In comparison to the multinational corporations included in our client base, we’re pretty small.
Our main focus as a business is to help our clients to reduce their carbon footprint. By helping them to lower their energy consumption, we know that we can have a tangible impact in the fight against climate change.
But it’s not really enough to help others to change, we need to play our part on a localised level too. We’re a small business, and the little changes we make may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But — and we sincerely apologise for the complete and utter cliché — small changes can make a big difference.
We’re far from perfect, but here are a few ways we’re trying to be better.
1) Going Paperless
In an effort to reduce our environmental impact, we keep things paperless where possible.
We store all of our information electronically, avoiding the need for filing cabinets stuffed full of paper documents. When UrbanVolt clients are ready to sign, we don’t mail them pages and pages of paper contracts. Instead, we keep things simple and waste-free by asking them to e-sign a one page digital Agreement.
2) Avoiding Air Travel
With our European Headquarters based in Dublin, our CEO based in Florida, and multiple international clients across the globe, we could really rack up the air miles.
Rather than negating the environmental efforts of our business by spewing tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere with transatlantic, European and domestic flights, we avoid air travel where possible. For the cost of a transatlantic flight, we have installed video conferencing technology in our offices. This way, we can have meetings in real time without the negative environmental impact.
Of course, there are some cases where getting on a flight is necessary, but we are making an effort to avoid air travel where we can.
3) Reducing Unnecessary Waste
We’ve encouraged UrbanVolters to swap single use items for their more sustainable counterparts in a few ways.
To combat the need for plastic water bottles in the office, we’ve installed a water filtration system so that UrbanVolters can enjoy crisp water without the plastic waste.
We’ve a lot of big coffee drinkers in UrbanVolt HQ, who were going through several coffee pods a day. This was creating a huge amount of waste, so we knew something had to change. We worried that banning coffee in the office would trigger a rebellion, so opted to purchase a “bean-to-cup” coffee machine instead. This week, we decided to go one step further and ensure that our coffee beans are sustainably sourced. We’ll now be working with Moyee Coffee, a company who’s carbon footprint is almost half that of other coffee suppliers.
For those who don’t like to make their own coffee and prefer the barista-crafted beverages of the local cafés, we’ve provided UrbanVolt-branded keep cups. This way, UrbanVolters can enjoy a fancy drink of their choice without the guilt of a single-use cup.
4) A Greener Process
Upgrading our clients to LED enables them to lessen their carbon footprint, but we like to ensure that the process is “green” from start to finish.
To reduce the environmental impact of transporting our LED fixtures to their new homes, we have localised suppliers. Our European projects are supplied with European-manufactured products, whilst we install US-manufactured products into US facilities. As our products don’t have to travel far, the transportation process has a lessened impact.
As part of our Agreement, we maintain the LED fixtures for up to 10 years. When replacing a faulty fitting, we ensure that it is safely and responsibly recycled by partnering with WEEE.