a full list of tips on how
businesses can benefit from environmental
change.
For further information call Jane Fletcher-Peters
on 01392 352276 or Mark Rice on 01392 352488.
Email Jane on jane.fletcher-peters@environment-agency.gov.uk.
NOTE TO EDITORS
World Environment Day is celebrated on 5
June every year
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.
You can make a pledge at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wed.
Statistics courtesy of The Carbon Trust,
December 2004 (www.thecarbontrust.co.uk) and
liftshare, March 2005 (www.liftshare.co.uk)
