FEATURE
Positive change – Thirteen ’ s head of environmental sustainability Samantha Granger
“ THIS IS A JOURNEY THAT WE ’ RE ON , WITH COLLEAGUES , CUSTOMERS , AND PARTNERS . THERE ARE CHALLENGES AHEAD AND WE ’ LL FACE THEM BY WORKING TOGETHER .”
and the team have already come a long way over the past few years to building the skills that are needed to deliver this work .
Samantha continued : “ Getting the right skills within the team has been important to us . We ’ ve invested in our colleagues , to upskill them , enabling them to gain accredited training .
“ Over the past couple of years , the team have been working incredibly hard behind the scenes developing our environmental management system , working with involved customers and a group of our very own environmental champions to ensure that the environmental impact is considered in every business decision .
Significant changes “ We ’ ve made some significant changes within the organisation – from looking at cleaner sources of energy to installing renewable energy on our office buildings and trialling electric vehicles .”
The way the organisation manages its own waste has had a positive impact . Since launching its own environmental centre , it is aiming to reduce waste to landfill by 95 per cent by reducing , upcycling and recycling its waste .
The centre ’ s solar photovoltaic panels generate on-site clean renewable energy , making the site entirely selfsufficient . The system is expected to reduce carbon emissions by around 50 tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year , with its upcycling department set to see furniture refurbished to help its most vulnerable and those in need .
Changing behaviours Education and changing behaviours is vital . From understanding what we buy , and how the way that we travel impacts the planet . Samantha continued : “ The team have developed bespoke carbon literacy training and they ’ re well on the way to training hundreds of colleagues and customers .
“ We ’ re working with our community resilience team , estates service and partners to embed green locality plans within a number of areas and we ’ re getting communities involved . We ’ re helping them to understand what climate change means and we ’ re increasing biodiversity in the green areas we manage to support and protect the natural habitats of birds , bees and insects .
“ We need to protect green space for the future . Green spaces are very important when it comes to climate change adaptation . The trees give us shade and they absorb a lot of water so they help protect us from flooding and we ’ re working with partner organisations to do this .
“ This is a journey that we ’ re on , with colleagues , customers , and partners . There are challenges ahead and we ’ ll face them by working together .”
thirteengroup . co . uk
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