Daventry District Council: Sustainability Helps to Cut Costs
Daventry District Council
iiE member Daventry District Council is setting the benchmark for other organisations when it comes to its commitment to the environment.
Being an iiE member is a recognised stamp of accreditation for the Council’s environmental work, demonstrating that the Council is responsible for making long-lasting environmental changes to uphold their green champion status.
Some of the most recent measures that have been taken towards environmental responsibility as part of the scheme include the implementation of a conference calling system, purchase of a satellite navigation system, a new electric pool car and new
bicycle storage racks for employee and public use.
In addition, throughout 2015/16, Daventry District Council installed a new energy efficient gas boiler at the main office, switched to LED lighting in the council chamber and converted to a natural ventilation system to reduce the consumption of energy in-house. Through these measures, the Council has seen a total of 142 tonnes of CO2e saved since the previous year, which is a 6% reduction in total carbon use.
Overall, the Council has made significant progress since the previous year, with its biggest improvements being a reduction in paper usage of 23% and an increase in recycling by 40%. This is due to the Council regularly promoting employee reward initiatives around recycling, energy efficiency and green travel to work including the ‘Paper:LESS Challenge’, Green Wednesdays and switch-off activities.
Daventry District Council sees it as a high priority to ensure that employees are engaged and contributing towards its environmental vision. This is achieved by having a dedicated team of proactive Green Champions, known as the ‘Greener Healthier Workforce Team’, who actively encourage sustainability initiatives amongst the council employees.
Already, there has been a generous uptake in initiatives related to the Council’s environmental plan, with 22 staff taking up a more sustainable mode of transport.
A few organisations, including Daventry District Council, run a concept known as ‘Green Wednesdays’, which is run on a monthly basis where employees are rewarded for using greener modes of transport. Further promotion of sustainable travel is demonstrated in the Council’s commitment to Walk To Work Week and Bike To Work Week schemes. In 2015/16, there were over 113 green travel to work trips, with 30 employees taking part.
Maria Taylor, Community Manager and Chair of the Greener Healthier Workforce team explains: “We continue to work hard to create and sustain a workplace culture where employees are actively involved in and benefit from our greener and healthier activities and ideas. It’s all about acting responsibly towards the environment and thus feeling the need to take positive and impactful actions, incorporating these into our home and working lives. Even though Council members and employees have had an active green agenda for many years, we continue to try new things and find new ways to put our green stamp on as many of our activities as possible.”
Through having an intranet page, the Council offers all employees access to helpful tips and information whilst storing all employee travel plan related information in one central place, ensuring that all employees receive the necessary information to encourage them to actively take part.
The commitment that Daventry District Council continues to show towards the environment was recognised at the 2017 iiE Awards through not only maintaining its Green Level Accreditation status but also with a Great Green Star Award for exceeding the requirements of Green status.
