OUR ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
Save the Children UK’s
Environmental Policy
OUR POLICY
The way we act determines how many children’s lives we save.
Save the Children UK is committed to limiting the environmental impact of its work. By
reducing our environmental footprint and resource use, we help mitigate climate change and its
adverse impacts on children and their communities.
By making these small changes in our ways of working, we can all play our part in minimising
the environmental impact of our UK operations.
Rules
1. Mapping our UK footprint
a. We will measure the annual environmental footprint of our London headquarters, UK
regional offices, and shops. At a minimum this will cover direct consumption of energy
(largely electricity), refuse and paper; travel by UK staff; water use; and waste levels.
b. Our results will be reported publicly and used as an annual baseline for tracking
improvements to minimise our environmental impact.
c. This will be managed, on a part-time basis, by a member of staff with responsibility for
measuring our environmental footprint and gathering information to build on detailed
recommendations on carbon emissions from an external consultant.
2. Minimising the environmental impact of travel
a. Line managers must only authorise travel requests that are necessary and aligned with our
top organisational targets and Ambition 2015 objectives.
b. Travel to destinations on mainland Britain (such as Edinburgh and Cardiff) and to nearby
destinations in Europe (such as Paris and Brussels) must be by train, not plane, unless time
or financial constraints of not flying are agreed to be prohibitive by the individual’s line
manager. The Save the Children facilities team and external advisers in travel management
company Key Travel must also be consulted. Staff members are encouraged to consider
both the added benefits of connectivity offered by rail travel and often negligible time
differences when comparing specified train and plane journeys.
c. Travel (by air and rail) should only be purchased when all other potential means to achieve
the work objective have been considered, e.g. through Skype, video conferencing,
telephone conferencing. They must be proactively encouraged in all offices as an
alternative to travel. This includes making facilities and training available and offering clear
communication, encouragement and incentives to staff on good environmental practice.
d. Fleet cars must be used only when absolutely necessary. For example, Farringdon staff
members are asked to consult Transport for London for modes of public transport to
reach external meetings in the first instance.
e. A ‘cycle to work’ scheme has been made available to all UK staff to encourage bicycle use.
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3. Minimising the environmental impact of energy use
a. All staff members are required to switch off computers and monitors when leaving the
office each day, and to switch off lights when a room is not in use.
b. We will identify where electricity consumption can be reduced (e.g. off-peak consumption,
heating/cooling, computer equipment, installation of variable lighting) through regular
reviews.
c. All new equipment must comply with environmental regulations and meet a minimum of
A-rated energy-saving standards. This is led by IS and Facilities.
d. The feasibility of exploring separate meters in the Farringdon office will be explored in
detail – as it is shared with other organisations this will enable us to better monitor and
reduce our energy use.
4. Minimising the environmental impact of paper use
a. Our paper use is minimised through default printer settings including private printing and
double-sided printing. Where possible, staff members are also encouraged to print two
sheets to a page and to only print where necessary.
b. Where possible, recycled paper should be used for internal printing and for external
publications. Non-recycled paper should be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified.
5. Minimising and managing waste
a. All staff must correctly use the labelled recycling bins for office waste (e.g. paper, IT waste,
packaging, food waste) available in all UK offices.
b. Regular waste audits will be conducted to identify ways of minimising waste.
6. Supporting an environmentally responsible culture
a. Good environmental practice will be embedded into the organisation through inclusion of
relevant information on COLIN and in staff inductions, and internal engagement and
communications campaigns.
b. The Environmental Steering Group will meet quarterly to review and implement this
Environmental Policy, monitor progress on agreed objectives, advise the Chief Operating
Officer/Directors Group on relevant developments, and act more broadly as the
organisational focal point for environmental issues.
Environmental ‘champions’ will be identified for each division to communicate good practice, share
success stories, and deliver staff feedback to the Environmental Steering Group and SCUK
leadership team.
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Guidelines
1. Wherever possible staff should seek to minimise emissions from work-related car travel (by,
for example, avoiding unnecessary car use, sharing journeys, or using low-emission vehicles).
2. Though responsibility lies primarily with each person, staff members are encouraged to
switch off computers and monitors of nearby colleagues wherever practical.
Further information
Please visit our Being Accountable webpage or, for Save the Children staff, the Love Your Planet page
on COLIN.
Who is responsible for this policy?
Save the Children’s Accountability and Transparency Manager is responsible to the Chief Operating
Officer for adherence with the UK Environmental Policy.
When will this policy be renewed?
This policy will be reviewed every two years. The next renewal date May 2015.
Save the Children, 1 St John’s Lane, London, EC1M 4AR
Tel: +44 (0)20 7012 6400 | www.savethechildren.org.uk
Registered charity England and Wales (213890) Scotland (SC039570)
Registered company limited by guarantee England & Wales (178159)
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